Open Source Software

Code is public: users inspect, modify, and redistribute it freely; this collaborative model drives $8.8$ trillion in demand-side value and powers projects like Linux and Git.

Open Source Software (OSS) is a development methodology where the source code is publicly available: users can view, modify, and distribute it under licenses defined by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). This collaborative, transparent approach accelerates innovation, allowing global communities to fix bugs and add features faster than proprietary models. The impact is massive: a 2024 Harvard study estimated the OSS ecosystem's demand-side value at $8.8$ trillion, underpinning critical internet infrastructure like the Linux operating system, the Apache Web Server, and the Chromium browser project.

https://opensource.org