
Opensource (often written "open-source" or "open source") is a state of legal access, created by licensing, applicable to creative works. If a work is opensource this means the source code, or source materials are licensed in a manner which makes them freely available to copy, modify, and share.
An opensource license is a permissive license, or similar, designed to be applied to source code, or other types of source material. It will often include clauses specific to source code, or compiled software. Opensource licenses grant permission to copy, modify, and distribute the creative work.
Many projects in the opensource community do not use opensource licenses, which can be a confusing concept.
The opensource community is the people, organizations, companies, and governments involved in the creation, and use of opensource works.
Author: James Daniel Marrs Ritchey