Open Source Software

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A screenshot of Linux Mint running the Xfce desktop environment, Mozilla Firefox browsing Wikipedia, a calculator program, the built in calendar, Vim, GIMP, and the VLC media player, all of which are open-source software.

Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner. Open-source software is the most prominent example of open-source development.^{[dead link]}

The open-source model, or collaborative competition development from multiple independent sources, generates an increasingly diverse scope of design perspective than one company development alone can sustain long term. A report by the Standish Group (from 2008) states that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers.