Open Source

Are you tired of paying for software? $100 for Windows? $200 for Photoshop? $250 for SoundForge? Did you know that there are high quality replacements for these that are available for free? Hello this is Jeanna Matthews and you are listening to Common Sense Computing.

The Open Source or Free Software movement is a collection of thousands of computer programmers all over the world that make the source code or detailed instructions for the software they write publicly available and freely downloadable. One of the most popular examples of the Open Source movement is the free operating system, Linux.

In addition the base operating system, many Linux distributions include 100s of free applications like Open Office, a free replacement for Microsoft Office's Word processors and spreadsheets that can actually read and write files that are interchangeable with the comparable Microsoft products, Mozilla a free web browser or Apache a free web server.

The key to this open source movement is making the source code publicly available. Source code is the detailed instructions written by programmers that specify how the software should behave in every instance. The source code for the Mozilla web browser for example contains millions of lines of such instructions or the rough equivalent of hundreds of text books.

It may seem surprising that programmers would be willing to give the products of their work away for free. This is especially amazing considering that commercially written software is considered highly confidential. For example, if Microsoft source code is ever leaked to the public, the company takes extensive steps to recover the leaked code and prevent its spread. However, the Open Source model provides the opportunity for programmers and companies to make money from the open source software they produce through services such as consulting, documentation and technical support. Because the software is freely available, it creates a open market rather than a monopoly for these services which is good for society as a whole.

The Open Source or Free Software movement began with Richard Stallman and his desire to form a community of programmers and computer users in which ideas about how to make software better, faster and more secure could flow freely -unhampered by the barriers of commercial interests. He authored a special license document called the GNU General Public License or GPL which specifies that the source code is copy righted by the authors but that the authors do grant others the right to copy, modify and share as long as they as they do so under the same license terms. Thus, the freedom to share goes with the software.

Amazingly, volunteer Open Source projects have in many cases outdistanced their commercial counterparts through the power of the free exchange of information and intense peer review. For more information on Open Source Software and the Free Software Movement, visit us on the web at commonsensecomputing.org. For Common Sense Computing, this is Jeanna Matthews.

Open Source Initiative: http://www.opensource.org/

GNU Operating System: http://www.gnu.org

Philosophy of GNU Project and the Free Software Movement: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html

REVOLUTION OS: http://www.revolution-os.com/

Introduction to the Mozilla Source Code: http://www.mozilla.org/hacking/coding-introduction.html

The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric Raymond: http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/