International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)

Web Site: [Link] Email: editor@[Link], editorijettcs@[Link]

Volume 1, Issue 3, September – October 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

Free and Open Source Software: Evolution,

Benefits and Characteristics
Murtaza Ali Khan1 and Faizan UrRehman2
1,2
Umm Al-Qura University,
College of Computer and Information System,
Makkah, Saudi Arabia

transformation, from the question of survival to

challenging tycoons of proprietary and closed source
Abstract: The emergence of the Free and Open Source software. With the passage of time, commercial
Software (FOSS) is an important frontier of Information opportunities of Free and Open Source Software are
Systems. The impact of FOSS on society, business, education, growing. Due to immense impact of Free and Open
and research is rising. Thus, there is a need of clear
Source Software on business, education, science &
understanding of the meaning and characteristics of Free
and Open Source Software. In this paper, we briefly reviewed technology, etc., it is important to better understand the
the evolution of FOSS and elaborated the terms Free history, definition, characteristics, and future directions of
Software and Open Source Software. We discussed the FOSS, which is the main goal of this paper.
benefits of Free and Open Source Software such as Organization of the rest of the paper is as follows:
community support, cost, security, education and research. Evolution of FOSS is reviewed in Section II. Free and
We mentioned widely used FOSS licenses. We discussed the
Open Source Software are formally defined in Section III.
unique characteristics of FOSS; this includes community
based distributed development, modularity, reusability, In Section IV, we discussed the benefits of FOSS. The
distribution, and reward mechanisms. Moreover, we most common licenses of FOSS are listed in Section V.
discussed the future trends and directions of Free and Open Section VI discusses the main characteristics of FOSS.
Source Software. The future of FOSS is discussed in Section VII.
Keywords: Community Project, Free and Open Source Concluding remarks are in Section VIII. Appendix A
Software, Software Licenses, Software Model. gives the criteria set by Open Source Initiative that the
distribution terms of open-source software must comply.
1. INTRODUCTION A selective list of historically significance Free and Open
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) grants the users Source Software with brief detail of each is provided in
the right to run the software, inspect, modify, and Appendix B.
distribute the source-code/software. Today millions of
users all over the world are using the FOSS. Both the 2. EVOLUTION OF FREE AND OPEN
number of users and the number of FOSS are increasing SOURCE SOFTWARE
day by day. As of June 2012, SourceForge, a repository of The concept of sharing computer programs (software) is
open-source projects, lists more than 324,000 projects and very old, dated back to 1960s. In the early period most of
more than 3.4 million developers [20]. Note that 3.4 the computer programs were written by academics and
million are number of developers, number of users are far researchers. At that time it was common to share source
exceeding than this number. Taken an example of code and its binary form under the principles of openness
software, VLC media player, is downloaded 3,638,818 and cooperation. In fact, in the beginning, there was only
times from the SourceForge in only one week of June free (libre) software. Later on, proprietary software was
2012 [23]. The same software (VLC) is available to born [30]. The two significance contributions to the
download from many other websites too. These figures evolution of Free and Open Source Software are GNU
give an idea of growth and wide spread usage of FOSS. Project and Open Source Initiative.
Almost in every domain of applications FOSS alternatives 2.1 GNU Project
of proprietary software are available. To name a few,
In 1983, Richard Stallman, formerly a programmer at the
operating system (Linux), office suite (LibreOffice),
MIT AI Lab, launched the GNU Project to write a
database (MySQL), browser (FireFox), image processing complete operating system free from constraints on use of
(GIMP), media player (VLC), animation (Blender), etc. its source code [21]. The GNU Project began working on
FOSS especially Linux have forever changed the an operating system called GNU ("GNU" is a recursive
computing world. During the period of around three acronym that stands for "GNU's Not Unix"). This goal of
decades, FOSS phenomenon has undergone a significant making a Free Software operating system was achieved in
Volume 1, Issue 3 September-October 2012 Page 1
 International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)
Web Site: [Link] Email: editor@[Link], editorijettcs@[Link]
Volume 1, Issue 3, September – October 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

