10 Things You Should Know About Open Source

Check the Label Open source is frequently used as a generic marketing term, but the phrase has a very specific meaning. Generally speaking, i

Not Just for Coders Open-source contribution isnt just for coders. Using the software, offering feedback and bug reports, tweaking documentation, making translations and helping others on forums or on IRC are all important forms of contributio

Forks Feed Open Source The diversity (and yes, redundancy) of open-source projects can be rather confusing, but the freedom that users enjoy to take the software in new directions-whether those new directions end up leading back to the ori

You Can Ignore the Source There are some interesting things you can do by fetching, patching and compiling source code for yourself; all of this is completely optional. If none of this appeals to you, you can consume open-source software in 10

GPL Is Not a Social(ist) Disease While open source in general, and the GPL license, in particular, is characterized as a virus thats somehow out to dissolve all property ownership, the truth is far less exotic. People who choose the GPL do so

Open Source Is No Secret Society Its entertaining to imagine the open-source software community as a phalanx of Simpsons Comic Book Guys poised to rain snarky l33tspeak upon any newcomer who asks the wrong question or asks it in the wrong way,

Open Source Is Windows-Friendly Open source plays well with Windows. Firefox is an obvious example of a happy marriage between open-source software and Windows, but the popular free Web browser is far from the only open-source application to ru

Releasing the Code Isnt Enough You cant chuck your source code out onto an FTP server and expect an ecosystem of contributors to spring up overnight. Successful open-source projects require a solid framework for communication, a public interf

Watch Out for Orphans Open-source software repositories such as sourceforge.net are brimming with promising-looking open-source projects-many of which are no longer actively developed. Check the mailing list archives and source commit logs

Dog the Bounty Hunters If you come across an orphaned open-source project, or an actively developed project thats lacking particular features you desire, you may be able to issue a bounty, and pay to have that feature coded for you. Googles S

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