Open source

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
(Redirected from Open Source)
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

For other uses, see Open source (disambiguation).

Open source products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. It most commonly refers to the open-source model, in which open-source software or other products are released under an open-source license as part of the open-source-software movement. Use of the term originated with software, but has expanded beyond the software sector to cover other open content and forms of open collaboration.

Origins

The term "open source", as used to describe software, was first proposed by a group of people in the free software movement who were critical of the political agenda and moral philosophy implied in the term "free software" and sought to reframe the discourse to reflect a more commercially minded position.[1] In addition, the ambiguity of the term "free software" was seen as discouraging business adoption.[2][3] The group included Christine Peterson, Todd Anderson, Larry Augustin, Jon Hall, Sam Ockman, Michael Tiemann and Eric S. Raymond. Peterson suggested "open source" at a meeting[4] held at Palo Alto, California, in reaction to Netscape's announcement in January 1998 of a source code release for Navigator. Linus Torvalds gave his support the following day, and Phil Hughes backed the term in Linux Journal. Richard Stallman, the founder of the free software movement, initially seemed to adopt the term, but later changed his mind.[4][5] Netscape released its source code under the Netscape Public License and later under the Mozilla Public License.[6]

Raymond was especially active in the effort to popularize the new term. He made the first public call to the free software community to adopt it in February 1998.[7] Shortly after, he founded The Open Source Initiative in collaboration with Bruce Perens.[4]

The term gained further visibility through an event organized in April 1998 by technology publisher Tim O'Reilly. Originally titled the "Freeware Summit" and later known as the "Open Source Summit",[8] the event was attended by the leaders of many of the most important free and open-source projects, including Linus Torvalds, Larry Wall, Brian Behlendorf, Eric Allman, Guido van Rossum, Michael Tiemann, Paul Vixie, Jamie Zawinski, and Eric Raymond. At that meeting, alternatives to the term "free software" were discussed. Tiemann argued for "sourceware" as a new term, while Raymond argued for "open source". The assembled developers took a vote, and the winner was announced at a press conference the same evening.[8]

Many large formal institutions have sprung up to support the development of the open-source software movement, including the Apache Software Foundation, which supports community projects such as the open-source framework Apache Hadoop and the open-source HTTP server Apache HTTP.

The open-source model and open collaboration

The open-source model is a decentralized software development model that encourages open collaboration,[9][10] meaning "any system of innovation or production that relies on goal-oriented yet loosely coordinated participants who interact to create a product (or service) of economic value, which they make available to contributors and noncontributors alike."[9] A main principle of open-source software development is peer production, with products such as source code, blueprints, and documentation freely available to the public. The open-source movement in software began as a response to the limitations of proprietary code. The model is used for projects such as in open-source appropriate technology,[11] and open-source drug discovery.[12][13]

The open source model for software development inspired the use of the term to refer to other forms of open collaboration, such as in Internet forums,[14] mailing lists[15] and online communities.[16] Open collaboration is also thought to be the operating principle underlining a gamut of diverse ventures, including bitcoin, TEDx, and Wikipedia.[17]

Open collaboration is the principle underlying peer production, mass collaboration, and wikinomics.[9] It was observed initially in open source software, but can also be found in many other instances, such as in Internet forums,[14] mailing lists,[15] Internet communities,[16] and many instances of open content, such as creative commons. It also explains some instances of crowdsourcing, collaborative consumption, and open innovation.[18]

Riehle et al. define open collaboration as collaboration based on three principles of egalitarianism, meritocracy, and self-organization.[19] Levine and Prietula define open collaboration as "any system of innovation or production that relies on goal-oriented yet loosely coordinated participants who interact to create a product (or service) of economic value, which they make available to contributors and noncontributors alike." [9] This definition captures multiple instances, all joined by similar principles. For example, all of the elements — goods of economic value, open access to contribute and consume, interaction and exchange, purposeful yet loosely coordinated work — are present in an open source software project, in Wikipedia, or in a user forum or community. They can also be present in a commercial website that is based on user-generated content. In all of these instances of open collaboration, anyone can contribute and anyone can freely partake in the fruits of sharing, which are produced by interacting participants who are loosely coordinated.

An annual conference dedicated to the research and practice of open collaboration is the International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration (OpenSym, formerly WikiSym).[20] As per its website, the group defines open collaboration as "collaboration that is egalitarian (everyone can join, no principled or artificial barriers to participation exist), meritocratic (decisions and status are merit-based rather than imposed) and self-organizing (processes adapt to people rather than people adapt to pre-defined processes)."[21]

Open-source license

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Open-source license

Open source promotes universal access via an open-source or free license to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint.[22][23] Before the phrase open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of other terms. Open source gained hold with the rise of the Internet.[24] The open-source software movement arose to clarify copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues.