1992 when the last gap in the GNU system, a kernel, was “free beer” ... [5].
filled by the third-party Linux kernel being released as
3.2 Open Source Software
Free Software [21]. In 1989, the first version of the GNU
General Public License was published [8]. The Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is
widespread availability of the Internet in the 1990s available in source code form: the source code and certain
greatly contributed to the propagation of FOSS. other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are
provided under an open-source license that permits users
2.2 Free Software Foundation (FSF)
to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute
The Free Software Foundation, founded by Richard the software. Open Source Initiative defines the criteria
Stallman in 1985. FSF is a non-profit organization with a that the distribution terms of open-source software must
worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom comply [16] (see the Appendix A).
and to defend the rights of all Free Software users [5].
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is best known for its 3.3 Free and Open Source Software
sponsorship of the GNU project [15]. The FSF maintains Now after defining the terms Free Software and Open
historic articles covering Free Software philosophy and Source Software separately, the unified term Free and
maintains the Free Software Definition — to show clearly Open Source Software (FOSS) refers to software that is
what must be true about a particular software program for both Free as defined by FSF and Open Source as
it to be considered as Free Software [5]. The FSF advocates by OSI. Nevertheless in literature the terms
publishes the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), Free Software and Open Source Software are used
GNU Lesser General Public License (GNU LGPL), the interchangeably.
GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL) and Appendix B provides brief details of selected software
the GNU Free Document License (GNU FDL). The Free that have historical significance in the development of
Software Foundation (FSF) distributes the GNU Compiler FOSS. Table 1 gives a typical comparison between Closed
Collection (GCC). GCC is a compiler system supporting Source Propriety Software (CSPS) and Free and Open
various programming languages such as C, C++, Source Software (FOSS).
FORTRAN, Java, Ada, Go, etc.
Table 1: Comparison between Closed Source Propriety
2.3 Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Software (CSPS) and Free and Open Source Software
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit (FOSS).
corporation with global scope formed to educate about
and advocate for the benefits of open source and to build CSP FOS
Feature
bridges among different constituencies in the open source S S
community [18]. The organization was founded in User can run the software ✓ ✓
February 1998, by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, Source code is available to user × ✓
prompted by Netscape Communications Corporation
Multiple users on multiple
publishing the source code for Netscape Communicator × ✓
machines are allowed
(Internet suite).
User can modify the source code × ✓

3. FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE User can redistribute the software × ✓

Now after describing the GNU Project and Open Source

Initiative we can formally define the terms Free Software
and Open Source Software. It is important to note that 4. BENEFITS OF FREE AND OPEN
these terms emerged separately. The FSF stands behind SOURCE SOFTWARE
the term Free Software, while the OSI is advocates of the The following reasons contribute to increasing interest in
term Open Source Software. the Free and Open Source Software:
3.1 Free Software 4.1 Community Support
The Free Software Foundation defines the Free Software There is a very large community of volunteers who
as follows: “Free software” means software that respects support and promote Free and Open Source Software [6].
users' freedom and community. Roughly, the users have Online message-boards and mailing-lists are essential
the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and part of FOSS projects. If a user/developer of FOSS has a
improve the software. With these freedoms, the users question or trouble he/she can post the message on
(both individually and collectively) control the program message-board or send an email to the mailing-list.
and what it does for them ... [5]. Thus, “free software” is Volunteers willing to help respond by answering the
a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, question and debugging the problem. A common trend is
you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in to publish Frequently Ask Questions (FAQs) on the FOSS
Volume 1, Issue 3 September-October 2012 Page 2
 International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)
Web Site: [Link] Email: editor@[Link], editorijettcs@[Link]
Volume 1, Issue 3, September – October 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

