Overview
Open source software is software released with source code that users may inspect, modify and distribute under license terms.
Key facts
Often maintained by communities, foundations or companies
Licenses define what users may do with the code
Major infrastructure projects rely on open source components
Timeline
1983
The GNU project helped define modern free software principles.
The GNU project helped define modern free software principles.
1998
The term open source became widely adopted.
The term open source became widely adopted.