Linux and OSS

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When you get a distribution of GNU/Linux, you also get the freedom to study, copy, change, and redistribute it – that’s what makes it truly free software.

By virtue of its open source licensing, Linux is freely available to anyone. However, the trademark on the name “Linux” rests with its creator, Linus Torvalds. The source code for Linux is under copyright by its many individual authors, and licensed under the GPLv2 license. Because Linux has such a large number of contributors from across multiple decades of development, contacting each individual author and getting them to agree to a new license is virtually impossible, so that Linux remaining licensed under the GPLv2 in perpetuity is all but assured.

Linux is also unique from other operating systems in that it has no single owner. Torvalds still manages the development of the Linux kernel, but commercial and private developers contribute other software to make the whole Linux operating system.

Copyright

It is the law that protects the rights held by the creator, developer, or author over their own original work. These works may consist of electronically stored words, photograph, music, work of visual art, or performance art and thereby includes digital property.

There are two types of copyright infringement

• Digital Piracy: Unauthorized reproducing (copying) and distributing (sharing) of digitized property: electronic files and audio-visual media. Obtaining copies of songs, computer software, videos games, and movies without paying for them is all considered Digital Piracy.
• Plagiarism: The copyright violation of using printed words, photos, or illustrations in your own product without permission – where one person copies another’s work and uses it as their own.

Copyright protection includes literary works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those made by artists in their performances of sound recordings and television in its radio and television broadcasts.

License

Licenses are granted by an authority to allow a usage; the use and distribution of resources by the copyright owner. I may decide to offer my photograph for free or charge a price; either way, I can include a license to limit usage, and I maintain the copyright. Just because someone pays money doesn’t mean they have full control or rights to what they’re buying. Licenses can dictate the number or uses, the bounds of use and even the length of time until the license expires.

When we create something like a photograph or write a book, we own the copyright, which is our exclusive right as the author to own that work. We control who else can use our work and in what manner. For example, I could allow someone to print the book or adapt it for a movie. Instead of verbal agreements, it is distributed with a license that sets the guidelines for use. The things that are copyrighted are also referred to as intellectual property.

A license can be written from scratch, but most people choose a well-known one. Some common terminology used in licensing, is

• “Copy” – A simple copy of the original work.
• “Modify” – To alter copyrighted work in some way before using it.
• “Derivative work” – The result of modifying copyrighted work to produce new work.
• “Distribute” – The act of giving someone your work under a license.
• “Redistribute” – The act of distributing work and its license after obtaining it under license from the original copyright owner.
• “Share alike” – Permission to distribute derivative work under the same or a similar license.
• “Credit” or “attribution” – The act of identifying the original copyright owner.
• “Copyright notice” – A written phrase or symbol (©) informing of copyright ownership (not necessarily required by law).
• “All rights reserved” – A common copyright notice declaring that no usage rights exist (again, not necessarily required).
• “Warranty” – A written guarantee included with the license (or, usually, not).

Creative Commons – Lawrence Lessig founded Creative Commons (CC) in 2001 to create a series of easy-to-understand copyright licenses for online creative work. These licenses established the notion of “some rights reserved.”

The Creative Commons license has six variations. It’s really a collection of licenses that cover particular uses. These include whether the licensed work can be used commercially, whether it can be modified, and whether derivative work can be redistributed under the same (or a compatible) license. A Creative Commons license can be restricted to certain jurisdictions or apply internationally.

The basic Creative Commons license is CC Attribution. It allows for all copying, modification and redistribution (even commercially), provided that the original author is attributed (with no implication of endorsement). Work under CC Attribution is essentially free to use.

The CC Attribution license can be extended to CC Attribution-ShareAlike. The same rules apply, except that all derivative work must be licensed the same way. This distinction ensures that all resulting work remains free. Wikipedia uses this license for its text.

Software License

It is a legal instrument (usually by way of contract law, with or without printed material) governing the use or redistribution of software. Under United States copyright law all software is copyright protected, except material in the public domain. A typical software license grants an end-user permission to use one or more copies of software in ways where such a use would otherwise potentially constitute copyright infringement of the software owner’s exclusive rights under copyright law.

