Open Source Defination
- The Open Source Definition
Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:
1. Free Redistribution: The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
- Microsoft's New Strategy Against Open Source
These Open Source consultants do not sell software they sell solutions and the brain power to implement and support these solutions. The market is starting to recognize and reward this powerful model. Linux is now the the fastest growing operating system in the enterprise. It already dominates -- in combination with the Apache web server software -- the web server market.
- Social software
Social software enables people to rendezvous, connect or collaborate through computer-mediated communication and to form online communities. Common to most definitions is the observation that some types of software seem to facilitate "bottom-up" community development, in which membership is voluntary, reputations are earned by winning the trust of other members, and the community's mission and governance are defined by the communities' members themselves. Communities formed by "bottom-up" processes are contrasted to the less vibrant collectivities formed by "top-down" software, in which users' roles are determined by an external authority and circumscribed by rigidly conceived software mechanisms.