What is "open source"? (And why should you care?)

Last week, the social media project Diaspora was in the news, with their promise to create an open source alternative to Facebook. Although Diaspora (and others) are riding the wave of anti-Facebook sentiment, it's worth examining the other half of their proposal -- the open source aspect.

What is "open source"?

Although the term gets used quite a lot in technology circles, there is often some confusion about exactly what it means, particularly when it comes to questions of whether or not software that is "open source" is necessarily "free." In an oft-repeated saying, open source is free as in "free speech" not free as in "free beer." In other words, it is meant to be open and accessible, but that doesn't necessarily come without a price-tag.

In other words, open source is a practice that opens up the source (in the case of technology, this is typically the source code) so that others beyond the original creators can develop, expand, and modify the code. Unlike proprietary systems in which you are forbidden to "open the hood" to tinker with the moving parts, open source allows anyone to download the code and then alter it without restriction or fear of punishment.

Many people argue that because open source involves a community of developers always working to improve the code, open source actually encourages more rapid innovation and improvement than does a closed, proprietary system.

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote the use of open source software in the commercial world. To accomplish, OSI maintains and promotes the Open Source Definition and certifies programs that are OSD-compliant. To be OSI certified, software must be distributed under a license that guarantees the right to read, redistribute, modify, and use the software freely. The Open Source Definition provided by OSI contains the following elements:

• Free redistribution


• Source code


• Derived works


• Integrity of the author's source code


• No discrimination against persons or groups


• No discrimination against fields of endeavor


• Distribution of license


• License must not be specific to a product


• License must not restrict other software


• License must be technology-neutral