John’s article on Open Source Software in Libraries
Posted by John on June 24th, 2008Open Source Software (OSS) is any program whose source code is made available for use or modification by whomever wants to modify it. Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available. Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and then distributed freely.
OSS can be an operating system, like Linux or a application program like Firefox. The Firefox browser is an excellent example of open source software (OSS). It is a browser that supports all operating systems, it has easily added components, called plug ins, and continues to develop without the ownership of a company.