The Open Source Landscape

Diomidis Spinellis
Department of Management Science and Technology
Athens University of Economics and Business
Athens, Greece
dds@aueb.gr

History

Free and "Free" Software

The Open Source Definition

Software Categories (FreeBSD Ports)

Top-40 package categories (by population) in the FreeBSD Ports distribution.
CategoryNumber of Packages
devel3439
www2061
textproc1346
net1215
games1108
graphics1029
sysutils1028
security907
audio894
databases809
mail773
misc578
math569
x11486
japanese403
lang389
distfiles361
print360
multimedia355
x11-toolkits319
deskutils308
net-mgmt290
editors271
x11-themes216
emulators202
archivers196
x11-wm187
net-im186
science170
java165
comms165
x11-fonts155
irc149
dns148
converters145
chinese144
net-p2p142
ftp126
astro122
news105
cd /usr/ports
find * -prune -type d |
while read i
do
        echo "$i `ls $i | wc -l`"
done |
sort -rn +1 |
head -40

System Software

Operating Systems

Databases

Emulators

Language Processors

Graphics

Applications and Libraries

Environments

Development Tools

Text Processing

Web and Application Servers

Desktop Applications

Open Source Software Forges

Influence on Product Development

Advantages

Problems

Development Process Advantages

Development Process Problems

License Distribution (Sourceforge)

LicenseNumber
GNU General Public License (GPL) 35807
GNU Library or Lesser General Public License (LGPL) 5447
BSD License 3587
Artistic License 1119
Apache Software License 905
MIT License 881
Mozilla Public License 1.1 (MPL 1.1) 539
Common Public License 265
Mozilla Public License 1.0 (MPL) 260
zlib/libpng License 245
Qt Public License (QPL) 205
Open Software License 184
Python License (CNRI Python License) 159
Academic Free License (AFL) 131
Python Software Foundation License 80
IBM Public License 70
PHP License 49
Apple Public Source License 44
Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL) 43
Sun Public License 38
Jabber Open Source License 36
wxWindows Library Licence 33
University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License 29
Zope Public License 25
Nethack General Public License 24
W3C License 21
Intel Open Source License 19
Open Group Test Suite License 14
Sleepycat License 13
Apache License V2.0 12
Eiffel Forum License 10
Eiffel Forum License V2.0 10
Attribution Assurance License 9
Reciprocal Public License 7
Ricoh Source Code Public License 6
Historical Permission Notice and Disclaimer 6

Legal Exposure

Web sites

Further Reading

Exercises and Discussion Topics

  1. Examine which software categories are over or underepresented in open source software repositories. Discuss why this might be the case.
  2. What criteria will you use for determining the project to contribute?
  3. Describe the business model behind a packaging company. Is a similar business model used in another, non-software, area? Why (not)?
  4. Consider adopting some of the programs we described to improve your productivity.
  5. Learn a scripting language, like Ruby, Python, or Perl.
  6. Compile a Swiss-army-knife CD with all the open source software you would want to have with you on a desert island.

The Full Open Source Definition

Introduction

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free Redistribution

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

2. Source Code

The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.

3. Derived Works

The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code

The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.

5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups

The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor

The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

7. Distribution of License

The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product

The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.

9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software

The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.

*10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral

No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.

Origins: Bruce Perens wrote the first draft of this document as "The Debian Free Software Guidelines", and refined it using the comments of the Debian developers in a month-long e-mail conference in June, 1997. He removed the Debian-specific references from the document to create the "Open Source Definition."

Copyright © 2004 by the Open Source Initiative (http://www.opensource.org)