What is open source? 

tanmoy Open source is a development methodology,[1] which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.[2] The principles and practices are commonly applied to the development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration, and it is usually released as open-source software
this is taken from link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_s ource

Answered by laks at 3:32 PM on May 13, 2008

Open source is a set of principles and practices that promote access to the design and production of goods and knowledge. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.[1] The principles and practices are commonly applied to the development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration, and it is usually released as open-source software


source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O pen_s ource

Answered by Smarty at 9:12 PM on May 02, 2008

tanmoy Open source is a set of principles and practices that promote access to the design and production of goods and knowledge. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.[1] The principles and practices are commonly applied to the development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration, and it is usually released as open-source software
for more inf check source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_s ource

Answered by raj u at 4:51 PM on May 02, 2008

hi tanmoy!
hru!

Open source is a set of principles and practices that promote access to the design and production of goods and knowledge. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.

The principles and practices are commonly applied to the development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration, and it is usually released as open-source software.

source : wikipedia.org

thanks!
take care!

Answered by Aryan Singh at 5:30 PM on May 01, 2008

well,Open source is a set of principles and practices that promote access to the design and production of goods and knowledge. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.[1] The principles and practices are commonly applied to the development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration, and it is usually released as open-source software.

Answered by satyaiitk at 1:09 PM on May 01, 2008

Generically, open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge, i.e., open. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. Open source sprouted in the technological community as a response to proprietary software owned by corporations.

(2) A certification standard issued by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) that indicates that the source code of a computer program is made available free of charge to the general public. The rationale for this movement is that a larger group of programmers not concerned with proprietary ownership or financial gain will produce a more useful and bug -free product for everyone to use. The concept relies on peer review to find and eliminate bugs in the program code, a process which commercially developed and packaged programs do not utilize. Programmers on the Internet read, redistribute and modify the source code, forcing an expedient evolution of the product. The process of eliminating bugs and improving the software happens at a much quicker rate than through the traditional development channels of commercial software as the information is shared throughout the open source community and does not originate and channel through a corporation's research and development cogs.

OSI dictates that in order to be considered "OSI Certified" a product must meet the following criteria:

* The author or holder of the license of the source code cannot collect royalties on the distribution of the program
* The distributed program must make the source code accessible to the user
* The author must allow modifications and derivations of the work under the program's original name
* No person, group or field of endeavor can be denied access to the program
* The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution
* The licensed software cannot

Answered by kishore at 9:33 PM on April 30, 2008

Open source usually refers to software that is released with source code under a license that ensures that derivative works will also be available as source code, protects certain rights of the original authors, and prohibits restrictions on how the software can be used or who can use it.
The essential meaning of open source: the source code--the language in which the software is written and the key to understanding how the software works--can be obtained and improved by anyone with the right skills.

Answered by Nagendra at 7:39 PM on April 30, 2008

Open source is a set of principles and practices that promote access to the design and production of goods and knowledge. Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

Answered by Kajal Sharma at 6:37 PM on April 30, 2008

open source software is the software that is available for free and whose source code can be modified by users

Answered by Nishu's at 4:33 PM on April 30, 2008

well tanmoy 1) In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. (Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available.) Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available.

2) Open Source is a certification mark owned by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Developers of software that is intended to be freely shared and possibly improved and redistributed by others can use the Open Source trademark if their distribution terms conform to the OSI's Open Source Definition. To summarize, the Definition model of distribution terms require that:

* The software being distributed must be redistributed to anyone else without any restriction
* The source code must be made available (so that the receiving party will be able to improve or modify it)
* The license can require improved versions of the software to carry a different name or version from the original software

The idea is very similar to that behind free software and the copyleft concept of the Free Software Foundation. Open Source is the result of a long-time movement toward software that is developed and improved by a group of volunteers cooperating together on a network. Many parts of the Unix operating system were developed this way, including today's most popular version, Linux. Linux uses applications from the GNU project, which was guided by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation. The Open Source Definition, spearheaded by Eric Raymond (editor of The New Hacker's Dictionary), is an effort to provide a branded model or guideline for this kind of software distribution and redistribution. The OSI considers the existing software distribution licenses used by GNU, BSD (a widely-distributed version of UNIX), X Window System, and Artistic to be conformant with the Open Source Definition.

Prior to its acquisition by AOL, Netscape, in an effort to stay viable in its browser competition with Microsoft, made its browser source code (codenamed Mozilla) freely available, encouraging hacker to improve it. Possible enhancements will presumably be incorporated into future versions. The open source movement has gained momentum as commercial enterprises have begun to consider Linux as an open alternative to Windows operating systems

Answered by sujata at 4:25 PM on April 30, 2008