{"id":10334,"date":"2011-07-26T06:22:12","date_gmt":"2011-07-26T06:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/free-and-open-source-software\/"},"modified":"2012-05-25T16:33:58","modified_gmt":"2012-05-25T16:33:58","slug":"free-and-open-source-software","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss","title":{"rendered":"Free and Open-Source Software"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_does_free_and_open-source_software_mean\">What Does Free and Open-Source Software Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Free and open-source software (FOSS) allows users and programmers to edit, modify or reuse the software&#8217;s source code. This gives developers the opportunity to improve program functionality by modifying it.<\/p>\n<p> The term \u201cfree\u201d indicates that the software does not have constraints on copyrights. The term \u201copen source\u201d indicates the software is in its project form, enabling easy software development from expert developers collaborating worldwide without any need for reverse engineering.<\/p>\n<p>Free and open-source software may also be referred to as free\/libre open-source software (FLOSS) or free\/open-source software (F\/OSS).<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"techopedia_explains_free_and_open-source_software\">Techopedia Explains Free and Open-Source Software<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Before 1960, most software was openly accessible and free because software tools required a relatively simple development effort. As the complexity of software applications grew, this led to greater software package development efforts, making software licensing a market trend. Eventually, developers found techniques to avoid multicomputer software use, such as use of product keys and Internet activation. With the widespread use of the Internet, these techniques became essential for developers to regain profit from their efforts.<\/p>\n<p>FOSS surfaced as a result of a need for free, collaborative effort in complicated and expensive projects. Today, many FOSS projects are available for active developers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Does Free and Open-Source Software Mean? Free and open-source software (FOSS) allows users and programmers to edit, modify or reuse the software&#8217;s source code. This gives developers the opportunity to improve program functionality by modifying it. The term \u201cfree\u201d indicates that the software does not have constraints on copyrights. The term \u201copen source\u201d indicates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[225,230,239,216],"class_list":["post-10334","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-cloud-native-development","definitioncat-privacy-and-compliance","definitioncat-productivity-software","definitioncat-software-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS)? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Free and Open-Source Software and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free and Open-Source Software\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Free and Open-Source Software and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-05-25T16:33:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Free and Open-Source Software\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-26T06:22:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-05-25T16:33:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss\"},\"wordCount\":210,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24181\/free-and-open-source-software--foss\",\"name\":\"What is Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS)? 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