project page. These FAQs are very helpful to solve the evolved. Initially, it was difficult for business to
problems of many users. incorporate FOSS with propriety code but now several
licenses permit this combination. By selecting appropriate
4.2 Cost
license it quite possible to bundle the Free and Open
Typically a propriety software license requires paying a Source Software with the proprietary software. Licenses,
separate fee for each machine or each user. Even though, like the BSD and MIT Licenses, are suitable for situations
information, like a computer program, once it is created, in which originator wants wide spread deployment of
is practically costless to reproduce [31]. Almost all of the his/her ideas regardless of in open source software or
Free and Open Source Software have no buying or proprietary software. The wide ranges of FOSS licenses
licensing cost. Moreover, user has no restriction to make give more flexibility to developers and distributors.
multiple copies of FOSS for multiple users or multiple
machines. This provides an obvious incentive for the
6. CHARACTERISTICS OF FOSS
adoption of Free and Open Source Software to individuals
and businesses. The development of open source software consists of
planning, analysis, design, and implementation phases
4.3 Security [3] as in any other software model. However, there are
Free and Open Source Software are more secure because unique characteristics of FOSS. In this section, we
their source code is available for scrutiny to large describe the main characteristic of Free and Open Source
community. Bugs and security issues are identified and Software.
fixed easily and quickly. Security threats such as viruses,
worms, Trojans and malware are common to Windows
operating systems but very uncommon to Free and Open
source Linux operating system.
4.4 Education and Research
Free and Open Source Software are well suited for
education and research. The cost to obtain, install and
maintain the FOSS is very low and in some cases zero.
The source code of FOSS can be inspect and modify, this
is very useful for research purposes. Derivate software can
be written using FOSS code without any copyright issues.
Academic, students and researchers can freely share their
work. Usage of Linux operating system in educational
and research institutes is highly recommended. The
variety of tools and compilers available on Linux
operating system makes it an ideal platform for teaching
courses in computer science and engineering. Excellent
Figure 1 Modular design approach of FOSS
free compilers are available for C, C++, Objective C,
Java, Pascal, FORTRAN, Modula-2 and -3, Ada, and
6.1 Community Based Distributed Development
Eiffel [17].
In a typical FOSS, initially an individual or few
volunteers involve in the project. Once the project is
5. FOSS LICENSES
debut and successful then a community of project is
The Free Software Foundation publishes lists of licenses. established. Later other members from the community
The most popular of these licenses are: contribute to the project. The Concurrent Versions
a. GNU General Public License [7]. System (CVS) helps is distributed development of FOSS.
b. FreeBSD License [4]. CVS is a client-server software revision control system.
c. Mozilla Public License [13]. CVS keeps track of all changes in a set of files, and
d. Apache License [1]. allows several developers to collaborate. CVS itself is a
e. X11 License (also known as MIT License) [28]. Free and Open Source Software. Globally distributed
We will not go into the details of these licenses. For software development by virtual teams promises the
interested user references of these licenses are provided. flexibility, responsiveness, lower costs, and improved
But it is important to note that these licenses are in resource utilization [14].
compliances with “Free Software” definition and
approved by FSF and their source code is Open Source. 6.2 Modular Design
With the evolution of FOSS, the FOSS licenses also In modular design software architecture is divided into

Volume 1, Issue 3 September-October 2012 Page 3

 International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)
Web Site: [Link] Email: editor@[Link], editorijettcs@[Link]
Volume 1, Issue 3, September – October 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

