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Topic: Open Source Software

	Intellectual Property Law - An Overview of “Open Source” Software Licenses
		The term "open source" commonly refers to a software program or set of software technologies that are made widely available by an individual or group in source code form for use, modification and redistribution under a license agreement having very few restrictions.
		In 1998, a group associated with free software introduced the term "open source" to emphasize a break with the pro-hacker, anti-business past associated with GNU and other free software projects and to place a new emphasis in the community on the possibilities of extending the free software model to the commercial world.
		Having access to source code enables the developer to understand the program at a deep level and to debug and optimize his or her own program at a level of efficiency and skill that is often not possible with programs available only in binary form.
	www.abanet.org /intelprop/opensource.html (2370 words)

	Open-source software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Openness is a term that has evolved now to refer to projects that are open to anyone and everyone to contribute to, before and/or after the actual programming.
		Open source advocates point out that as of the early 2000s, at least 90 percent of computer programmers are employed not to produce software for direct sale, but rather to design and customize software for other purposes, such as in-house applications.
		Open source highlights that the source code is viewable to all and proponents of the term usually emphasize the quality of the software and how this is caused by the development models which are possible and popular among free software/open source software projects.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Open_source_software (3220 words)

	ONLamp.com -- What Is Open Source
		Open source usually refers to software that is released with source code under a license that ensures that derivative works will also be available as source code, protects certain rights of the original authors, and prohibits restrictions on how the software can be used or who can use it.
		Open source began as, and for the most part still is, software created by a community of people who are dedicated to working together in a highly collaborative and evolutionary way.
		The most important difference between software created by the open source communities and commercial software sold by vendors is that open source software is published under licenses that ensure that the source code is available to everyone to inspect, change, download, and explore as they wish.
	www.onlamp.com /pub/a/onlamp/2005/09/15/what-is-opensource.html (868 words)

	What is open source? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer Dictionary (Site not responding. Last check: )
		(1) Generically, open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge, i.e., open.
		Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community.
		The process of eliminating bugs and improving the software happens at a much quicker rate than through the traditional development channels of commercial software as the information is shared throughout the open source community and does not originate and channel through a corporation's research and development cogs.
	www.webopedia.com /TERM/o/open_source.html (646 words)

	Debian -- What Does Free Mean?
		Software that is free only in the sense that you don't need to pay to use it is hardly free at all.
		Software licensed at no cost is usually a weapon in a marketing campaign to promote a related product or to drive a smaller competitor out of business.
		Software companies are looking to protect their assets so they only release compiled code (which isn't human readable) and put many restrictions on the use of the software.
	www.debian.org /intro/free (1044 words)

	Why “Free Software” is better than “Open Source” - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)
		The official definition of “open source software,” as published by the Open Source Initiative, is very close to our definition of free software; however, it is a little looser in some respects, and they have accepted a few licenses that we consider unacceptably restrictive of the users.
		OSS is software for which the source code is freely and publicly available, though the specific licensing agreements vary as to what one is allowed to do with that code.
		In effect, these companies seek to gain the favorable cachet of “open source” for their proprietary software products—even though those are not “open source software”—because they have some relationship to free software or because the same company also maintains some free software.
	www.gnu.org /philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html (2578 words)

	Howstuffworks "What does open source mean?"
		Open source software is at the opposite end of the spectrum.
		The software developers who support the open source concept believe that by allowing anyone who's interested to modify the source code, the application will be more useful and error-free over the long term.
		A common concern for end-users who wish to use open source software is the lack of a warranty and technical support.
	computer.howstuffworks.com /question435.htm (542 words)

	Fighting Raymondism: Open Source Software Development as a Special Type of Academic Research
		Other myths are specific to open source development, though most stem from treating code as the primary artifact of development (not binaries), not from any relative immaturity in its participants or practices.
		Where open source tends to fall down is not in lack of innovation, but in a failure to achieve the same level of limited function and high glitz as proprietary solutions.
		Where open source shines is in the testing and revision cycle (and in the ownership of the code by programmers, not by managers...
	www.softpanorama.org /OSS/index.shtml (15484 words)

