Open and Free

From SPARK

What is open source?

Open source is a philosophy whereby all aspects of a program are open for review. The term usually refers to the source code of the program, but can also refer to files created by the program, which would be readable in other applications. Many Linux distributions contain exclusively open source software.

Opportunities

Open source systems – such as Linux – allow computer users and programmers to view and change the original program code and create new applications without paying a license fee.

Because open source is free, it can offer big opportunities for developing countries where widespread computer access is difficult due to high costs involved in setting up computer systems, buying licenses, and software support.