Open-source movement

The open source movement is a broad-reaching movement of individuals who support the use of open source licenses for some or all software.. The open source movement was started to spread the concept/idea of "Open Source".

Open source software is made available for anybody to use or modify, as its source code is made available. Some open source software is based on a share-alike principle, whereby users are free to pass on the software subject to the stipulation that any enhancements or changes are just as freely available to the public, while other open source projects may be freely incorporated into any derivative work, open source or proprietary. Open source software promotes learning and understanding through the dissemination of understanding. The main difference between open source and traditional proprietary software is in user and property rights, the conditions of use imposed on the user by the software license, as opposed to differences in the programming code. With open source software, such as OpenOffice.org, users are granted the right to both the program's functionality and methodology. With proprietary software programs, such as Microsoft Office, users only have the rights to functionality. Examples of popular open source software products include Mozilla Firefox, Google Chromium, Android and OpenOffice.org.