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What is Open Source / Free Software?

If you are only interested in using the software listed on OpenSourceInstall.org, then you can save a lot of reading and simply download and use the software for free. However, if you are planning to redistribute, integrating open source software into your business products, or for any other business activities, please study the license file inside each software carefully. The Open Source definition would help you to understand more about Open Source Software:

Under the Open Source Definition, all open source software must be :

  1. Free Redistribution: the software can be freely given away or sold. (This was intended to encourage sharing and use of the software on a legal basis.)
  2. Source Code: the source code must either be included or freely obtainable. (Without source code, making changes or modifications can be impossible.)
  3. Derived Works: redistribution of modifications must be allowed. (To allow legal sharing and to permit new features or repairs.)
  4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code: licenses may require that modifications are redistributed only as patches.
  5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups: no one can be locked out.
  6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor: commercial users cannot be excluded.
  7. Distribution of License: The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
  8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product: the program cannot be licensed only as part of a larger distribution.
  9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software: the license cannot insist that any other software it is distributed with must also be open source.
  10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral: no click-wrap licenses or other medium-specific ways of accepting the license must be required.

The term Free Software, which in practice, refers to the same kind of software that Open Source represented. Free Software Definition is created by Free Software Foundation (FSF), you are encouraged to read or compare with the Open Source Definition for those who are interested.




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