Open source refers to a type of software whose source code is released under a license granting anyone permission to view, modify, and distribute the software. This concept traces its roots back to the early 20th century with the sharing of technical information among automobile manufacturers. However, it was not until the late 1990s that the term ‘open source’ was coined. The economic value of open source lies in its low reproduction costs and the potential for community contributions to improve the original design. It operates on a model of decentralized development and universal access, encouraging collaboration and peer production. Open source principles are applied in various fields, from software development[1] to biotechnology research, reflecting its influence on social and political perspectives.
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized software development model that encourages open collaboration. A main principle of open-source software development is peer production, with products such as source code, 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 open-source appropriate technology, and open-source drug discovery.
Open source promotes universal access via an open-source or free license to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint. 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 Internet. The open-source software movement arose to clarify copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues.
Generally, open source refers to a computer program in which the source code is available to the general public for use or modification from its original design. Code is released under the terms of a 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 Apache Software Foundation, which supports community projects such as the open-source framework Apache Hadoop and the open-source HTTP server Apache HTTP.
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