Open Source resource

Posted on March 9, 2008
Filed Under Software, Websites |

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I may be a Windows developer but I use open source software all the time. In fact it has become a norm for me to use open source software where possible. For example WordPress, the blogging platform that I use is open source. MySQL, the WordPress backend database is open source. The operating system used by BlueHost, the company I use to host my blog is open source. Open source is simply everywhere.

What is open source?

It is a set of principles and practices on how to write software, and the source code is openly available to download.

The Open Source Definition laid out open source compliance guide lines* :

Free Redistribution: the software can be freely given away or sold. (This was intended to encourage sharing and use of the software on a legal basis.)

Source Code: the source code must either be included or freely obtainable. (Without source code, making changes or modifications can be impossible.)

Derived Works: redistribution of modifications must be allowed. (To allow legal sharing and to permit new features or repairs.)

Integrity of The Author’s Source Code: licenses may require that modifications are redistributed only as patches.

No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups: no one can be locked out.

No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor: commercial users cannot be excluded.

Distribution of License: The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

License Must Not Be Specific to a Product: the program cannot be licensed only as part of a larger distribution.

License Must Not Restrict Other Software: the license cannot insist that any other software it is distributed with must also be open source.

License Must Be Technology-Neutral: no click-wrap licenses or other medium-specific ways of accepting the license must be required.

Open source resource website
An open source resource website that provides a list of Windows and Linux open source software is called Open Source Living. It contains an archive of the web’s free open source software, applications and references.

Open Source Living provides links to open source software in the following categories:

Web

Graphics and Photos

Video

Audio

Documents

Content Management

File transfer

Web development

Entertainment

Misc.

* Source from Wikipedia