Open Source

Open source is a movement similar to the Free Software movement. The differences are less in what they do, but their (stated) motives. The Free Software movement views proprietary/closed-source, as morally wrong. The Open Source movement merely emphasizes the perceived and actual benefits of the open source methodology, claiming it creates more secure, robust, and flexible software among other things. This software movement is encompassed not in code, but in licenses. The Open Source Initiative (OSI) officially defines what qualifies a license as being open source and lists all the officially approved licenses.

What open source is not

Open source is commonly misconstrued to mean merely being able to see the source code. As with free software, one must be able to read, redistribute, and modify the source code. The main differences between open source and free software is the motivation and the strictness: all free licenses are necessarily open source, the converse is not true. It could be claimed that some companies have tried to exploit the open source movement and this misconception to help promote themselves, the main examples being the licensing for Java by Sun, and Microsoft's Shared Source. However, both of these examples (and others) fail to meet the qualifications set out in the Open Source Definition.

The Open Source Definition

source: www.opensource.org

Introduction

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free Redistribution

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

2. Source Code

The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.

3. Derived Works

The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code

The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.

5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups

The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor

The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

7. Distribution of License

The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product

The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.

9. The License Must Not Restrict Other Software

The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.

*10. The License must be technology-neutral

No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.

last edited (December 11, 2002) by infidel, Number of views: 3120, Current Rev: 2 (Diff)

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