	Fundamental issues with open source software development
		However, if the Open Source community wishes to truly prosper and have their tools used by the general public, it is fundamentally necessary for them to recognize that the majority of the users will never know that they happened to invent a particularly clever algorithm for synchronizing the multi–threaded editing of their complex data structure.
		A very common problem among software developers (and not just ones working on Open Source projects) is the fallacy that intuitiveness is problem–specific rather than audience–specific: what is easy to them will naturally be easy to everyone else [6].
		Open Source software is being increasingly used in developing nations, where the cost of proprietary software is too high, and by governments around the globe, who are resisting reliance on a proprietary company.
	firstmonday.org /issues/issue9_4/levesque (2712 words)

	ALA \| Volume 21, No. 1, March 2002
		When software projects fail, the failure is more often than not attributable to shortcomings in the planning and analysis phase rather than in the coding itself.
		Open source software provides some particular challenges for planning since the code itself will be worked on by different programmers and will evolve over time.
		The success of an open source project will clearly depend on the clarity of the shared vision of the goals of the software and some strong definitions of basic functions and how they will work.
	www.lita.org /ala/lita/litapublications/ital/volume21no1.htm (831 words)

	Info \| OSU Open Source Lab
		"Open source" means that the building blocks for a program are freely available to use, modify, and improve.
		The Open Source Lab is here to contribute resources to the community, allowing developers to focus on what they do best rather than having to spend time worrying about system resources and hosting.
		Oregon State University Open Source Lab has begun a new Drupal training program aimed at OSU faculty and staff.
	osuosl.org (812 words)

	What is Open-Source Software? - - Online Features - Darwin Online for Informed Executives (Site not responding. Last check: )
		In order to use open-source software, users must agree to a license, which usually includes the ability to run the program, have the source code, change the source code, and distribute it.
		When you build something with open-source software you have to provide others the opportunity to do the same thing, which is how the software is further developed.
		While the software may be free (as in no cost), there are other elements that are not free (as in you pay for them).
	www.darwinmag.com /learn/curve/column.html?ArticleID=108 (495 words)

	Open Directory - Computers: Open Source: Software (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Business Readiness Rating - A new standard model for rating open source software, with the goal of giving companies a source for determining whether the software they are considering is mature enough to adopt.
		Open Channel Foundation - Hosting open source projects and software from academic and research institutions and providing commercial services.
		The OSSwin Project - Project to build a directory of open source software which is able to replace much of the proprietary software most Windows-users use nowadays.
	dmoz.org /Computers/Open_Source/Software (466 words)

	The Open Source Definition \| Open Source Initiative
		Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code.
		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.
	www.opensource.org /docs/osd (456 words)

	Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FOSS, or FLOSS)? Look at the Numbers!
		Note that those who use the term “open source software” tend to emphasize technical advantages of such software (such as better reliability and security), while those who use the term “Free Software” tend to emphasize freedom from control by another and/or ethical issues.
		Chuck Upsdell has combined many data sources and estimates that, as of September 2004, IE has decreased from 94% to 84%, as users switch to other browser families (mainly Gecko); he also believes this downward trend is likely to continue.
		Open source is so pervasive that IDC declares in this study that open-source software represents the most significant all-encompassing and long-term trend that the software industry has seen since the early 1980s.
	www.dwheeler.com /oss_fs_why.html (15007 words)

	Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS) References
		Open Source as ESS by David Rysdam, which applies game theory concepts to software licenses and argues that the GPL fundamentally ``wins'' over other licenses.
		Tim O'Reilly's "The Open Source Paradigm Shift" (May 2004) is a very interesting piece arguing that OSS/FS is an expression of three trends: the commoditization of software, network-enabled collaboration, and software customizability (software as a service).
		Mark Webbink, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Red Hat, Inc, wrote the article Understanding Open Source Software that gives a brief introduction to OSS/FS from a legal perspectives (the article was originally published on March 2003 in the Journal of the New South Wales Society for Computers and the Law).
	www.dwheeler.com /oss_fs_refs.html (5129 words)