An open-source license is a type of license for computer software and other products that allows the source code, blueprint or design to be used, modified and/or shared under defined terms and conditions.[25][26] This allows end users and commercial companies to review and modify the source code, blueprint or design for their own customization, curiosity or troubleshooting needs. Open-source licensed software is mostly available free of charge, though this does not necessarily have to be the case. Licenses which only permit non-commercial redistribution or modification of the source code for personal use only are generally not considered as open-source licenses. However, open-source licenses may have some restrictions, particularly regarding the expression of respect to the origin of software, such as a requirement to preserve the name of the authors and a copyright statement within the code, or a requirement to redistribute the licensed software only under the same license (as in a copyleft license). One popular set of open-source software licenses are those approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) based on their Open Source Definition (OSD).

Open-source software code

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Open-source software

Generally, open source refers to a computer program in which the source code is available to the general public for use for any (including commercial) purpose, or modification from its original design. Open-source code is meant to be a collaborative effort, where programmers improve upon the source code and share the changes within the community. Code is released under the terms of a software license. Depending on the license terms, others may then download, modify, and publish their version (fork) back to the community.

"Open" versus "free" versus "free and open"

Free and open-source software (FOSS) or Free/libre and open-source software (FLOSS) is openly shared source code that is licensed without any restrictions on usage, modification, or distribution.[citation needed] Confusion persists about this completely unrestricted definition because the "Free", also known as "Libre", refers to the freedom or the product not the price, expense, cost, or charge. For example, "being free to speak" is not the same as "free beer".[5]

Conversely, Richard Stallman argues the obvious meaning of term "open source" is that the source code is public/accessible for inspection, without necessarily any other rights granted, although the proponents of the term say the conditions in the Open Source Definition must be fulfilled.[27]

"Free and open" should not be confused with public ownership (state ownership), deprivatization (nationalization), anti-privatization (anti-corporate activism), or transparent behavior.[citation needed]

Software

Agriculture, economy, manufacturing and production

Science and medicine

Open science

Open science is an antithesis to blind faith in Scientism,[citation needed] with inherent healthy skepticism and potential for practical defenses against proprietary (closed) pseudoscience in medicine and technology.[citation needed]

Open science uses the scientific method as a process of open discovery of shared verifiable knowledge.[citation needed] This contrasts with privately developed corporate proprietary science, where the processes and research are not publicly shared (or are obscured behind paywalls and/or in excessively expensive private journals), leaving all claims unverifiable nor legitimized.[citation needed] Thus the public is forced to have "faith" in privatized "closed science" without certainty that rigorous studies have been and are conducted, proper precautions taken, adequate warnings given, and that the results are beneficial to individuals, society, and the environment - all while serving private shareholders.[citation needed] The naive public is expected to "believe" all of the profit driven marketing, media hype, and propaganda, as well as the political lobbyists (a soft term for legalized bribery), and to trust for the best technology, drugs, medical care, and environmental stewardship while corporate monopolies safely and honestly earn their profits in a world where corporate corruption and status quo war profiteering are business as usual. This obscured or blind faith in corporate science is called Scientism.[citation needed]

It has been argued[by whom?] that peer-reviewed science, even computer science, had already been open until Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp. forced programmers to explicitly license products as Free or Open Source.[citation needed] As noted by Rob Landley, "The copyright issue changed in 1983, when the Apple v Franklin ruling extended copyright protections to binary code... Before that decision, source code was copyrightable but binaries weren't, so companies shipped source code to increase their ownership of the code in the eyes of the law. If you just shipped precompiled binaries, you had no rights the law would recognize".[28]

Media

Organisations

Procedures

Society

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Levine, Sheen S., & Prietula, M. J. (2013). Open Collaboration for Innovation: Principles and Performance. Organization Science, doi:10.1287/orsc.2013.0872
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[page needed]
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ "Science 2.0 is here as CSIR resorts to open-source drug research for TB" Business Standard, 1 March 2009
  13. ↑ "Open Source Drug Discovery for Malaria Consortium
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lakhani, Karim R., & von Hippel, Eric (2003). How Open Source Software Works: Free User to User Assistance. Research Policy, 32, 923–943 doi:10.2139/ssrn.290305
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Majchrzak, Ann (2008). Knowledge Collaboration Among Professionals Protecting National Security: Role of Transactive Memories in Ego-Centered Knowledge Networks. Organization Science, 19(2), 260-276 doi:10.1287/orsc.1070.0315
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Faraj, S., Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Majchrzak, Ann (2011). Knowledge Collaboration in Online Communities. Organization Science, 22(5), 1224-1239, doi:10.1287/orsc.1100.0614
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Weber 2004[page needed]
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

See also

Find out more on Wikipedia's
Sister projects
Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg Travel guides
from Wikivoyage
Wikinews-logo.svg News stories
from Wikinews
Wikibooks-logo.svg Textbooks
from Wikibooks
Wikisource-logo.svg Source texts
from Wikisource
Wikiversity-logo.svg Learning resources
from Wikiversity

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Open_source&oldid=726140610"