Every program consists of a set of instructions called the source code. In general this source code is not made available to the user and only the vendor can make changes in it. This time old notion has been going on for decades until the arrival of Open Source.
Open Source is a concept, which has been gaining popularity at a rapid pace in the present-day scenario. In simple terms it could be defined as any software which can be modified according to the user's requirement and liking.
In other words, the source code is made available to the user along with the program. So the original version gets worked upon by a number of programmers resulting in the evolution of the software. The adage "Two heads are better than one" explains the basic idea behind Open source. As more brains are put together the output would be much superior to the original. The Linux operating system is the best and the most popular example of open source software.
Of course, now the question arises as to whether modifying the source code would defy the ethics of copyright. The answer is, it won't. The license that accompanies open source software grants the user the freedom to run, study, modify, redistribute and improve the program for any purpose. They could even sell it provided it is under the terms in the open source license. The most popular open source license is the General Public License (GPL).
The expression "Open Source" was coined in a strategic session held at Palo Alto, California in the year 1998. Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond founded a non-profit organization "Open Source Initiative" in the same year with the aim to head the open source movement.
Interestingly, the concept of open source has spread to other fields as well. For instance the movement has stirred the introduction of a brand of cola named Opencola whose recipe is available to anyone who wants to make the drink or modify the recipe, provided they license it under the General Public License. Likewise there are now open-source pharmaceuticals, open source hardware, open source journalism, open source government and a lot more. Seems like the future is open source everything!
"Too many cooks could spoil the broth": this is what vendors of the proprietary software would like to say. But the fact remains this movement would go on as long as there are programmers loyal to the open source movement in this planet.
