From Linux, Open Office, Firefox and GIMP to a growing list of other applications Open Source has become a popular alternative to costly commercial software. Open source software is developed by a community of programmers with peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in. (Presented by Maurice Green at the August 2008 General meeting. Additional material and links have been added.)

What is Open Source Software?

In the early days of personal computing, "free" software was known as "shareware" or "freeware". Most of the shareware programs were written by one or two programmers and offered for free download with the understanding that if the user liked the program and found it useful, they would pay the small "registration fee" for it. Technical support for these programs varied widely. Freeware, on the other hand, was generally accepted to be demo or "light" versions of commercial programs which either had a limited time for use, were "crippled" in some fashion (could not save the results or had a watermark on the document), or lacked several major features found in the full paid version. Freeware is proprietary software made available free of charge. Users usually cannot study, modify, or redistribute freeware.

Today with the Open Source Initiative, the term "free" has a different connotation. As open source developers like to say, "To understand the concept of free software, you should think "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer." Free software is a matter of liberty, not price.

Free Software Foundation

The free software movement was started in 1983 by computer scientist Richard M. Stallman, when he launched a project called GNU, which stands for “GNU is Not UNIX”. (In true UNIX fashion, this definition is recursive.) GNU would provide a replacement for the UNIX operating system—a replacement that would respect the freedoms of those using it. Then in 1985, Stallman started the Free Software Foundation, a nonprofit with the mission of advocating and educating on behalf of computer users around the world.

The GNU operating system was the first operating system to give the user the freedom to share, study and modify it. It is called "free" software because the user is free.

GNU General Public License

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. (Access to the source code is a precondition for this.)
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. (Access to the source code is a precondition for this.)

What is "Copyleft"?

Copyleft is a general method for making a program or other work free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. The simplest way to make a program free software is to put it in the public domain, uncopyrighted. This allows people to share the program and their improvements, if they are so minded. But it also allows uncooperative people to convert the program into proprietary software.

In the GNU project, the aim is to give all users the freedom to redistribute and change GNU software. So instead of putting GNU software in the public domain, we “copyleft” it. Copyleft says that anyone who redistributes the software, with or without changes, must pass along the freedom to further copy and change it. Copyleft guarantees that every user has freedom.