About Open Source
The open source software movement provides software buyers with an alternative source of software without the intellectual property rights protections and costs required by closed source vendors.
What is open source
Open source software is software that has been created for free distribution for others to use or modify to suit their needs. With open source software the source code is available for users which contrasts open source with shareware and proprietary software. Open source software comes licensed with an approved open source license. All open source software licenses must be submitted to and approved by the Open Source Initiative. Approved licenses can be found at OpenSource.org website.
Perhaps the most well known open source software is the Linux operating system, but there are many more open source software projects. There are over 100,000 projects registered on SourceForge.net covering as broad a range of software categories as are commercially available.
Open Source Software (OSS) is sometimes referred to as Free Open Source Software (FOSS) or Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS).
Who creates open source?
Open source software is created by a community of developers who contribute their time to a project. Developers may be volunteers who have an interest in creating a software product for pleasure, users of the software who want to improve the product, or developers who are sponsored by their company to help contribute to an open source software product which they give to customers. Its not unusual to find developers who contribute to several projects and some contribute to 10 or more projects.