components called modules. Modular design supports source software will be more challenging for both sides.
abstraction, increased understanding of the system and Based on the notion of survival of the fittest, dynamic,
concurrent development. Due to distributed nature of robust, competitive, secure, and user-friendly applications
FOSS, its design must be modular that can easily will capture the market. Businesses will rely more on
incorporate into the main system. Modularity is favorable providing services related to Free and Open Source
characteristics for open source production [10]. Modular Software. Free and Open Source Software offers much
design with well-defined interfaces helps in effective more revenue-generating opportunities than anticipated
in the past. It is safe to say that Free and Open Source
collaborative development of FOSS. Figure 1 shows the
Software will an important factor in the Information
modular design approach of FOSS.
Systems of the future.
6.3 Reusability
Reusability means segment of source code that can be 8. CONCLUSION
used again to add new functionalities with little or no In this paper, we elaborated the meaning of Free and
modification. This fits very well the characteristics of the Open Source Software. We described the evolution,
Open Source production process [26]. FOSS licenses benefits, characteristics, and future of Free and Open
grants the rights to the developer to obtain the source Source Software (FOSS). We listed widely used FOSS
code, inspect it, modify it, and distribute it. This mean licenses. The wide ranges of FOSS licensing options give
FOSS licenses inherently encourages a developer to reuse more flexibility to developers and distributors. The wide
code. The reuse of code can be either within the project or spread diffusion of the Internet and communication
outside the project, i.e., in other projects. A more details technologies helped in the formation of communities.
study with statistics of code reuse in open source software Role of communities is very significance in the
is conducted by [27]. FOSS repositories such as development and use of Free and Open Source Software.
The FOSS model is inherently collaborative and
SourceForge offer huge amounts of reusable code.
transparent. Modular and distributed development is the
6.4 Distribution and Licensing important characteristics of Free and Open Source
Internet is the medium of distribution of Free and Open Software. Free and Open Source Software model ensures
Source Software. Download websites, mailing-lists, blogs, security, availability, reliability, quality, and efficiency of
forums, etc., all contribute to the wide spread publicity software development. The business opportunities of are
growing. Sources of income range from donations to
and distribution of Free and Open Source Software. Wide
providing services such as consulting, integration,
ranges of licensing options, such as GPL, LGPL, BSD,
support and training. Free and Open Source Software will
ISC, Artistic License, etc., are available for FOSS
play a significant role in setting the tone and pace of
distribution. information systems of the future.
6.5 Reward Mechanisms
At the beginning of Free Software movement, seemingly References
it was difficult to perceive the business opportunities of [1] The Apache Software Foundation, Apache License,
Free and Open Source Software. But now business model available at:
of FOSS is getting success. Sources of income range from [Link]
donations to providing services such as consulting, retrieved on 15 Jun 2012.
integration, support and training. It also worth to mention [2] Roy T. Fielding and Gail E. Kaiser, “The apache
that reward other than money, such as reputation and http server project”, IEEE Internet Computing, vol.
serving community is also important for many developers. 1, no. 4, pp. 88–90, 1997.
[3] Brian Fitzgerald, “The transformation of open
7. FUTURE OF FOSS source software”, MIS Quarterly, 30(3):587–598,
2006.
Now the Free and Open Source Software model has [4] The FreeBSD Project, The FreeBSD Copyright,
transformed into a more mature form that is technically available at:
sound and commercially viable. The market share of [Link]
FOSS is growing, e.g., International Data Corporation, [Link], retrieved on 15 Jun 2012.
the Q3 2011 Server statistics show that Linux server [5] Free Software Foundation, available at:
revenues grew up to 2.3 billion, a 12.3 percent increase [Link] retrieved on 15 Jun 2012.
over the previous year [29]. [6] Alfonso Fuggetta, “Open source software - an
A wide range of Free and Open Source applications are evaluation”, Journal of Systems and Software, vol.
available in various domains on various platforms. In 66, pp. 77–90, 2003.
future, new applications will develop particularly in the [7] Free Software Foundation, GNU GENERAL
rapidly growing market of smart-phones and tablet PUBLIC LICENSE,
computers. Competition with commercial and closed

Volume 1, Issue 3 September-October 2012 Page 4

 International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)
Web Site: [Link] Email: editor@[Link], editorijettcs@[Link]
Volume 1, Issue 3, September – October 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

