What is Open Source?

A good number of the folks that find my site from Google want the answer to this question. I will try to provide a concise explanation for various different audiences. Please choose the one that fits you the best.

  1. End User (normal computer users)
    Open Source Software is software that is free for you to download. The creators of the software allow their peers to review and contribute changes to the program so that you end up with a program that’s been worked on thousands of folks (sometimes) without the costs of a large company to manage the process. This sometimes leads to better or worse software than the “normal” programs you buy from Best Buy or CompUSA.
  2. Software Developer
    Open Source Software allows a developer to contribute to an already existing product or application, it also provides a rich set of library code (basic functionality) effectively giving you an almost unlimited amount of blocks upon which to build your applications. The OS community fosters reuse so there is no need to re-invent the wheel - a major problem for all developers before the dawn of Open Source.
  3. Business Executive
    Open Source Software allows businesses to utilize enterprise-level and department-level software applications without prohibitive licensing costs. The availability and commoditization of software that OSS provides and encourages drives down the cost of software that corporations and users would normally consume. There are, however, many legal and logistical hurdles such as IP indemnification to consider.
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