Open Source

In short: Open source means the source code of software is public and may be freely used, changed and passed on under a licence.

In more detail: Well-known examples are Linux, Firefox, Blender, Git and Python.

In Depth

Licences

• GPL: changes must stay open under the same licence (copyleft).
• MIT, Apache 2.0, BSD: very permissive.

Distinction

“Open source” does not mean free of charge. And freeware is not automatically open. Advantages: transparency, security review by many, community. See GitHub.

See also: Linux, Git, Freeware, GitHub