[Link] retrieved on [26] Andrea Bonaccorsi and Cristina Rossi, "Why Open
15 Jun 2012. Source software can succeed", Research Policy, vol.
[8] GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 1, 32, no. 7, pp. 1243–1258, 2003.
February 1989, available at: [27] Stefan Haefliger, Georg von Krogh, Sebastian
[Link] Spaeth, “Code Reuse in Open Source Software”,
retrieved on 17 Jun 2012. MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, vol. 54, no. 1, pp.
[9] Nicolai Langfeldt, “The Concise Guide to DNS and 180–193, 2008.
Bind”, Que Corp., Indianapolis, IN, USA, 2000. [28] X Consortium, available at:
[10] Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole, “Some simple [Link]
economics of open source”, Journal of Industrial , retrieved on 15 Jun 2012.
Economics, Vol. 50, pp. 197–234, 2002. [29] International Data Corporation, available at:
[11] Marshall Kirk McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. [Link]
Karels, and John S. Quarterman, “The design and 179011, retrieved on 15 Jun 2012.
implementation of the 4.4BSD operating system”, [30] A brief history of open source software, available at:
Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., [Link]
Redwood City, CA, USA, 1996. html#foot191, retrieved on 17 Jun 2012.
[12] Audris Mockus, Roy T. Fielding, and James [31] Mikko Mustonen, Copyleft-the economics of Linux
Herbsleb, “A case study of open source software and other open source software, Information
development: the apache server”, In Proceedings of Econoimics and Policy, vol. 15 pp. 99–121, 2003.
the 22nd international conference on Software
engineering, ICSE ’00, pp. 263–272, New York, APPENDIX A
NY, USA, 2000. ACM.
[13] Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla Public License, The following definition of Open Source is taken from the
available at: [Link] Website of Source Initiative (OSI)
retrieved on 15 Jun 2012. ([Link]
[14] A. Mowshowitz, “Virtual organization”,
Communications of the ACM, vol. 40, pp. 30–37, The Open Source Definition
1997. Introduction
[15] Richard Stallman, Free software foundation (FSF), Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code.
Encyclopedia of Computer Science (book), John The distribution terms of open-source software must
Wiley and Sons Ltd, pp. 732–733, 2003. comply with the following criteria:
[16] The Open Source Initiative (OSI), The Open Source
Definition, available at: 1 Free Redistribution
[Link] retrieved on 15 The license shall not restrict any party from selling or
Jun 2012. giving away the software as a component of an aggregate
[17] Shahid H. Bokhari and Rafeequr Rehman, "Linux software distribution containing programs from several
and the developing world", IEEE Software, vol. 16, different sources. The license shall not require a royalty
no. 1, pp. 58–64, 1999. or other fee for such sale.
[18] The Open Source Initiative (OSI), available at:
[Link] retrieved on 15 Jun 2012. 2 Source Code
[19] Robert W. Scheifler and Jim Gettys, “The X window The program must include source code, and must allow
system”, ACM Trans. Graph., 5(2):79–109, April distribution in source code as well as compiled form.
1986. Where some form of a product is not distributed with
[20] SourceForge, a repository of open-source projects, source code, there must be a well-publicized means of
available at: [Link] retrieved obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable
on 17 Jun 2012. reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet
[21] Richard Stallman, “The GNU Project”, without charge. The source code must be the preferred
[Link] 2002. form in which a programmer would modify the program.
[22] StatCounter, available at: [Link] Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed.
retrieved on 15 Jun 2012. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or
[23] SourceForge, VLC media player, available at: translator are not allowed.
[Link]
retrieved on 18 Jun 2012. 3 Derived Works
[24] Linus Torvalds, “The Linux Edge”, Commun. ACM, The license must allow modifications and derived works,
42(4):38–39, April 1999. and must allow them to be distributed under the same
[25] Michael Widenius and Davis Axmark, Mysql terms as the license of the original software.
Reference Manual, O’Reilly & Associates, Inc.,
Sebastopol, CA, USA, 1st edition, 2002. 4 Integrity of The Author's Source Code

Volume 1, Issue 3 September-October 2012 Page 5

 International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)
Web Site: [Link] Email: editor@[Link], editorijettcs@[Link]
Volume 1, Issue 3, September – October 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

