OpenSourceSoftware is software whose source code is made publicly available. It has sparked quite a few debates of late, but probably, the most balanced view is that it has its place, just like closed source software does.
See http://www.opensource.org, http://sourceforge.net (SourceForge) and http://www.osdn.org
Major open source applications: Apache (web server), Linux (kernel), FreeBSD (OS), MySQL (database), PHP (web scriping language), PostgreSQL (database), Emacs (editor), Mozilla (web browser), Perl (programming language: PerlLang), Darwin (OS), gcc (C/C++/ObjectiveC compiler)
Not to be confused with FreeSoftware. In terms of licensing and conditions, OpenSourceSoftware is a superset of FreeSoftware (all FreeSoftware is also OpenSourceSoftware, but not the other way around), though they are philosophically very different. (See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html for information on the differences, legal and philosophical.)
After reading the GNU blurb I am confused – I thought FreeSoftware meant it was gratis, whereas OpenSource means the source accompany the program (but it’s not necessarily gratis).
For more information see: www.osdn.com, www.sourceforge.net, www.gnu.org, www.opensource.org and perhaps www.slashdot.org
Another good resource for information is: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html It provides a list and a brief summary of all OpenSource licenses. Before you release OpenSource code, I’d strongly suggest looking through the list to find the one which best suits your needs –OwenAnderson
That is a list of FreeSoftware licenses, not OpenSource. There are differences between the two, though basically all FreeSoftware licenses also comply with the OpenSource Definition. The Open Source Initiative maintains a list of licenses which they have approved as OpenSource-compliant: http://opensource.org/licenses/ – AdamAtlas
The term describes code that is open. I won’t go into discussing the differences between free source, open source etc. Feel free.
Examples (?):
Emacs wiki: http://www.emacswiki.org/ Emacs for MacOS: http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/EmacsForMacOS
See CocoaOpen for a list of OpenSourceSoftware using Cocoa.