What is the meaning of open-source-code?

Question

open-source-code softwares are distributed free of cost...then how distributing companies are getting benefited ?

Answer 1

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 GroupsL: 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.



Companies distributing open-source-code softwares free of cost make their money on services (e.g., support) around the open source. Also, they will have side products they sell.

Answer 2

Open Source code basically means that the coding for the given program or software is open for anyone to see and alter according to their liking. Since you're allowed to do anything with the code, it doesn't actually make sense charging for the program directly because then anyone would alter the code and try to resell it and that would beat the idea of selling it in the first place.



Don't confuse it with freeware(and a lot of people do), which includes both open source and propertiery software. They're just free.



Open source developers are in many cases a single programmer or a handful working together. For these people, open source is a good avenue to develop and expose their skills. There are instances of big companies picking up developers from these open source projects.



In case of companies which go open source, they usually provide extra services along with their software or provide certain extra features for a fee, for which the code is freely distributed.



Take the case of Ubuntu, which gives away its Linux distro for free but then earns by providing troubleshooting support, customer care and installation.



Most companies however, give away softwares for free but do not do it under the open source banner. The source code is hidden and is not available for the end user to alter.

Answer 3

Open source code means that a Company (Mozilla) releases some software (Firefox, Thunderbird, etc...) and then releases the "source code" used to write the program. This way other people can modify the code and perhaps make the software "better" that the original. Also having the source code makes it easier to develop add-ons for the software. Open Source software is open to distribute, modify, change, etc... all for free. Hence the term "Open". If you have any other questions please feel free to e-mail me or just sent me a msg.

Answer 4

Open Source is a broad term. All software is supplied with a license, explicit or implied. Some software is just given away free and you can do what you want with it. Some software is given away free for certain purposes, even Microsoft will give there software away free if you're going to use it for academic purposes. Visual Studio Express is free, but your not allowed to use it in a business. Then there are GPL-type licenses. If something with some GPL code in it touches your commercial code, even if its a bitmap editor you used to tweak one pixel in an icon with but aren't actually going to use again or ship with your product, then the whole product can be attached the GPL to it. This means you have to give your source code away with your product. This means for any company writing and selling commercial software the programmers working on it often cannot have anything to do with open source, just in case. JavaScript is not open source, its an international standard. There may be open source implementations of it, but equally well there are closed source implementations as well. There is no problem writing web sites that use HTML, .NET, Silverlight, Flash, JavaScript, Java, etc., etc., etc.

Answer 5

Hold on. Just two points. And Richard Stallman says it better than I can.



First, "Free Software is free as in freedom, not as in beer."



Second, there are the four freedoms:



http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html



Or freedom to run, copy, distribute and change software. When I first started running Linux I certainly knew how to compile programs but I did not have a CD burner, so I went down to Staples and bought myself a copy of Red Hat Linux for forty bucks, and considered it well-spent (this was less than half what M$ charged at the time. I went through two upgrades before Red Hat stopped selling their desktop commercially, then bought slackware for forty bucks-- and got a computer with a CD burner. So yes, people can and will charge you for it and it is appropriate.



When the GNU Software Project got its start, most serious computing was still done in offices by groups which could afford to pay staffs of programmers. The older guys remembered when software and hardware came from the same vendor, and all the hassles this resulted in. UNIX had changed that, and with the academic license that created BSD you had very widespread sharing of code for things like Bill Joy's vi. In essence, you can sell Open Source Code and the things you would be expected to make money off are trademarks, copyright and consulting. If you use GPL'd material and don't make the source code available you can be liable for statutory Copyright Infringement damages (which start at $750) plus:



http://lawandlifesiliconvalley.com/blog/?cat=10



But you CAN make money off this stuff. One of Red Hat's founders bought the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Team



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Young_(businessman)



And Red Hat is doing very well, off consulting copyright and trademark. If you want free Red Hat software, go to CentOS or White Box:



http://www.centos.org

http://www.whiteboxlinux.org



They can be very generous with their trademarks:



http://lwn.net/Articles/349964/



But they are doing very well. They don't HAVE to be as big as Microsoft. And people talk about Oracle buying them as if it were a done deal -- but of course Oracle hasn't made an offer yet and the EU might have problems with it as they do with their purchase of Sun Microsystems.



It costs almost nothing to distribute Open Source Code. Open Source Binaries too, but nobody says you can't charge for binaries, and that is the point. Costs get held down by the people who will distribute binaries for free, however value-added packages will attract people period. Klaus Knopper is a computer consultant in Germany whose Knoppix Live CD has made him famous. So he gets lots of work.

Answer 6

That is the age old problem - as yet no one has been able to create a effective business based solely on open source. Typically they will make their money on services (e.g., support) around the open source. Also, they will have side products they sell.



The open source becomes a carrot that attracts people to them and makes them aware of the other things the company has.

Answer 7

They are usually non-profit companies, groups of programmers doing the code as a hobby or a learning tool, or they accept donations. Sometimes the free open source version is limited and you have to pay if you want the premium proprietary version. Most of the open source anti-virus companies do that, for example.

Answer 8

It simply means any Tom,Dick and Hary use it, modify it and launch it as a new software....and nobody can even say a word against that....