Search results
Free software, libre software, libreware [1] [2] or rarely known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions.
This is a list of free and open-source software packages, computer software licensed under free software licenses and open-source licenses. Software that fits the Free Software Definition may be more appropriately called free software; the GNU project in particular objects to their works being referred to as open-source. [1]
- Overview
- History
- Issues and Incidents
- As Part/Driver of A New Socio-Economic Model
"Free and open-source software" (FOSS) is an umbrella term for software that is simultaneously considered both free software and open-source software. The precise definition of the terms "free software" and "open-source software" applies them to any software distributed under terms that allow users to use, modify, and redistribute said software in ...
From the 1950s and on through the 1980s, it was common for computer users to have the source code for all programs they used, and the permission and ability to modify it for their own use. Software, including source code, was commonly shared by individuals who used computers, often as public-domain software (FOSS is not the same as public domain so...
GPLv3 controversy
While copyright is the primary legal mechanism that FOSS authors use to ensure license compliance for their software, other mechanisms such as legislation, patents, and trademarks have implications as well. In response to legal issues with patents and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the Free Software Foundation released version 3 of its GNU General Public License(GNU GPLv3) in 2007 that explicitly addressed the DMCA and patent rights. After the development of the GNU GPLv3 in 200...
Skewed prioritization, ineffectiveness and egoism of developers
Leemhuis criticizes the prioritizationof skilled developers who − instead of fixing issues in already popular open-source applications and desktop environments − create new, mostly redundant software to gain fame and fortune. He also criticizes notebook manufacturers for optimizing their own products only privately or creating workaroundsinstead of helping fix the actual causes of the many issues with Linux on notebooks such as the unnecessary power consumption.
Commercial ownership of open-source software
Mergers have affected major open-source software. Sun Microsystems (Sun) acquired MySQL AB, owner of the popular open-source MySQLdatabase, in 2008. Oracle in turn purchased Sun in January 2010, acquiring their copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Thus, Oracle became the owner of both the most popular proprietary database and the most popular open-source database. Oracle's attempts to commercialize the open-source MySQL database have raised concerns in the FOSS community. Partly in response t...
By defying ownership regulations in the construction and use of information—a key area of contemporary growth—the Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) movement counters neoliberalism and privatizationin general. By realizing the historical potential of an "economy of abundance" for the new digital world, FOSS may lay down a plan for political resistanc...
In the early 1980’s Richard Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation: a socio-technological movement that revolutionized the software world. Stallman and Tim O’Reilly – a pioneer of Open Source – tell the story. This article is a transcript of a podcast.
Free software is software that gives you the user the freedom to share, study and modify it. We call this free software because the user is free. To use free software is to make a political and ethical choice asserting the right to learn, and share what we learn with others.
MediaWiki is the free open-source wiki software used to power Wikipedia and thousands of other wikis. The contributions of hundreds of individual developers have helped make it a feature-rich, secure and scalable platform capable of powering some of the largest collaboratively edited reference projects in the world.
People also ask
Is Wikipedia open-source?
Who founded the Free Software Foundation?
When was free software invented?
What is wiki software?
Aug 10, 2022 · Even today, Wikipedia embodies many of the principles of open-source software: Wikipedia is a decentralized platform that anyone is free to use and access, it’s constantly being modified and updated by volunteer editors, and it advocates for transparency and a “neutral point of view.”
