Open-source software movement

The open-source software movement is a social movement that supports the use of open-source licenses for some or all software, as part of the broader notion of open collaboration. The movement emerged to promote the development and adoption of open-source software.

Programmers participating in the open-source movement contribute to software development through voluntary collaboration and code sharing. Open-source licenses typically require that source code be made available without restrictions on modification or redistribution, and prohibit discrimination against individuals or groups. Under this development model, anyone can obtain, modify, and redistribute open-source code. Modifications are typically shared with the broader community, creating a collaborative development process where contributions are tracked and attributed. This collaborative approach differs from proprietary software development models in its emphasis on transparency and community participation.

The label open source was created and adopted by a group of people in the free software movement at a strategy session held at Palo Alto, California, in reaction to Netscape's January 1998 announcement of a source-code release for Navigator. One of the reasons behind using the term was that "the advantage of using the term open source is that the business world usually tries to keep free technologies from being installed." Those people who adopted the term used the opportunity before the release of Navigator's source code to free themselves of the ideological and confrontational connotations of the term "free software". Later in February 1998, Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond founded an organization called Open Source Initiative (OSI) "as an educational, advocacy, and stewardship organization at a cusp moment in the history of that culture."

In the early computing era, hardware and software were not clearly distinguished. Computer users typically had programming knowledge and could modify the systems they used. When IBM introduced the first commercial electronic computer in 1952, maintenance was challenging and costs were high. Software complexity posed additional challenges for computer owners. In response, computer owners formed a collaborative group called PACT (The Project for the Advancement of Coding Techniques) to develop shared programming tools. In 1956, the Eisenhower administration imposed restrictions on AT&T's business activities, which influenced subsequent technological development patterns. Computer manufacturers subsequently focused on reducing costs and developing multi-user operating systems. MIT's computation center developed the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS), one of the first multi-user systems, establishing foundations for later collaborative software development practices.

The open-source movement is branched from the free software movement which began in the late 80s with the launching of the GNU project by Richard Stallman. Stallman is regarded within the open-source community as sharing a key role in the conceptualization of freely-shared source code for software development. The term "free software" in the free software movement is meant to imply freedom of software exchange and modification. The term does not refer to any monetary freedom. Both the free-software movement and the open-source movement share this view of free exchange of programming code, and this is often why both of the movements are sometimes referenced in literature as part of the FOSS or "Free and Open Software" or FLOSS "Free/Libre Open-Source" communities.

These movements share fundamental differences in the view on open software. The main, factionalizing difference between the groups is the relationship between open-source and proprietary software. Often, makers of proprietary software, such as Microsoft, may make efforts to support open-source software to remain competitive.^{[dead link]} Members of the open-source community are willing to coexist with the makers of proprietary software and feel that the issue of whether software is open source is a matter of practicality.

In contrast, members of the free-software community maintain the vision that all software is a part of freedom of speech and that proprietary software is unethical and unjust. The free-software movement openly champions this belief through talks that denounce proprietary software. As a whole, the community refuses to support proprietary software. Further there are external motivations for these developers. One motivation is that, when a programmer fixes a bug or makes a program it benefits others in an open-source environment. Another motivation is that a programmer can work on multiple projects that they find interesting and enjoyable. Programming in the open-source world can also lead to commercial job offers or entrance into the venture capital community. These are just a few reasons why open-source programmers continue to create and advance software.

While cognizant of the fact that both the free-software movement and the open-source movement share similarities in practical recommendations regarding open source, the free-software movement fervently continues to distinguish themselves from the open-source movement entirely. The free-software movement maintains that it has fundamentally different attitudes towards the relationship between open-source and proprietary software. The free-software community does not view the open-source community as their target grievance, however. Their target grievance is proprietary software itself.