Software licenseA software license is a legal instrument governing the use or redistribution of software. Since the 1970s, software copyright has been recognized in the United States. Despite the copyright being recognized, most companies prefer to sell licenses rather than copies of the software because it enables them to enforce stricter terms on redistribution.
The Open Source DefinitionThe Open Source Definition (OSD) is a policy document published by the Open Source Initiative in 1998. Derived from the Debian Free Software Guidelines written by Bruce Perens, the OSD is the predominant standard for open-source software. The definition has ten criteria, such as requiring freely accessed source code and granting the open-source rights to everyone who receives a copy of the program.
Proprietary softwareProprietary software is software that grants its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner a legal monopoly by modern copyright and intellectual property law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing the software or modifying it, and—in some cases, as is the case with some patent-encumbered and EULA-bound software—from making use of the software on their own, thereby restricting their freedoms.
Open Source InitiativeThe Open Source Initiative (OSI) is an American nonprofit organization that maintains The Open Source Definition (OSD), the predominant standard for open-source software. The organization was founded in February 1998 by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, part of a group inspired by the Netscape Communications Corporation publishing the source code for its flagshipNetscape Communicator product. Later, in August 1998, the organization added a board of directors.
Free software movementThe free software movement is a social movement with the goal of obtaining and guaranteeing certain freedoms for software users, namely the freedoms to run, study, modify, and share copies of software. Software which meets these requirements, The Four Essential Freedoms of Free Software, is termed free software.
Free and open-source softwareFree and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that gives users the right to use, share, modify, and distribute the software — modified or not — to everyone and provides the means to exercise those rights using the software's source code. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free software and open-source software.
Richard StallmanAmerican activist and programmer (born 1953)Richard Matthew Stallman ( ; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to use, study, distribute, and modify that software. Software which ensures these freedoms is termed free software.
Intellectual propertyOwnership of creative expressions and processesIntellectual property laws such as trademark laws forbid the sale of infringing goods like these "McDnoald's" [sic] and "NKIE" [sic] sandals from China.Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others.
Grant (law)A grant, in law, is a transfer of property, generally from a person or other entity giving the property (the grantor) to a person or entity receiving the property (the grantee). Historically, a grant was a transfer by deed of that which could not be passed by livery, an act evidenced by letters patent under the Great Seal, granting something from the king to a subject, and a technical term made use of in deeds of conveyance of lands to import a transfer.
Source CodeSource Code is a 2011 science fictionaction thriller film directed by Duncan Jones and written by Ben Ripley. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a US Army officer who is sent into an eight-minute virtual re-creation of a real-life train explosion, and tasked with determining the identity of the terrorist who bombed it. Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright play supporting roles.
Bruce PerensBruce Perens (born around 1958) is an American computer programmer and advocate in the free software movement. He created The Open Source Definition and published the first formal announcement and manifesto of open source. He co-founded the Open Source Initiative (OSI) with Eric S. Raymond. In 2005, Perens represented Open Source at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, at the invitation of the United Nations Development Programme.
Eric S. RaymondEric Steven Raymond (born December 4, 1957), often referred to as ESR, is an American software developer, open-source software advocate, and author of the 1997 essay and 1999 book The Cathedral and the Bazaar. He wrote a guidebook for the Roguelike game NetHack. In the 1990s, he edited and updated the Jargon File, published as The New Hacker's Dictionary.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.