Open Source

Open source is a set of principles and practices that promote access to the design and production of goods and knowledge. The term is most commonly applied to the source code of software that is available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent intellectual property restrictions. This allows users to create software content through incremental individual effort or through collaboration.

The word "open" in the phrase "open source" means much more than simply making the source-code available to the public. It involves describing the processes involved in collaborating on the source and in implementing and using the end product. When it comes to "open source business", the "source code" means the business system and requires a complete definition of all operations of the business and must include the ability to collaborate on that system and must allow interested parties to implement and use the same system themselves.

Recommended reading

• What's Wrong With Politics and Can Technology Do Anything To Fix It? - by Mitchell Kapor
• What business can learn from Open Source - Paul Graham
• Open Source Democracy
• The Cathedral and the Bazaar
• Why Your Startup Should Be Involved in Open Source
• Why Your Next App Should Be Open Sourced - Peter Friese

See also

• Semantic Organisation
• P2P
• Free Software Foundation