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Open Source
Open source (OS) is a term adopted from the software development industry to describe a collective method of developing, maintaining, and sharing software(1). The label open source software (OSS) is applied to software that is non-proprietary, non-secretive, and free of charge to implement.
OSS is generally built by a community of developers that contribute time to developing, testing, and improving code. The process is open in the sense that anyone may contribute to the project. In order for this to happen, the code itself must be open, and freely accessible to anyone who wants to edit it. Despite a lack of steady funding and rigid hierarchical organizational structure, the OSS movement has led to the production of a significant number of stable operating systems, programs, and web platforms. Some of the more prominent examples include Linux, Mozilla Firefox, Apache,PHP, and MySQL. Currently, 70% of the world's web servers are run on the OS combination ofLinux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) (2).
Both the "open" label and methods of organization have been adopted in other areas and used to connote non-hierarchical, collaborative, and freely accessible ventures. Wikipedia is considered to be one of the biggest success stories; a recent study by Nature revealed that Wikipedia is comparable to the Encyclopedia Britannica in accuracy (3).
OSS has been used in various capacities within libraries. There are at least two ongoing OSS projects for OPACs/ILS (VuFind & Evergreen). Many libraries have leveraged OS content management systems to manage their web presences. By adopting a pre-established, OS content management system, the library is able to bypass the development process while simultaneously avoiding the higher costs associated with leasing proprietary software.
References
1) Open Source Initiative
2) Lawton, G. (2005). "Lamp lights enterprise development efforts." IEEE Xplorer
3) Giles, J. "Special Report: Internet encyclopedias go head to head." Nature 438, 900-901 (15 December 2005)
Other Sources
Wikipedia. "Open Source."
OSS is generally built by a community of developers that contribute time to developing, testing, and improving code. The process is open in the sense that anyone may contribute to the project. In order for this to happen, the code itself must be open, and freely accessible to anyone who wants to edit it. Despite a lack of steady funding and rigid hierarchical organizational structure, the OSS movement has led to the production of a significant number of stable operating systems, programs, and web platforms. Some of the more prominent examples include Linux, Mozilla Firefox, Apache,PHP, and MySQL. Currently, 70% of the world's web servers are run on the OS combination ofLinux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) (2).
Both the "open" label and methods of organization have been adopted in other areas and used to connote non-hierarchical, collaborative, and freely accessible ventures. Wikipedia is considered to be one of the biggest success stories; a recent study by Nature revealed that Wikipedia is comparable to the Encyclopedia Britannica in accuracy (3).
OSS has been used in various capacities within libraries. There are at least two ongoing OSS projects for OPACs/ILS (VuFind & Evergreen). Many libraries have leveraged OS content management systems to manage their web presences. By adopting a pre-established, OS content management system, the library is able to bypass the development process while simultaneously avoiding the higher costs associated with leasing proprietary software.
References
1) Open Source Initiative
2) Lawton, G. (2005). "Lamp lights enterprise development efforts." IEEE Xplorer
3) Giles, J. "Special Report: Internet encyclopedias go head to head." Nature 438, 900-901 (15 December 2005)
Other Sources
Wikipedia. "Open Source."
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Latest page update: made by markrcosta
, Feb 27 2008, 2:49 PM EST
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