Comments on: What is Open Source? http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/2006/02/13/what-is-open-source/ We eat cats whilst you code. Thu, 17 May 2012 00:31:11 +0100 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: Dave http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/2006/02/13/what-is-open-source/comment-page-1/#comment-168 Dave Tue, 14 Feb 2006 20:55:19 +0000 http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/?p=153#comment-168 Found this whilst doing my dissertation "Open source" simply means that the software and its source code are available to everyone, free of charge. Given the source code, anyone can patch it, fix it, or tweak it. Then they share these changes. Open source is as much a process as it is a type of software. (Dennis Fowler 2000 Open season: will open source software finally take the commercial world by storm? pp2) Found this whilst doing my dissertation

“Open source” simply means that the software and its source code are available to everyone, free of charge. Given the source code, anyone can patch it, fix it, or tweak it. Then they share these changes. Open source is as much a process as it is a type of software. (Dennis Fowler 2000 Open season: will open source software finally take the commercial world by storm? pp2)

]]> By: Des Traynor http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/2006/02/13/what-is-open-source/comment-page-1/#comment-165 Des Traynor Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:49:10 +0000 http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/?p=153#comment-165 Thats by no means an elevator pitch. Unless the elevator is broken, and you have the person cornered :) Thats by no means an elevator pitch. Unless the elevator is broken, and you have the person cornered :)

]]> By: Podcasting In Ireland http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/2006/02/13/what-is-open-source/comment-page-1/#comment-163 Podcasting In Ireland Mon, 13 Feb 2006 13:37:37 +0000 http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/?p=153#comment-163 <strong>Flattened by Podsafe Ambience</strong> EDUCAST #6 (47.4 MB MP3 file) asks students in the Mass Communications and Culture module to reflect on “open source music” like the Podsafe Music Network. These multimedia programming students know Open Source for another purpose–com... Flattened by Podsafe Ambience

EDUCAST #6 (47.4 MB MP3 file) asks students in the Mass Communications and Culture module to reflect on “open source music” like the Podsafe Music Network. These multimedia programming students know Open Source for another purpose–com…

]]> By: Bernie Goldbach http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/2006/02/13/what-is-open-source/comment-page-1/#comment-162 Bernie Goldbach Mon, 13 Feb 2006 13:18:01 +0000 http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/?p=153#comment-162 In "The World is Flat", Thomas Friedman says Open Source is a flattener. His explanation comfortably explains why we are able to apply the concept of Open Source to music, a concept we cover in a class that relates to Educast #6 at http://podcasting.ie/podcasts/educast_06.mp3 which is a file that benefits significantly from Open Source in Education. In “The World is Flat”, Thomas Friedman says Open Source is a flattener. His explanation comfortably explains why we are able to apply the concept of Open Source to music, a concept we cover in a class that relates to Educast #6 at http://podcasting.ie/podcasts/educast_06.mp3 which is a file that benefits significantly from Open Source in Education.

]]> By: Darragh Sherwin http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/2006/02/13/what-is-open-source/comment-page-1/#comment-161 Darragh Sherwin Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:45:27 +0000 http://blogs.linux.ie/balor/?p=153#comment-161 I think your definition of Open Source is too wide. In your definition of Open Source, you include distribution, Open Standards and Free Software. Open Source is about source code. A company can sell a program to a user and the user has access to the source code of the program. They can modify it as they wish, but they may not be all to distribute it. This is what I think Open Source is. Redistributing a program or modifications has nothing to do with Open Source, that is to do with licensing. Quoting from your post "I’d like it available to me no matter what software platform I use." This sounds like Open Standards not Open Source. HTML is an open standard that lots of closed-source applications can read and write. And there is alot of open-source application that have their own internal file formats that are not accessible by any other application. However, as the implementation of the file format is open, the file format is open, but there is potential in these open-source applications, where the developers have not standardised the format and can change the formats between versions of the application. Maybe the GPL and the FSF have changed the definition of what Open-Source is, and have collectively batch a number of ideas and concepts together to form the definition of Open Source. This maybe rambling, but the main thought is that your defintion of Open Source is so wide that includes other ideas that are not "Open Source" like Open Standards, etc. Darragh I think your definition of Open Source is too wide.
In your definition of Open Source, you include distribution, Open Standards and Free Software.

Open Source is about source code.
A company can sell a program to a user and the user has access to the source code of the program. They can modify it as they wish, but they may not be all to distribute it.
This is what I think Open Source is.

Redistributing a program or modifications has nothing to do with Open Source, that is to do with licensing.

Quoting from your post “I’d like it available to me no matter what software platform I use.”
This sounds like Open Standards not Open Source. HTML is an open standard that lots of closed-source applications can read and write. And there is alot of open-source application that have their own internal file formats that are not accessible by any other application. However, as the implementation of the file format is open, the file format is open, but there is potential in these open-source applications, where the developers have not standardised the format and can change the formats between versions of the application.

Maybe the GPL and the FSF have changed the definition of what Open-Source is, and have collectively batch a number of ideas and concepts together to form the definition of Open Source.

This maybe rambling, but the main thought is that your defintion of Open Source is so wide that includes other ideas that are not “Open Source” like Open Standards, etc.

Darragh

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