The open source

What is open source

Informal and simplified form, free software could be defined as the ultimate expression of freedom for the software: the right for software license to use, modify, publish and distribute the software without any restriction.

According to a formal definition, as set FSF ( Free Software Foundation ), this is all software that guarantees the following freedoms:

• Freedom of software execution, whatever is their use.
• Freedom to study and modify the program so that it can be adapted to individual needs.
• Freedom redistribution of the software (you can copy and distribute freely).
• Freedom to publish the modifications made to the software.

The second and fourth require a precondition, and is that the source code of the software has to be available. This is what programmers actually write, and not the final result (which can be executed but not modified or studied). Thats why the concept of "availability of source code" is so often discussed. For more information, visit the FSF website for free software or reference to free software in Wikipedia .

Far from being a theoretical or utopian, free software abounds and there is a high and great quality. Examples are well known as the operating system GNU / Linux, the Apache web server or web browser Firefox. If you do not know, do not hesitate to try, through their own links listed on this page, Firefox or live version (without installation) of Ubuntu Linux distribution.

The open source for companies or individuals

The free software can be an excellent choice for almost any process involving the use of informatic programs, because it provides maximum guarantees about the possibility of extension or modification of software behavior, without relying on any company developing, as well as access and modification of data generated or stored with that software.