Open Source

What is Open Source?

Put simply, if software is described as "open-source software" (OSS) then it's free. However 'free' does not simply mean that it is free of charge but means that you have many freedoms that you would not have with proprietary software.

Freedom :-

to redistribute.

to easily assess the source code.

to alter and redistribute altered software.

to be recognised for your work.

from discrimination.

to use as you please.

For an explanation of these freedoms and of other requirements of the term "open source" please look at The Open Source Initiative's (OSI) website opensource.org

These freedoms allow software to move on having new features added and bugs fixed at an amazing speed.

To protect these freedoms most OSS is copyrighted and licensed under an open-source licence (sometimes known as copyleft). There are many different software licences that are considered open-source licences, the most prominent being the GNU GPL, LGPL and the Mozilla Public Licence. To understand the GPL it is best to read the GPL's Preamble.

In order for a licence to be considered an open-source licence it should meet all the terms of the open source definition, however it must be stated that not everyone has the same idea of what open source is. When we talk about open source we use the definition set out by the open source initiative.

FLOSS

FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open-source Software) is a term coined to solve the problems of ambiguity found in previously used terms such as 'Free Software' and 'Open Source'. The term FLOSS is generally used when describing the use of open source in schools and in some official documents. To see a clear definition of FLOSS and a short history of these terms please see the Wikipedia FLOSS entry.

What is GNU?

GNU (GNU's not Unix) is a project to create a Free operating system similar to the proprietary Unix. Gnu have their own licences, the main being the GPL. GNU call their software 'Free Software', giving the explanation "``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.''". Although their licences do fit in with the Open Source Initiative's definition of open-source and is often called OSS.

What is GNU/Linux?

Gnu/Linux is the most commonly used variant of the GNU operating system and uses Linux as it's kernel. This system is often just called 'Linux'.

Please note that we try to get this information as accurate as possible but if you do feel that there is a mistake or that we have failed to cover a relevant issue them please contact us and we will try to rectify the problem as quickly as possible.