In addition to granting rights and imposing restrictions on the use of software, software licenses typically contain provisions which allocate liability and responsibility between the parties entering into the license agreement. Software licenses can generally be fit into the following categories: proprietary licenses and free and open source. The significant feature that distinguishes them are the terms under which the end-user may further distribute or copy the software.

GNU

The GNU Project is an effort of several programmers and developers to create a free, Unix-like operating system. GNU is a recursive acronym that stands for GNU is Not Unix, because it is Unix-like but contains no Unix code and is (and remains) free. The GNU foundation, the legal entity behind the GNU project, sees free as more than just the financial meaning of free: the software should be free to use for any purpose whatsoever, free to study and modify the source code and behaviour, free to copy and free to distribute the changes you made.

This idea of free software is a noble thought that is active in many programmers’ minds: hence many software titles are freely available. Software is generally accompanied by a license that explains what you can and cannot do with it (also known as the “End User License Agreement”). Free Software also has such a license – unlike the EULAs they actually allow most things instead of denying it. An example of such license is the GPL – GNU General Public License.

OSS or Open Source Software

The term “open source” refers to something that can be modified and shared because its design is publicly accessible.

While it originated in the context of computer software development, today the term “open source” designates a set of values—what we call the open source way. Open source projects, products, or initiatives are those that embrace and celebrate open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community development.

OSS – Open source software is software whose source code is available for modification or enhancement by anyone. “Source code” is the part of software that most computer users don’t ever see; it’s the code computer programmers can manipulate to change how a piece of software—a “program” or “application”—works. Programmers who have access to a computer program’s source code can improve that program by adding features to it or fixing parts that don’t always work correctly.

OSS Difference with Others

Some software has source code that cannot be modified by anyone but the person, team, or organization who created it and maintains exclusive control over it. This kind of software is frequently called “proprietary software” or “closed source” software, because its source code is the property of its original authors, who are the only ones legally allowed to copy or modify it. Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop are examples of proprietary software. In order to use proprietary software, computer users must agree (usually by signing a license displayed the first time they run this software) that they will not do anything with the software that the software’s authors have not expressly permitted.

Open source software is different. Its authors make its source code available to others who would like to view that code, copy it, learn from it, alter it, or share it. LibreOffice and the GNU Image Manipulation Program are examples of open source software. As they do with proprietary software, users must accept the terms of a license when they use open source software—but the legal terms of open source licenses differ dramatically from those of proprietary licenses. Open source software licenses promote collaboration and sharing because they allow other people to make modifications to source code and incorporate those changes into their own projects. Some open source licenses ensure that anyone who alters and then shares a program with others must also share that program’s source code without charging a licensing fee for it. In other words, computer programmers can access, view, and modify open source software whenever they like—as long as they let others do the same when they share their work. In fact, they could be violating the terms of some open source licenses if they don’t do this.

So as the Open Source Initiative explains, “open source doesn’t just mean access to the source code.” It means that anyone should be able to modify the source code to suit his or her needs, and that no one should prevent others from doing the same. The Initiative’s definition of “open source” contains several other important provisions.

OSS Advantages

Open source software benefits programmers and non-programmers alike. In fact, because much of the Internet itself is built on many open source technologies—like the Linux operating system and the Apache Web server application—anyone using the Internet benefits from open source software. Every time computer users view webpages, check email, chat with friends, stream music online, or play multiplayer video games, their computers, mobile phones, or gaming consoles connect to a global network of computers that routes and transmits their data to the “local” devices they have in front of them.

OSS and Free

This is a common misconception about what “open source” implies. Programmers can charge money for the open source software they create or to which they contribute. But because most open source licenses require them to release their source code when they sell software to others, many open source software programmers find that charging users money for software services and support (rather than for the software itself) is more lucrative. This way, their software remains free of charge and they make money helping others install, use, and troubleshoot it.