Free Libre Open Source Software

ree Libre Open Source Software ESF created by David Tucker at the University of California in Santa Cruz What is Free/Libre software? What is Open Source software? Free software is licensed with the user in mind in the following way: •Freedom to run the program for any purpose •Freedom to redistribute copies to whoever requests one •Freedom to study how the program works and to modify it for any purpose •Freedom to redistribute modified copies for the benefit of others Open source is a more marketable approach to free software based on a development methodology (shown below). While the Open Source movement shares many of the same ideals as the free software movement, its focus is more practical than philosophical. Note that open source is not the same as source available. He or she chooses an approved Users deploy and test more Open Source software license. stable versions of the code. A developer has a great idea for an exciting new FLOSS project. Users enjoy strong support from an open community willing to help. A public version control repository is typically created as the home for project source code. Strong interest perpetuates Bugs are tracked in a central participation in the project. location so anyone may fix them. The collaborative effort of many great minds results in a better end product for everyone. Other developers who also find the project interesting contribute improvements and repairs to the latest (more unstable) versions of the code. More project participation results in fewer bugs that get found more quickly. The open source development model promotes inclusive and non-discriminatory environments that everyone can participate in. Anyone has the potential to alter the course of the project or create a fork of the project that heads in a new direction. The communities supporting these projects are self-governing, self-sustaining, and self-promoting. This kind of approach to progress has the potential to affect many other important aspects of our lives as software becomes more ubiquitous and technology becomes more integrated in all areas of modern society. Allowing anyone to study source code and participate in software development has more benefits than simply expediting innovation. Open source communities can act as great educational mediums for learning computer languages and architectures as well as other technologies in general. The improved reliability of open source code makes it ideal in security-critical environments. Also, the natural transparency inherent in open source software makes it suitable for use in government and other public establishments.