To ensure there is some consistency in what is classed as ‘Open Source Software’, an organisation was formed in 1998 called The Open Source Initiative (OSI). Through the OSI, authors of the original software may choose to apply for a licence that will confirm that the software conforms to the Open Source Definition and standards set out by the OSI. In turn, this licence gives the software some integrity by ensuring it stays open source. When you download open source software, you are required to agree to, and abide by, the conditions of the respective licence. Failure to do this may result in a copyright breach of the original work.

On the other hand, proprietary software is developed and produced usually by companies who have overheads to cover, so this type of software will generally have detailed copyright protection on it. This means that it can only be modified by authorised programmers and the company producing it makes a profit by selling it. Some of these profits are used to develop the software further.

There are also some other rules that are useful to know, more to do with ethics rather than legal things. These are ‘unwritten’ rules although there are many references to them on the internet and they are there to ensure harmony within the community of open source programmers. They help ensure that the software gets developed in a positive way.

The following links have some useful guidelines.

Tobias Schlitt blog

Greg Beaver blog