A page at opensource.com <https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-source> defines "open source" as follows:
The term "open source" refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible. The term originated in the context of software development to designate a specific approach to creating computer programs. Today, however, "open source" designates a broader set of values-what we call " <https://opensource.com/open-source-way> the open source way." Open source projects, products, or initiatives embrace and celebrate principles of open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community-oriented development. I believe most of that is true in our community, but it isn't a very useful definition for understanding "open source software." It doesn't help any of us review free and open source licenses. Here is a proposed definition. It adds patents to the copyright license grant we usually talk about. "Open source software" means software actually distributed under terms that grant a copyright and patent license from all contributors to the software for every licensee to access and use the complete source code, make copies of the software or derivative works thereof and, without payment of royalties or other consideration, to distribute the unmodified or modified software. This is a DRAFT, open for your editing and changes. This doesn't replace the OSD Copyright or the W3C Royalty-Free Patent definitions that are more specific, but as a summary definition it could help people understand the fundamental rules of open source. It might also help us understand if "experimental licenses" that stretch their "copyleft" or other provisions beyond AGPL satisfy at least the basic principles of open source software. This definition might be a legitimate justification for approval of such licenses by OSI because they are "open source software" even if somewhat unfriendly to some customers. Copied below is the Wikipedia page describing and defining "open source." It also is accurate, but not helpful for the OSI "open source software" test. /Larry ************************** From Wikipedia: The open-source model is a decentralized <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development> software development model that encourages <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_collaboration> open collaboration. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-doi.org-1> [1] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-2> [2] A main principle of <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software_development> open-source software development is <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_production> peer production, with products such as source code, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueprint> blueprints, and documentation freely available to the public. The open-source movement in software began as a response to the limitations of proprietary code. The model is used for projects such as in <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_appropriate_technology> open-source appropriate technology, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-3> [3] and open-source drug discovery. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-4> [4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-5> [5] Open source promotes universal access via an <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_license> open-source or <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_license> free license to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-6> [6] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-7> [7] Before the phrase open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of other terms. Open source gained hold with the rise of the <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet> Internet. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_model#cite_note-8> [8]The <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software_movement> open-source software movement arose to clarify <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright> copyright, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/License> licensing, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name> domain, and consumer issues. Generally, open source refers to a <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_program> computer program in which the <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_code> source code is available to the general public for use or modification from its original design. Open-source code is meant to be a collaborative effort, where programmers improve upon the source code and share the changes within the community. Code is released under the terms of a <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license> software license. Depending on the license terms, others may then download, modify, and publish their version (fork) back to the community. Many large formal institutions have sprung up to support the development of the open-source movement, including the <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Software_Foundation> Apache Software Foundation, which supports community projects such as the open-source framework <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Hadoop> Apache Hadoop and the open-source <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol> HTTP server <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_HTTP_Server> Apache HTTP.
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