Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Another key question
Author: Eric Kidd Posted: 8/23/2000; 6:02:48 PM Topic: Another key question Msg #: 20032 (In response to 20024) Prev/Next: 20031 / 20033
Did open source software exist before the term was coined?Yup! The term "open source" was coined shorly after the release of Mozilla.
The term "freely redistributable software" was coined in the early nineties, if my memory serves me.
The term "free software" was coined in the early eighties.
Around 1975, Unix was very close to the modern definition of open source. You could read the code and create modified versions. But you couldn't share those versions with people who didn't own a source license.
(Around 1978 or so, Bell Labs got very stingy about source licenses, and prohibited the use of the Unix source code for teaching purposes.)
A Popular Definition
Here's what many developers mean by "open source" today:
- You can read the source.
- You can give the source to anybody.
- You can modify the source.
- You can give your modifications to anybody.
The Java license permits (1), (2) and (3), but places very tight restrictions on (4). The original Unix source licenses prohibited (2) and restricted (4).
Modern usage of the term "open source" generally includes all four points.
Cheers,
Eric
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