What is "Open Source" (Open Source)

Source: Internet
Author: User
Tags virtual environment
"Open Source" (Open Source code) was registered as a certification mark by the non-profit software organization (Open Source Initiative Association of the United States) and formally defined, it is used to describe software whose source code can be used by the public, and its use, modification, and issuance are not subject to license restrictions.
Open source software is usually copyrighted. Its licenses may contain such restrictions: intentionally protecting its open source status, author identity announcements, or development control. In fact, open-source software involves both the source code and the development process. It covers three aspects: free distribution of source code, modular system, and market-based development, anyone from any place can participate in the manufacture of the final product. The three aspects are closely related to each other. The market-based development process provides open-source software with powerful error correction capabilities, because it exposes errors in the program to a large number of viewers, they are potential mistakes. On the other hand, the fact that anyone can reuse and release open source software code also supports the public interest, because the idea of innovation is shared by the entire market. In addition, the term "open source" is extended to other intellectual groups, which refer to intellectual resources that can be obtained through public means, such as newspapers and teaching courseware.
Critics of American progress pointed out that in a virtual environment like a network, underlying code of the system is driven, especially the communication protocols among well-known applications, in a sense, they are very similar to regulations in real society. In other words, these codes provide some rules for online behaviors, which encourage some behaviors and restrict other behaviors, just like laws in real society. Therefore, open source code brings about a more democratic way of development. In this way, good ideas will be shared collectively, rather than being kept secret by individuals as intellectual capital. In this sense, open source code has essentially become a political philosophy.

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