What is FOSS?
FOSS is Free Open Source Software, which is free to share and free to change. Proprietary software, on the other hand, restricts these freedoms — you can’t copy, share and modify it.
What’s in a name?
Free Software was defined in 1983, and is championed by the Free Software Foundation. It has an emphasis on the social aspects of software (Free software is a matter of liberty not price
). The Open Source Initiative was established in 1998, promoting a less ideological and more business-friendly approach to the free software movement.
In practical terms, they’re very similar, so many people refer to them collectively as Free Open Source Software (FOSS).
Open Standards
Open Standards refer to specifications for hardware and software that are publicly available. For example, web pages are built using HTML. No one company controls HTML, instead a standards body called the W3C oversees new developments. This is in stark contrast to Adobe’s Flash SWF format.
FOSS programs generally use Open Standards for documents, eg OpenOffice.org uses XML, Inkscape uses SVG. Whereas proprietary software tends to use proprietary standards, eg Microsoft Office uses DOC, and Adobe Flash uses SWF.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How does anyone make any money?
- Why do people do it?
- What are the advantages?
- What are the disadvantages?
- How do I get involved?
How does anyone make any money?
Free Software can be sold and used in commerce. Very large companies use Free Software, such as Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, HP, IBM etc. These companies financially support the FOSS projects they use, such as Mozilla (who make the Firefox web browser). Businesses will also make from selling support with a FOSS product (such as Red Hat Linux and MySQL database). And some peoplel make money from FOSS training (like firebox.nu FOSS Media Training ;)
Why do people do it?
People make and contribute to FOSS for a number of reasons — because they believe in sharing knowledge, to help others, to be part of a like-minded community, for kudos in the technical community, to make money, to facilitate social change…
What are the advantages?
- It’s free! You can normally download the program for free.
- If you are a programmer, you can make any changes you want to the software — if you want a particular feature, you can build it yourself.
- Many FOSS programs have a thriving online community, through IRC channels and forums.
- By using the software, participating in the community, sharing knowledge and helping other users (particularly newbies), you are contributing to a better society.
- Once written, free software never disappears. If a proprietary company is acquired by another company, its software can be discontinued.
What are the disadvantages?
- Sometimes the manuals and documentation for FOSS programs aren’t as thorough as proprietary programs
- Many FOSS programs don’t offer a full support service.
- If you’re accustomed to a propietary program, then you’ll have to learn some new skills.
- Some functionality is tied into proprietary standards, such as Apple iTunes DRM, which renders unusable to FOSS apps.
How do I get involved?
- Find out more about Free Software.
- Tell your friends and work colleagues about Free Open Source Software.
- Make copies of your favourite FOSS software and hand them out.
- Check software projects web site, there is always room for better documentation, translation, looking after forums etc.
- Write to your local councillors and MPs and ask them for a committment to using FOSS programs in the public sector.