	Apple - Open Source
		Major components of Mac OS X, including the UNIX-based core, are made available under Apple’s Open Source license, allowing developers and students to view source code, learn from it and submit suggestions and modifications.
		In addition, Apple uses software created by the Open Source community, such as the HTML rendering engine for Safari, and returns its enhancements to the community.
		Apple believes that using Open Source methodology makes Mac OS X a more robust, secure operating system, as its core components have been subjected to the crucible of peer review for decades.
	www.apple.com /opensource (201 words)

	The Usability of Open Source Software
		The increasing attention being paid to usability in open source circles (Frishberg et al., 2002) suggests that it may be passing through a similar phase to that of proprietary software in the 1980s.
		OSS planning is usually done by the project initiator, before the larger group are involved [5].
		Thus there is a tendency for OSS applications to grow in complexity, reducing their usability for novices, but with that tendency to remain invisible to the developers who are not novices and relish the power of sophisticated applications.
	firstmonday.org /issues/issue8_1/nichols/index.html (9282 words)

	Open Source Software Development as a Special Type of Academic Research
		Source availability is an additional form of consumer protection; the user benefits even if he or she does not program in C. It essentially ensures much better survivability of a product in a changing OS environment.
		Open source reminds me of the university, or more to the point, of the long-standing traditions of open knowledge-creating and sharing that are responsible for the impressive successes of Western science.
		The open source movement is playing an important and vital role in software development at the end of the 20th century, and open source will continue to be an important center for creativity in the next century.
	www.firstmonday.dk /issues/issue4_10/bezroukov/index.html (10337 words)

	Free Software
		Open Source refers to the fact that the source code of Free Software is open to and for the world to take, to modify and to reuse.
		Open Source and Free Software refer to, originally the same (around Feb 1998), but now different but largely similiar, set of software, but they emphasize different rationals; see Why ``Free Software'' is better than ``Open Source'' for more explanation.
		Open Source is a trademark of the Software in the Public Interest.
	www.free-soft.org (530 words)

	BBC - OpenSource
		The site doesn't cover the many open source projects to which the BBC has contributed, but only those that the BBC has initiated and managed itself.
		For the BBC, open source software development is an extension of our Public Service remit.
		Releasing open source software helps our audience get additional value from the work they've funded, and also get tools for free that they couldn't get any other way.
	www.bbc.co.uk /opensource (132 words)

	USATODAY.com - Open-source software offers alternative to off-the-shelf products (Site not responding. Last check: )
		The term "open source" means that the source code—the actual computer code the programmers wrote—is available for everyone to see and use.
		Just about all open-source software is completely free, usually licensed under the GNU General Public License which states, among other things, that it's "intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software — to make sure the software is free for all its users."
		The open-source credo goes beyond software, although that's where it is having its biggest impact.
	www.usatoday.com /tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2004-03-26-kantor_x.htm (1699 words)

	Tigris.org: Open Source Software Engineering
		Software engineering practices are key to any large development project.
		The open source software development movement has produced a number of very powerful and useful software development tools, but it has also evolved a software development process that works well under conditions where normal development processes fail.
		Open source projects are also a great for developers to keep their skills current and plug into a growing base of shared experience for everyone in the field.
	tigris.org (542 words)

	Software [OCLC - OCLC Research]
		Source code and documentation, as well as the class files or binaries, are available.
		If you have or are interested in software licensed under one of the older licenses and would like to use it under the Apache license, please contact us and we may be able to update the software to use the Apache license.
		The Open Source initiative is described in more detail on the OCLC Research Open Software Development page.
	www.oclc.org /research/software/default.htm (1032 words)

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