OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE!
Open Source System is a subset of large class of systems called “Open Systems”. The term “Open System” refers to any system that can be extended or modified by the user during its life time.
In a Closed System, there is a clear distinction between the time of design and the time of use. The scope of the closed system at the time of use is limited to the decisions made at the time of design.
Open Source System:
Open Source System can be defined as “Software that is made available along with the source code”. Such software can be developed in an environment, where the source code is available for inspection, analysis and programming enhancements through a communal effort. Therefore, Open Source System development is considered as a process of development in which developers voluntarily collaborate to develop software that they or their organizations need.
Open Source System refers to a stack of software solutions, which are available for free to use and re-distribution. Products such as Apache software for Servers, the Linux OS, and various file sharing/communication software platforms are some of the more successful Open Source projects to date.
Free Software:
Free Software is a kind of software which is freely exchanged with source code among a community of users. The word “Free" in the Free Software refers to the freedom or liberty which any one have in accessing the Source code of the product, and NOT price. Free software ensures the following:
- Freedom to run the program
- Freedom to study how the program works and adapt it to specific needs as the source code is accessible
- Freedom to redistribute copies to help other users needing the software
- Freedom to improve the program and release the improvements to the public so that the entire community benefits.
Open Source Software:
Free Software is also called as Open Source Software (OSS), because the ownership of the Free Software is obtained by obtaining the source code along with the product. Accessibility of source code is the pre-requisite for Free Software.
The user of Free Software can redistribute its copies either with or without modifications either at no cost or charging fee for distribution to anyone. The user need not ask permission or pay for getting the license to do modification or redistribution of Free Software.
The distribution terms of Open Source Software must comply with the following criteria:
The distribution terms of Open Source Software must comply with the following criteria:
- The re-distribution must be free. It doesn’t require additional license for redistribution.
- Distribution must include both the source code and the compiled form of the product. Parts of the product not distributed with source code must have clear methods of getting the source code of the parts for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost.
- Derived works from the original software must be re-distributed under the original license.
- The license may restrict source code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of “path files” with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time.
Thus Open Source is a strategy to support the Free Software Movement.
Here is a video presentation on the Basics of Open Source Software:
Proprietary Software:
Proprietary software is a software product, which is developed or owned by one party. Proprietary software is the legal property of only one party. The terms of use by other parties are defined by contracts or licensing agreements. These terms may include various privileges to share, alter, dissemble, and use the software and its code.
Generally, with proprietary software, the source code of the software is not available, or the licensor doesn’t grant the freedom to use, modify, and distribute the source code of the product. Well known examples of proprietary software include Microsoft Windows, RealPlayer, iTunes, Adobe Photoshop, Mac OS X, WinZip and some versions of UNIX.
Some proprietary software comes along with source code or provides offers to the source code. Users are free to use and even study and modify the software in these cases, but are restricted by either licenses or non-disclosure agreements from redistributing modifications or sharing the software. Examples include Pine, the Microsoft shared source license program and certain implementations of SSN.
Shareware, Freeware and Abandonware:
Shareware and Freeware are proprietary software, which are distributed without their source code. A freeware is a kind of proprietary software, which is available for free but without the source code. It may or may not provide all the features available in the original copy of it.
Shareware, like freeware, is proprietary software available at zero price, but differs in that it is gratis only for a trial period, after which some restrictions is imposed or it is completely disabled. Proprietary software, which is no longer marketed by its owner and is used without permission by users is abandonware and may include source code.
Open Source Projects:
Linux is considered open source. Its source code is included in all its distributions and is feely available on the Internet. Many major software development efforts are also open source projects such as the KDE and Gnome desktops along with most of their applications.
The Netscape Communicator Web browser package has also become open source, with all its source code freely available. The StarOffice office suite supported by Sun is now an open source project. Recently, open source applications that run on Linux have located their Web sites at Source Forge (sourceforge.net).
Source Forge is a hosting site designed specifically to support open source projects. We can find more information about the open source movement and recent developments at both Linuxcare (http://www.linuxcare.com/) and at http://www.opensource.org/.
The Linux Operating System
