Open Source SoftwareEssay Preview: Open Source SoftwareReport this essayOpen Source SoftwareWhat is Open Source Software? Some consider it anarchy, others a revolutionary methodology that will hasten the development of software throughout the Information Technology community. Open Source Software is defined as, allowing the code that makes the graphic user interface work, available to the user so that they may view it, make changes to it, and build new versions that if are sold or distributed, that source code must also be released.. The emergence of open source software as viable alternative has fueled one of the most explosive movements in the information technology community.
Because Open Source is not dominated by any specific corporation the people that comprise the community are a diverse collection of inexperienced personal computer enthusiasts, industry professionals and activists. This group ranges in skill from novice to seasoned programmer and are often referred to as Hackers. The term Hacker immediately conjures up thoughts of some disgruntled employee utilizing his knowledge of a former employers network for theft or to gain unauthorized access to proprietary information. Hackers, in an effort to differentiate themselves from this group began calling those criminals as well as virus writers crackers. In the information technology community Hackers are people who program enthusiastically and believe that information sharing is a powerful positive good. “Hackers believe that it is their ethical duty to share their expertise by writing free software and facilitating access to information and computing resources wherever possible.” Historically, hacker projects have begun out of personal necessity. A user wanted a particular application, but finds that there isnt one to fit their particular needs. So the user creates the application and releases it via the net. As others begin to use it, they also contribute to the effort. Over time these projects will attract a great deal of attention, thus adding to the complexity of the code and the functionality of the program. It is this scenario along with every hackers innate disdain for authority that allow open source to be the revolutionary force it has become.
Open Source Software by definition is a progam or operating system that allows the user access to the programs source code, to view the source code, modify it, and redistribute it to others. This is in stark contrast to the more traditional closed source software distribution that has dominated the retail software market for decades, where the user only gets the executable version of the program, not the raw source code itself. Proprietary source code is a tightly guarded secret, and redistribution or resale is strictly prohibited. One common misnomer among the general public and some industry professionals is that terms open source software and free software are interchangeable, but this couldnt be further from the truth. Yes, open source is often available absolutely free of charge, it can be sold as long as the aforementioned conditions are met. Free software on the other hand
In conclusion, the primary concern of many of the “mainstream” market participants was to encourage their suppliers to buy open source software. This in turn led to some significant legal challenges and a lack of transparency in the licensing of proprietary software, which led to an increasing number of non-compliance lawsuits. As a result of this, some manufacturers of open source software have been willing to share free source code under warranty and use its code to build their products. If there are more such licenses being imposed, perhaps most important (if not all) open source software producers could begin to license the proprietary version of their distribution to the public, as they would continue to make all their commercial products licensed under fair use. The primary goal of this initiative was to open the source code, provide a base and license, and help them to keep on advancing the quality of their products. The “Free Software Society”, as the name implies, is no different, a group of individuals and organizations dedicated to the promotion of free software, and therefore free, open source. However, for many customers, the “Free Software Society” is no longer important and is no longer effective.
Further reading
A. Kram: The free-software community is free from government interference, and is still thriving within it. http://www.dictionary.org/define/free/
B. Oskar, B. L. and C. Hülle, “Free Software: What Everyone Needs to Know!”, http://reid.opencode.org/library/free_software.shtml
A.K. Johnson, “New Zealand: the free-software community (1997), http://free.oas.gov.nz/freebios/machines.pdf
B. Kram, “Polaris: The Free Bibliography”, http://www.opener.net/publications/archive/polaris-freeware.html
Brief history of Open source
There are many facets of open source, including open source hardware, software engineering, hardware manufacturing, licensing. Open source software became synonymous with open source when the 1990s came to a close. By then, the open source community had been dominated by a handful of groups of people who wanted to make the software they saw out of their systems as free. The development curve of the software industry has also been highly distorted by the growth of small, open source hardware makers.
A recent survey of the Open Source Software Community of America, conducted by researchers at the MIT Media Lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that more than one fifth of the Open Source Software Community members have no knowledge of proprietary software. This suggests that in one nation, over 70% of the Nation’s open source computing population already have proprietary software. Open Source Software is an important part of the fabric of the international community of computing tools. Open Source Software has been adopted as the standard for digital information transfer through the Internet. It is the most widely used open source programming language and most commonly used for the operating system distribution of applications on Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and FreeBSD Operating Systems. It is also used for the production of all software on a single system. In 1994, the Federal Home Automation Administration (FHA) installed the Internet software distribution system Open Source, enabling all customers to distribute free software in compliance with the Open Source Community code standards.
Open Source Software is often referred to as a “newbie” or a “newbie to Software”. We have
In conclusion, the primary concern of many of the “mainstream” market participants was to encourage their suppliers to buy open source software. This in turn led to some significant legal challenges and a lack of transparency in the licensing of proprietary software, which led to an increasing number of non-compliance lawsuits. As a result of this, some manufacturers of open source software have been willing to share free source code under warranty and use its code to build their products. If there are more such licenses being imposed, perhaps most important (if not all) open source software producers could begin to license the proprietary version of their distribution to the public, as they would continue to make all their commercial products licensed under fair use. The primary goal of this initiative was to open the source code, provide a base and license, and help them to keep on advancing the quality of their products. The “Free Software Society”, as the name implies, is no different, a group of individuals and organizations dedicated to the promotion of free software, and therefore free, open source. However, for many customers, the “Free Software Society” is no longer important and is no longer effective.
Further reading
A. Kram: The free-software community is free from government interference, and is still thriving within it. http://www.dictionary.org/define/free/
B. Oskar, B. L. and C. Hülle, “Free Software: What Everyone Needs to Know!”, http://reid.opencode.org/library/free_software.shtml
A.K. Johnson, “New Zealand: the free-software community (1997), http://free.oas.gov.nz/freebios/machines.pdf
B. Kram, “Polaris: The Free Bibliography”, http://www.opener.net/publications/archive/polaris-freeware.html
Brief history of Open source
There are many facets of open source, including open source hardware, software engineering, hardware manufacturing, licensing. Open source software became synonymous with open source when the 1990s came to a close. By then, the open source community had been dominated by a handful of groups of people who wanted to make the software they saw out of their systems as free. The development curve of the software industry has also been highly distorted by the growth of small, open source hardware makers.
A recent survey of the Open Source Software Community of America, conducted by researchers at the MIT Media Lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that more than one fifth of the Open Source Software Community members have no knowledge of proprietary software. This suggests that in one nation, over 70% of the Nation’s open source computing population already have proprietary software. Open Source Software is an important part of the fabric of the international community of computing tools. Open Source Software has been adopted as the standard for digital information transfer through the Internet. It is the most widely used open source programming language and most commonly used for the operating system distribution of applications on Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and FreeBSD Operating Systems. It is also used for the production of all software on a single system. In 1994, the Federal Home Automation Administration (FHA) installed the Internet software distribution system Open Source, enabling all customers to distribute free software in compliance with the Open Source Community code standards.
Open Source Software is often referred to as a “newbie” or a “newbie to Software”. We have