Portal:Free and open-source software
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Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software – modified or not – to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free software and open-source software. The rights guaranteed by FOSS originate from the "Four Essential Freedoms" of The Free Software Definition and the criteria of The Open Source Definition. All FOSS must have publicly available source code, but not all source-available software is FOSS. FOSS is the opposite of proprietary software, which is licensed restrictively or has undisclosed source code.
The historical precursor to FOSS was the hobbyist and academic public domain software ecosystem of the 1960s to 1980s. Free and open-source operating systems such as Linux distributions and descendants of BSD are widely used, powering millions of servers, desktops, smartphones, and other devices. Free-software licenses and open-source licenses have been adopted by many software packages. Reasons for using FOSS include decreased software costs, increased security against malware, stability, privacy, opportunities for educational usage, and giving users more control over their own hardware.
The free software movement and the open-source software movement are online social movements behind widespread production, adoption and promotion of FOSS, with the former preferring to use the equivalent term free/libre and open-source software (FLOSS). FOSS is supported by a loosely associated movement of multiple organizations, foundations, communities and individuals who share basic philosophical perspectives and collaborate practically, but may diverge in detail questions. (More about free and open-source software...)
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Free Software Foundation image of GNU mascot, the gnu animal, and the Linux penguin, Tux from The GNU web site, entitled: The Dynamic Duo: The Gnu and the Penguin in flight. This image depicts the "Dynamic Duo" as superheros, presumably out to spread GNU/Linux. They are shown together to demonstrate the partnership between GNU and Linux required for the complete GNU/Linux operating system, also just called Linux. On their shirts is "GPL", short for GNU General Public License, a popular free software license that GNU/Linux uses. Read more about the "GNU/Linux" vs. "Linux" naming dispute: GNU/Linux naming controversy.
Did you know
- ... that Terry Davis created TempleOS, a Bible-themed operating system that had more than 120,000 lines of code? (2025-03-20)
- ... that the browser extension AdNauseam blocks and clicks on advertisements at the same time? (2025-01-06)
- ... that Riley Testut developed AltStore because he wanted to publish his emulator Delta? (2024-06-01)
- ... that you can keep a snowflake in a browser tab? (2022-11-08)
- ... that Kotaku revised an article about Nintendo Switch emulation after Nintendo complained that the previous version encouraged piracy? (2022-10-17)
- ... that Vegeta is used to attack HTTP-based applications? (2022-09-11)
- ... that Leafpad is a text editor for Linux that is comparable to Notepad for Windows? (2022-08-30)
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Period: 2025-04-01 to 2025-04-30
Total views: 8,980,176
Updated: 12:43, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
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Types of software
The following types are the selected sub-categories of Category:Free software:
- Antivirus software
- Application servers
- Astronomy software
- Audio software
- Backup software
- BitTorrent clients
- Business software
- Compilers and interpreters
- Computer-aided design software
- Content management systems
- Cross-platform software
- Data compression software
- Database management systems
- Desktop environments
- Development toolkits and libraries
- Educational software
- Email software
- File managers
- File transfer software
- Games
- GIS software
- 2D graphics software
- 3D graphics software
- Groupware
- HTML editors
- Image galleries
- Instant messengers
- Internet forum software
- IRC clients
- Learning support software
- Mathematics software
- Media players
- Multimedia codecs, containers, and splitters
- Network management software
- Note-taking software
- Office suites
- Operating systems
- Optical disc authoring software
- PDF software
- Personal information managers
- Project management software
- Science software
- Search engine software
- Special purpose file systems
- Spreadsheets
- System software
- Television software
- TeX software
- Text editors
- Usenet clients
- Version control software
- Video software
- VoIP software
- Web browsers
- Windowing systems
- Word processors
- X window managers
People, projects, and groupings
- Apache Software Foundation projects
- Free software programmers
- Free and open-source software organizations
- Members of the Free Software Foundation board of directors
- Free Software Foundation
- GNU project and GNU project software
- Free software companies
Non-software materials
- Free and open-source software licenses
- Free software websites
- Free-software awards
- Free-software events
- Copyleft
- Free software culture and documents
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