FOSS stands for Free and Open Source Software. It is a software development and distribution model that avoids proprietary and restrictive licensing regimes, and adheres to the principles of freedom, cooperation, and transparency.
FOSS advocates advocate the availability of the software's source code to anyone who wishes to use, modify, or redistribute it without imposing legal or monetary barriers.
FOSS is not just a technical phenomenon, but a social movement that challenges the hegemony of enterprise software giants and fosters a culture of innovation and collective empowerment.
TLDR
If you are already interested in privacy and FOSS and looking to dive deep and contribute to the open internet, here are some useful tools, resources and communities to start with:
| Resource |
Description |
| Privacy Tools |
Privacy focused and tested tools |
| Awesome Self Hosted |
Curated list of FOSS that can be hosted on users’ own servers |
| F-droid |
Play Store alternative with open source android apps only |
| Stallmanwasright Reddit |
Discussion of FOSS. Examples of how Stallman was right about the importance of software freedom and the dangers of proprietary software. |
| OpenSource Reddit |
Subreddit for everything related to open source software |
| Privacy Reddit |
Learn about privacy tools, techniques, laws and issues related to online and offline privacy. |
The Origin
The origins of free software go back to the early days of computing, when software was often freely shared among scholars and hobbyists who tinkered with the code and improved it to their needs. their needs and preferences.
However, with the advent of commercial software in the late 1970s and early 1980s, software became a commodity subject to strict copyright and patent laws that made accessibility and use Its use is limited.
This provoked a backlash from some software developers, who felt that software should be a public good that belongs to all.
Richard Stallman
One of the pioneers of the FOSS movement was Richard Stallman, who founded the GNU project in 1983 with the goal of creating a complete operating system free of ownership constraints.
Stallman also frames the concept of "free software" as a matter of political and moral choice, based on four essential freedoms:
- freedom to run the program for any purpose,
- freedom to study how the program works and modify it,
- freedom to redistribute copies,
- freedom to distribute modified versions.
Stallman also founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in 1985 to promote and support the free software movement.
Interesting fact, Most of the user friendly being introduced since windows 11 came out are copied completely from KDE, the open source desktop environment.
Linux Torvalds
Another influential figure in the FOSS movement was Linus Torvalds, who created the Linux kernel in 1991 as a hobby project. Torvalds has released its kernel under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which is one of the most widely used FOSS licenses to ensure that any derivative work is also licensed under the terms similar.
The combination of the Linux kernel and GNU system components has resulted in a powerful and popular FOSS operating system that competes with proprietary alternatives such as Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS.
Journey of Open Source
The term "open source" was coined in 1998 by a group of software developers who wanted to avoid the ideological connotation of "free software" and emphasize the practical benefits of FOSS, such as such as higher quality, lower costs and faster innovation.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) was established to define and promote open source criteria, similar but not identical to the definition of free software. OSI also approves various licenses that meet its criteria, such as the Apache License, the MIT License, and the BSD License.
FOSS has become a popular and influential force in the software industry and beyond, with a wide variety of applications.
FOSS has also enabled the emergence of new forms of collaborative production and consumption, such as crowdsourcing, peer-to-peer sharing, and online communities. FOSS has also inspired other fields to embrace similar principles, such as open access, open data, open education, open science, and open hardware.
Problems faced by open source softwares
Some of the problems FOSS faces include:
- Sustainability and funding of FOSS projects
- Balance between inclusivity and meritocracy in FOSS communities
- Resolve ethical dilemmas and social responsibility
- Bridge the digital divide and promote diversity among free software contributors and users.
Takeaways
In a nutshell, FOSS is an enabling and participatory software development model that has changed the landscape of computing and society. FOSS embodies a vision of software as a common resource that anyone can freely access, modify, and share for any purpose.
Free software also represents a culture of collaboration and innovation that challenges conventional notions of ownership, authority, and control. It a social movement defending digital rights, democracy and empowerment.
