Open Source Initiative

The Open Source Initiative ( OSI) is an organization dedicated to the promotion of open - source software. It was founded in February 1998 by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond. They certified software licenses based on their own Open Source Definition. Software distributed under these licenses, the Certification Mark may carry the organization.

History

In early 1998, the company announced Netscape in the face of dwindling profits and fierce competition with the Internet Explorer from Microsoft releases the source code to its flagship product, Netscape Navigator. A group of interested in Free Software and GNU / Linux people decided to introduce a new marketing term for free software in order to represent those charged in competition with proprietary software as business friendly and less ideologically can.

At the same time designed Bruce Perens, the former project manager of the Debian Linux distribution, the Open Source Definition. Debian looked challenged to define more precisely what freedom is, which means the project in view of the neighboring licenses. These positions Perens formulated after discussion with other Debian developers in 1997 in the Debian Social Contract. This formulates the obligation that Debian is completely free software, return the project all of the innovations to the community and will hide any mistakes. This will continue to run in the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG ).

From the spirit and content of these two texts, the OSD was created: the debian- specific references have been removed, " free software" to " open source software " replaced and changed the name. Finally registered for Software in the Public Interest, an umbrella organization of Debian, a Certification Mark (CT ) on the term " Open Source". A CT scan is a form of trademark or label which can be awarded to third party products:

" As the community needs a reliable method to know whether a piece of software really open-source ', the OSI takes for that purpose applications of certification marks contrary: OSI certified ' [ ... ] If you do, OSI to use zertifiziert' characters for their software, you can do this by spreading their software under an approved license from the list and identify the software accordingly. "

The foundation of the movement was made in 1998 by Jon " Maddog " Hall, Larry Augustin, Eric S. Raymond, Bruce Perens and others. Among the founders E. Raymond is probably most identified with this movement. After his self-description, he was and remains their " theorists ", but he claims for himself no exclusive claim to leadership.

The 1998 by Mitchell Baker also designed for the planned Netscape Communicator Mozilla Public License was right at the beginning of the certified licenses, the term open source gave a high media attention through the dissemination of Netscape software.

After the founding of the Open Source Initiative the rights to the CT of Software in the Public Interest has been transferred to the OSI. A good five dozen licenses, the OSI since tested and certified, so they must bear the protected title "Open Source" officially. To reduce the proliferation of the number of licenses, the OSI issued a list of 9 licenses recognized in 2007 that are either particularly well suited or have a high importance in the existing OSS environment.

Bruce Perens later left the OSI again because he felt the opposition to the Free Software Foundation as harmful.

Organization

The Open Source Initiative is guided by a loose board of experienced, older members, among them Raymond and other co-founder. Even IT prominence belongs to this circle, such as Linus Torvalds, Larry Wall and Guido van Rossum.

Part of the work is to check software license types in compliance with the written by Bruce Perens definition of open source. It is then of an OSI approved license ( Engl, a confirmed by the OSI license) spoken. A list of licenses is documented on the organization's website.

Since 2003 the work of the Open Source Initiative is not as publicly visible. Only their president emeritus Eric Raymond and the current president Michael Tiemann write frequently texts on current events scene.

Achievements

• The term open source was from 1998 to 2000 is gaining widespread adoption in the press, but was initially not fully understood.
• Many companies opened to the idea of an alternative open source operating system.
• The Open Source Initiative was able to publish numerous internal memos from Microsoft, who set out the clear opposition to GNU / Linux and reflections on unclean methods of competition elimination.

Definition of Open Source

In the Open Source Definition Open Source Initiative, the following demands:

• Free distribution - The license shall not prevent the fact that software to sell or pass them along with other software in a software distribution. The license may not impose a license fee.
• Available source code - the software must be available in the source code for all users.
• Derived Works - The license must allow of the basic software derivative works and their distribution under the same license as the basic software.
• The license must explicitly permit distribution of the software, based on a modified version of the original source code - Integrity of the author's source code. The license may require that such changes to a new name or a new software version number and such changes are documented. The license may require that only patches must be distributed to the original code when it is allowed to be distributed with the source code.
• No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups - The license must not individuals or groups refuse to use the software, such as the citizens of a particular state.
• No restriction on use - The license must not restrict the use of the software, such as an exclusion of military or commercial use, etc.
• Grant of License - The license must be true for all who receive the software, without the need to purchase such as a registration or a different license.
• Product neutrality - The license must be designed product- neutral and must not, for example, refer to a particular distribution.
• The license must not restrict other software - you must not require, for example, that she only software may be distributed with open source.
• The license must be technology - neutral - you must not require, for example, that the distribution may only be distributed via the web / CD / DVD.

Public Domain ( Public Domain ) software meets these conditions, unless the entire source code is made available.

Statements and implications

The OSD is therefore not a license but a standard that can be measured on the licenses.

While most open source licenses exempt the use of the software or media content without restriction to anyone, there are some that provide explicit exceptions. These include licenses, which prohibit authors wanted for political or ideological reasons the use of their software in the economy, genetic research or an abortion clinic. From the perspective of OSD these concerns, however, do not belong in a license.

Therefore, the OSD prescribes for open source licenses, that they shall not discriminate against persons or groups (Section 5) and to areas of application (Section 6). In the disclosure to third parties, the license should be effective without that rights holders ( the copyright holder ) and licensee sign a contract (Section 7).

The validity of signature- free license agreements is currently also the field of commercial or contractual licenses discussed (see below), in so far is an explanation of the point. 7 of the OSD, Ver. 1.0 (p. 179) a desire that is rarely fulfilled in practice. In the explanation for Ver. 1761 states that a closure order by additional requirements such as an NDA should be excluded.

The OSD point. 8 states that the rights granted may not be made dependent on that the program is part of a particular distribution. It must remain free, even if it is separated from this distribution.

Possibility of multiple licensing

The MPL is the only license that explicitly mentions the possibility of multiple licensing. Clause. 13 allows the original developer, namely Netscape, but not the contributors, their code under the MPL and at the same time to provide an alternative license, under which users can make their choice. In it the handwriting of Perens is to recognize that recommends those who want to keep their software free and sell them at the same time, any commercial license plus the GPL as free license.

A peculiar construction, the CVW- license of the MITRE. She's just a sort of frame license, in which the trademark of MITRE be excluded from the promotion of derivative works. In addition, they shall indemnify the recipient of the software, whether he wants to use it under the GPL or MPL, both of which are included in the CVW License.

Criticism of the open source concept

Some representatives of the term "free software" - in particular Richard Stallman - but criticize that pass through the new concept of " open software " moral motivation and the idea of ​​freedom of software in the background. Even criticism is that the term open source can be misunderstood.

Nevertheless agree the definitions of free and open software, as they are made by the FSF and the OSI essentially the same.