Editing Open-source software (section)

== Definitions ==
[[File:Open Source Initiative.svg|thumb|The logo of the [[Open Source Initiative]]]]
The [[Open Source Initiative]]'s (OSI) definition is recognized by several governments internationally<ref>{{cite web |url=https://opensource.org/authority |title=International Authority & Recognition |date=21 April 2015 |publisher=Opensource.org |access-date=7 December 2017 |archive-date=23 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723150523/https://opensource.org/authority |url-status=live }}</ref> as the standard or ''[[de facto]]'' definition. OSI uses ''[[The Open Source Definition]]'' to determine whether it considers a software license open source. The definition was based on the [[Debian Free Software Guidelines]], written and adapted primarily by [[Bruce Perens]].<ref>Perens, Bruce. [http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/perens.html Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915025222/http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/perens.html |date=15 September 2014 }}. [[O'Reilly Media]]. 1999.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781565925823|title=''The Open Source Definition by Bruce Perens''|date=January 1999|isbn=978-1-56592-582-3|last1=Dibona|first1=Chris|last2=Ockman|first2=Sam|publisher=O'Reilly }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://opensource.org/docs/osd|title=The Open Source Definition|date=7 July 2006|access-date=24 August 2008|archive-date=15 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015144021/http://opensource.org/docs/osd|url-status=live}}, The Open Source Definition according to the Open Source Initiative</ref> Perens did not base his writing on the "four freedoms" from the [[Free Software Foundation]] (FSF), which were only widely available later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1129863&cid=26875815 |title=How Many Open Source Licenses Do You Need? – Slashdot |website=News.slashdot.org |date=2009-02-16 |access-date=2012-03-25 |archive-date=17 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717074714/http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1129863&cid=26875815 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under Perens' definition, ''open source'' is a broad software license that makes source code available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent restrictions on the use and modification of the code. It is an explicit "feature" of open source that it puts very few restrictions on the use or distribution by any organization or user, in order to enable the rapid evolution of the software.<ref name="OSD-annotated16">{{cite web|last1=Open Source Initiative|title=The Open Source Definition (Annotated)|url=https://opensource.org/osd-annotated|website=opensource.org|date=24 July 2006|access-date=22 July 2016|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505064040/https://opensource.org/osd-annotated|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Feller et al. (2005), the terms "free software" and "open-source software" should be applied to any "software products distributed under terms that allow users" to use, modify, and redistribute the software "in any manner they see fit, without requiring that they pay the author(s) of the software a royalty or fee for engaging in the listed activities."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Feller |first1=Joseph |title=Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software |last2=Fitzgerald |first2=Brian |last3=Hissam |first3=Scott |last4=Lakhani |first4=Karim R. |publisher=The MIT Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-262-06246-1 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=xvii |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>

Despite initially accepting it,<ref name="osihist">{{cite web|last=Tiemann |first=Michael |title=History of the OSI |publisher=Open Source Initiative |access-date=13 May 2014 |url=http://www.opensource.org/docs/history.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924132022/http://www.opensource.org/docs/history.php |archive-date=24 September 2006 }}</ref> [[Richard Stallman]] of the FSF now flatly opposes the term "Open Source" being applied to what they refer to as "free software". Although he agrees that the two terms describe "almost the same category of software", Stallman considers equating the terms incorrect and misleading.<ref name=":19" /> Stallman also opposes the professed pragmatism of the [[Open Source Initiative]], as he fears that the free software ideals of freedom and community are threatened by compromising on the FSF's idealistic standards for software freedom.<ref name="Why">{{cite web |url = https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html |title = Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" |access-date = July 23, 2007 |last = Stallman |first = Richard |author-link = Richard Stallman |date = June 19, 2007 |website = Philosophy of the GNU Project |publisher = Free Software Foundation|archive-date = 27 March 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210327080246/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html |url-status = live }}</ref> The FSF considers free software to be a [[subset]] of open-source software, and Richard Stallman explained that [[Digital rights management|DRM]] software, for example, can be developed as open source, despite that it does not give its users freedom (it restricts them), and thus does not qualify as free software.<ref name=":19" />