open-source

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Of or relating to software where the source code is freely available and licensed in a…

   Of or relating to software where the source code is freely available and licensed in a manner that permits modification and redistribution.

   • Linux is an open-source operating system.
   • ASP.NET MVC has been under an open-source license since the initial release, but it was just open-source code instead of a full open-source project.
   • OpenSNP constituted a rare example of how open-source projects can successfully operate on a low budget, having repeatedly rejected offers from corporations to sell control of the data.
2. 2

   Describing any product whose composition or method of manufacturing is public knowledge…

   Describing any product whose composition or method of manufacturing is public knowledge and not proprietary.

   • open-source cola
   • open-source hardware
3. 3

   Relying on publicly available information (open sources).

   • open-source intelligence
   • The ramifications of disinformation spill on to the streets with tangible, often devastating real-world consequences. These processes were already under way in 2014, when I founded the open-source investigative group Bellingcat.
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To release the source code of, so as to permit modification and redistribution.

      • The big Unix company Sun Microsystems bought the code for StarOffice in 1999, and some time afterward they open-sourced as much of it as they could.

The neighborhood

• antonymclosed-source