The license may restrict source-code from being

FOSS Description License
distributed in modified form only if the license allows the
distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the Linux kernel, first released
purpose of modifying the program at build time. The October 5, 1991 by Linus
license must explicitly permit distribution of software Torvalds. Linux today has
built from modified source code. The license may require millions of users, thousands of
derived works to carry a different name or version developers, and a growing market
number from the original software. [24].
is a Unix like operating system
5 No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups developed and distributed by the
The license must not discriminate against any person or Computer Systems Research
group of persons. Group (CSRG) of the University
of California, Berkeley, from
6 No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor 1977 to 1995. BSD Unix became
The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the basis for many commercial
BSD BSD
the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, versions of Unix and dominated
Unix License
it may not restrict the program from being used in a the commercial Unix market
business, or from being used for genetic research. until the 1990s. Today, BSD is
found in nearly every variant of
7 Distribution of License UNIX, and is widely used for
The rights attached to the program must apply to all to Internet services and firewalls,
whom the program is redistributed without the need for time-sharing, and
execution of an additional license by those parties. multiprocessing systems [11]
is a computer software system
8 License Must Not Be Specific to a Product that provides high performance,
The rights attached to the program must not depend on high-level, device-independent
the program's being part of a particular software graphics [19]. For long time it
distribution. If the program is extracted from that X remained the de facto system for
distribution and used or distributed within the terms of Windo the GUI based Unix workstations. MIT
the program's license, all parties to whom the program is w X originated at the Massachusetts License
redistributed should have the same rights as those that are System Institute of Technology (MIT) in
granted in conjunction with the original software 1984. Currently [Link]
distribution. Foundation leads the project of X
Window System. Website:
9 License Must Not Restrict Other Software [Link]
The license must not place restrictions on other software is an implementation of the
that is distributed along with the licensed software. For Domain Name System (DNS)
example, the license must not insist that all other protocols. DNS is a distributed
programs distributed on the same medium must be open- BIND, Internet directory service. It is
source software. the used mainly to translate between
Berkele domain names and IP addresses,
10 License Must Be Technology-Neutral y and to control Internet email ISC
No provision of the license may be predicated on any Internet delivery [9]. BIND was first license
individual technology or style of interface. Name released with Berkeley Software
Daemo Distribution 4.3BSD. As of 2012,
APPENDIX B n the Internet Systems Consortium
Table 2 provides brief details of selected software that (ISC) maintains BIND. ISC
have historical significance in the development of FOSS. Website of BIND:
[Link]
Table 2: Table 2. The table below shows historical FOSS is multi-threaded, multi-user, and
software SQL (Structured Query
Language) database server. It is GNU
the most popular SQL database in GPL or
FOSS Description License MySQ
the open source community and proprieta
L
is a Unix-like operating system. It GNU is used almost universally by web ry
GNU- is one of the most successful Free General sites running on open source EULA
Linux and Open Source Software. The Public systems [25]. Website:
core component of Linux is the License [Link]

Volume 1, Issue 3 September-October 2012 Page 6

 International Journal of Emerging Trends & Technology in Computer Science (IJETTCS)
Web Site: [Link] Email: editor@[Link], editorijettcs@[Link]
Volume 1, Issue 3, September – October 2012 ISSN 2278-6856

FOSS Description License

is web server software. It is the
most popular web server software
in the world. Apache began in
Apache under
February 1995 as a combined
HTTP Apache
effort to coordinate existing fixes
Server License
to the NCSA httpd program [12,
2]. Website:
[Link]
is a web browser managed by
Mozilla Foundation. FireFox has
approximately 25% of worldwide
usage share of web browsers [22]. GNU
Mozilla The FireFox project began as an GPL or
FireFox experimental branch of the GNU
Mozilla project by Dave Hyatt, LGPL
Joe Hewitt and Blake Ross.
FireFox Website:
[Link]

Volume 1, Issue 3 September-October 2012 Page 7