What are Open Source Applications? After completing hours of research I have found the web to be filled with a multitude of definitions and explanations of what an Open Source Applications is but frankly they all confuse me. So to put it simply, Open Source Application are available to the public for changes, modifications and to be customized. Simply allowing others to edit its functions. However they are differences between Open Source applications, Free and Proprietary applications. Proprietary applications are different from Open Source and Free application because they are copyrighted. Somebody owns the copyright and therefore, it isn't free. Proprietary applications may be free- as in free of charge but will not allow you to have access to the codes. Free applications refers to the freedom to make changes to the application much like an open source application. The major difference between Open Source application and Free applications is the initiative behind them, their history.
History of Open Source Applications can be found here:
History of Free Applications can be found here:
According to opensource.org their are hundreds of licenses that open source applications may operate under, they even categorize them according to use. However the majority of open source applications operate under a General Public License (GPL).
The following are examples of open source application that may be useful in the educational world:
*Moodle is a virtual learning community popular among educators for creating sites to share with students and other educators.
*OpenOffice is an open source "office software" It is comparable to Microsoft word and is available for free.
openoffice.org
Your blog made quick and simple sense out of free and open source applications. I have some experience with Moodle, and love telling people about OpenOffice. I find it interesting that Microsoft Office has started using ODF (Open Document Format) in their word processor. Also, it is sad to me when new computers do NOT include office software.
ReplyDeleteI love Moodle! So what I am gathering is that almost everything free online is OpenSource? For Microsoft to have something for free is very interesting, for them to stay competative they need to stay ahead of the curve.
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