Open source and the Creative Commons
Open source software may sound like just another passing buzzphrase, but it is no fly-by-nighter.
It has been around for decades and we have all relied on it for some time, as more and more people are coming into direct contact with open source, it's a good time to ask what makes it so special.
The source here is source code, the human-readable (or at least programmer-readable) form of a computer program.
Computer programs are written in various programming languages (source code) and then translated by computer into instructions a computer can follow directly (machine code). To run the program you only need the machine code. To discover how a program works, or make changes, the source code is essential.
Almost none of the software used by the typical computer user comes with source code. Software giants like Microsoft and Adobe treat source code as a trade secret. After all, the argument goes, these programs are the fruits of their labour; why should they let anyone else study their inner workings? This is closed source, or proprietary, software.
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