Open Source and You
No one would buy a car with the hood welded shut, but that is essentially what commercial software is. However, since computing began, some software has been distributed in such a way that users can change or repair it by modifying its source code--the step-by-step instructions that the computer executes when the software runs. Software distributed under a license that allows a programmer to modify the source code and freely distribute an improved version of it is called open source.
Open-source software can make good business sense. For example, a company might be able to reduce costs by building a product on top of an existing open-source application rather than writing it from scratch. But does open source matter to those who do not program computers? I think the answer is yes.
Open source is often discussed as if it were just about the code, but it's really about the community of people who care about the code, or rather, who care about the things that open-source software helps them do.
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