Published at LXer:
[Ed: Signs that Linux is making inroads into major media when people like David Canton write that "open source" came about 20 years ago. So have fun and enjoy a good laugh. Some day, we should expect the press to get it right. -tadelstein] The GPL -- perhaps the best known open source software licence -- is being rewritten. The concept of "open source" software was first put forward about 20 years ago by computer programmer Richard Stallman. It began as a philosophical notion that software should be distributed in a form that allows it to be modified by its users. This means the source code -- or human readable code -- is distributed along with the object code -- or computer readable code. Most open source software is free or low cost. It is improved and modified by a bevy of users, rather than employees of the creator.
Read More...