Open source means that programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software. This gives many possibilities for people to improve, adapt, and fix bugs in the code. Open source gives people the chance to rapidly improve software, and it is gaining popularity in the commercial world.

Some of the most popular open source operating systems are Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD. Open source software can be found in abundance on the internet. Some of the most popular open source software on the internet is Apache, BIND, sendmail, Mozilla, and OpenSSL. Apache runs over 50% of the world’s web servers. BIND is the software that provides the domain name service for the entire internet. Sendmail is the most important and widely used email transport software on the internet. Mozilla is the open source redesign of Netscape Browser. OpenSSL is the standard for secure communication over the internet.

There are several companies that have jumped on the open source bandwagon. These companies use open source systems to provide the services and support that their customers need. IBM uses the Apache webserver to support and bundle with its WebSphere suite, it released the Secure Mailer in open source, and it made Linux the primary operating system on all their high end mainframe servers. Apple released the core layers of Mac OS X Server as an open source BSD operating system called Darwin. Apple was the first mainstream computer company to build its future around open source, and is partnering with the Apache Group, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and other open source developers to work on evolving the Mac OS X platform. Other open source companies are HP, Sun, SGI, Sharp, Cyclades, Red Hat Software, ActiveState, Sleepycat Software, Inc., Covalent Technologies, and Zope Corporation.

(for the rest of the paper i snagged The Open Source Definition from opensource.org, and i made sure to say it came from them. so if you use it, give them the credit ok? ok.)

posted on 29 April 2003