Welcome
This
site provides you with information on Open Source
Software and Education resources in the form of links.
Here and there you will find articles.
What is Open Source?
Open
Source or open-source software is different from proprietary software.
In Open Source, the source code used in the software is available to
anyone to examine, evaluate, and adapt. Open source has had an
important impact on the way many developers view and create software.
End users often use the term open-source to cover a variety of free and
open source software.
Free software is
open-source software,
but not all open-source software is free. Free software is software
that adheres to the concept of the four freedoms of software, as
articulated by the GNU Project.
These four freedoms are as follows:
* The user is free to use the software for any purpose.
* The user is free to study the mechanisms by which the program
operates and to adjust these mechanisms to a specific purpose.
* The user is free to redistribute the software to another user.
* The user is free to adapt and improve the program and release these
adaptations and improvements to the public.
Free Software shares much of its philosophy with Open-Source software, but many people within the open source community feel that there are important distinctions between the terms, as described in the section Free Software vs. Open-source software.
Often Free Software is referred to as "free as in speech, not as in beer", stressing the idea that the Free-software movement is concerned with freedom, not with price. Throughout this book the reader should assume that the word "free" is referring to freedom.
Tips for picking softwareThere is no one best way to find FOSS projects that will best serve your needs. There are several rules of thumb you can use to help you make informed decisions.
* Do you already have something that will do the job well?
* Does the program do what you want?
* Do you care about the ideologies behind free software and open source software?
* Do you know other people that already use it?
* Is the current version over a year old?
* Are there user support mailing lists you can join?
