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A survey on open source software licenses: student paper

Authors:

Ashley Beard,

Hyunju KimAuthors Info & Claims

Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, Volume 22, Issue 4

Pages 205 - 211

Published: 01 April 2007 Publication History

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Abstract

Software products have been considered as intellectual properties that are protected through patents and/or law. On the other hand, Open Source Software (OSS) allows access to source code so that the users can read, modify, and redistribute the code. OSS is usually developed under an open environment with collaborations among numerous developers. The software is considered more reliable, and the development process is considered more successful in terms of speed, productivity, and quality compared to software developed under the traditional closed development process. This paper studies the basics of OSS including history and background, and OSS licenses. The OSS licenses implement the "copyleft" concept, which is a method to make software free to use and modify. By studying the licenses, we expect to understand the philosophy of OSS movement in depth and under what conditions, OSS products are distributed.

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Cited By

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Mtsweni JBiermann EBotha RCilliers C(2008)An investigation into the implementation of open source software within the SA governmentProceedings of the 2008 annual research conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists on IT research in developing countries: riding the wave of technology10.1145/1456659.1456677(148-158)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1456659.1456677

Index Terms

A survey on open source software licenses: student paper
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Computing / technology policy
    1. Intellectual property
  2. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education

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Published In

cover image Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges

Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges Volume 22, Issue 4

April 2007

266 pages

ISSN:1937-4771

EISSN:1937-4763

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Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges

Evansville, IN, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 April 2007

Published in JCSC Volume 22, Issue 4

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Mtsweni JBiermann EBotha RCilliers C(2008)An investigation into the implementation of open source software within the SA governmentProceedings of the 2008 annual research conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists on IT research in developing countries: riding the wave of technology10.1145/1456659.1456677(148-158)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1456659.1456677

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Recommendations

Open source software licenses: Strong-copyleft, non-copyleft, or somewhere in between?

Licenses of Open Source Software and their Economic Values

Do software developers understand open source licenses?