open-source

o·pen-source

designating or of software whose code is made public and which is thus available to any programmer to develop and customize

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"open-source." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 07 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source>.

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open-source. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source

open-source

adjective

Open to public participation, as in the sharing of information or the development of software: an open-source operating system.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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"open-source." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 07 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source>.

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open-source. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source

Relating to source code that is available to the public without charge. Open-source code is often enhanced, improved, and adapted for specific purposes by interested programmers, with the revised versions of the code are made available to the public. For example, most of the code in the Linux operating system is open-source.

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"open-source." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 07 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source>.

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open-source. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source

Adjective

(comparative more opensource, superlative most opensource)

Alternative spelling of open-source.

Adjective

(not comparable)

(computing) Of, or relating to a product which is licensed to permit modifications and redistribution of its source code, as per The Open Source Definition.
Linux is an open-source operating system

Verb

(third-person singular simple present open-sources, present participle open-sourcing, simple past and past participle open-sourced)

To release the source code of.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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"open-source." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 07 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source>.

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open-source. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source

open source - Computer Definition

Also known as open source software (OSS). Software distributed under a license that makes the source code (i.e., program instructions) freely available to the end user. Such a license often encourages the user to modify the source code as long as the modifications are made freely available to other users, as well. Open source software generally is available at no charge, i.e., free. Linux is a classic example of successful open source software. See also software, Linux.

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"open-source." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 07 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source>.

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open-source. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/open-source

Open source proponents believe that software users should be able to view the source code and make changes to it to correct glitches or produce value-added features. The Linux operating system, for example, is open source.

See Also: Internet; Open Source Initiative (OSI).

Webster's New World Hacker Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Bernadette Schell and Clemens Martin.
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.