History of free and open-source software

In the 1950s and 1960s, computer operating software and compilers were delivered as a part of hardware purchases without separate fees. At this time, source code, the human-readable form of software, was generally distributed with the software providing the ability to fix bugs or add new functionality. Universities were early adopters of computing technology. Many of the modifications developed by universities were openly shared in keeping with the academic principles of sharing knowledge, and organizations sprung up to facilitate sharing.

As large-scale operating systems matured, fewer organizations allowed modifications to the operating software, and eventually such operating systems were closed to modification. However, utilities and other added-function applications are still shared and new organizations have been formed to promote the sharing of software.

Sharing techniques before software

The concept of free sharing of technological information existed long before computers. For example, cooking recipes have been shared and remixed since the beginning of human culture.

Open source

In production and development, open source as a development model promotes universal access via a free license to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint, including subsequent improvements to it by anyone. Before the phrase open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of other terms. Open source gained hold with the rise of the Internet, and the attendant need for massive retooling of the computing source code. Opening the source code enabled a self-enhancing diversity of production models, communication paths, and interactive communities. The open-source software movement arose to clarify the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues created.

Generally, open source refers to a computer program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design. Open-source code is meant to be a collaborative effort, where programmers improve upon the source code and share the changes within the community. Typically this is not the case, and code is merely released to the public under some license. Others can then download, modify, and publish their version (fork) back to the community. Today you find more projects with forked versions than unified projects worked by large teams.

Open source (disambiguation)

Open source denotes that a product includes permission to use its source code, design documents, or content (see open source and open content – the latter deals with non-software deliverables or where the distinction between source code and other content is unclear or complex).

It may also mean:s

Specific products

Licensing

Society and culture

Open Source (radio show)

Open Source is an American public radio show hosted by Christopher Lydon, former New York Times journalist and original host of The Connection. The show focuses on the arts, literature, and foreign affairs.

History

In May 2005, Christopher Lydon and his longtime producer Mary McGrath partnered with University of Massachusetts Lowell's radio station WUML, WGBH (FM), and Public Radio International to produce Open Source as a daily call-in radio program. The show was syndicated by 32 NPR stations, before it was canceled on October 16, 2006. In 2007, Lydon moved to Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies to podcast hourlong conversations under the name Open Source. In 2013, Lydon and McGrath returned to WBUR to produce Open Source as a weekly show.

Schedule

Open Source airs twice a week on WBUR, Thursday night at 9pm and Sunday afternoon at 2pm. The Open Source podcast reaches listeners in over 150 countries each week. Open Source also produces ongoing series on its website, including "Reading Chekhov," a reading of Anton Chekhov's short stories by Boston actors and academics, and "Parachute Radio," international conversations from Ghana, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Jamaica, Singapore and Cuba.