About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 63. Chapters: Academic software pricing, Aladdin Free Public License, Aladdin Knowledge Systems, Automatic server discovery, Beerware, Brandable software, Browse wrap, Careware, Certificate of authenticity, Clickwrap, Client access license, Code Project Open License, Community source, Copy protection, Donationware, End-user license agreement, FlexNet Publisher, Floating licensing, Freely redistributable software, Freeware, Free and open-source software, Free software, Greenware (computing), Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement, IBM LUM, IBM Type-III Library, ILok, Java Research License, Key changer (software), Key server (software licensing), License-free software, License borrowing, License manager, List of software licenses, Microsoft Corp. v. DAK Industries, Inc., Multi-licensing, Nagware, OPaC Free Public License, Per-seat license, Postcardware, ProCD v. Zeidenberg, Product activation, Project Harmony (FOSS group), Proprietary software, RealNetworks Community Source License, SecureLM, Shared source, Shareware, Shrink wrap contract, Site license, SLUC, Software licensing audit, Software protection dongle, Spridprogramm, Step-Saver Data Systems, Inc. v. Wyse Technology, Sun Community Source License, T-License, Time bomb (software), Virtualization software licensing, Volume license key. Excerpt: Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available and licensed with an open-source license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute the software for free to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open-source software is the most prominent example of open-source development and often compared to (technically defined) user-generated content or (legally defined) open-content movements. A report by the Standish Group (from 2008) states that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers. The free software movement was launched in 1983. In 1998, a group of individuals advocated that the term free software should be replaced by open-source software (OSS) as an expression which is less ambiguous and more comfortable for the corporate world. Software developers may want to publish their software with an open-source license, so that anybody may also develop the same software or understand its internal functioning. With open-source software, generally anyone is allowed to create modifications of it, port it to new operating systems and processor architectures, share it with others or, in some cases, market it. Scholars Casson and Ryan have pointed out several policy-based reasons for adoption of open source - in particular, the heightened value proposition from open source (when compared to most proprietary formats) in the following categories: The Open Source Definition, notably, presents an open-source philosophy, and further defines the terms of usage, modification and redistribution of open-source software. Software licenses grant rights to users which would otherwise be reserved by copyright law to the copyright holder. Several open-source software licenses have qualified within the boundaries of the Open Source Definition. The most prominent and popular example is the G
