Open Source Software: Its Definition and Functioning
Open source software (OSS) has become a cornerstone of modern technology, powering a significant portion of the digital world. This article delves into the history, principles, and benefits of OSS, as well as its widespread adoption across various sectors.
OSS is computer software made available with its source code, allowing users to view, modify, and distribute it freely under specific licensing terms. This openness has attracted a vast community of developers, fostering a culture of sharing and collaboration that aligns perfectly with the principles of the digital age.
The roots of OSS can be traced back to the 1970s and 1980s, with the University of California at Berkeley's Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) playing a pivotal role. BSD, an enhanced Unix variant, included source code freely provided to researchers, enabling modification and extension. This early culture of shared development laid the groundwork for the OSS movement.
In the 1980s, Richard Stallman emerged as a central figure advocating for software freedom. He launched the GNU Project in 1983, aiming to create a completely free Unix-like operating system. Stallman's philosophy emphasized software freedom and community collaboration, with licensing under the GNU General Public License (GPL) ensuring users the freedom to run, study, distribute, and modify software.
The Linux kernel, initiated by Linus Torvalds in 1991, effectively enabled a fully functional free operating system. Torvalds' approach combined practical open development with a collaborative model, attracting developers worldwide and catalysing a vibrant OSS ecosystem.
By the late 1990s, the success of freely available code bases like Linux and BSD inspired broader interest in the benefits of collaborative, openly shared software development. In 1998, the term "open source" was coined to rebrand the free software movement, with an emphasis on pragmatic business-friendly benefits rather than Stallman's ethical emphasis. This rebranding helped the movement gain wider acceptance in commercial and industrial software development, marking the start of the modern open source movement as we recognize it today.
Today, OSS is widely adopted, with 78% of businesses now running on it. The U.S. Department of Defense actively encourages its use, recognising the numerous advantages it offers, such as flexibility, cost-effectiveness, transparency, rapid innovation, community support, and access to a vast pool of talent.
Despite misconceptions about OSS, such as lower quality and security, OSS may in fact be more secure than proprietary alternatives due to the rigorous testing and review processes it undergoes and the quick identification and resolution of vulnerabilities. The average remediation time for open source vulnerabilities is 1 to 3 weeks, compared to 38 days for commercial software.
In conclusion, the evolution of OSS from academic openness to ideological free software activism, and finally to pragmatic and market-savvy open source adoption, has defined its journey in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, OSS serves as a valuable learning resource for students and aspiring programmers, offers stronger peer review, and is frequently developed and maintained by communities of volunteers and organisations with a shared interest in its success, fostering its long-term sustainability.
The wide acceptance of open source software (OSS) in commercial and industrial sectors can be attributed to its practical business-friendly benefits, emphasized during the rebranding of free software movement in 1998. Today, 78% of businesses are running on OSS, demonstrating its significance in modern finance and business operations.
In addition, the security of OSS may surpass that of proprietary alternatives due to the rigorous testing and prompt identification of vulnerabilities, resulting in an average remediation time of 1 to 3 weeks for open source vulnerabilities, significantly less than commercial software.
