Having
heard so many people using the terms “open systems”, “open
computing”, “open source”, and
“open access”
interchangeably, believing they all mean the same thing, it seemed
appropriate to write a short blog defining some of these terms and
soliciting input on other ‘open’ terminology.
In
general, the term “Open” often refers to initiatives whose inner
workings are exposed to the public and are capable of being further
modified or improved by any qualified individual or organization.
“Open” is the opposite of “proprietary” or “closed”
environments. In the case of software, this would mean that the
“source code” is either open
for all to access such as the Linux operating system or closed
systems such as MS
Windows where only
Microsoft programmers are able to change the source code.
Other
‘open’ terminology often loosely bandied about include:
Open
Source Software (OSS)
- OSS refers to a software program in which the source code is
available to anyone for use. It can be modified by anyone from its
original design free of up-front license fees. The source code is
available for review, modification, and sharing by the at-large
community. It is also often referred to as Free &
Open Source Software (FOSS).
Open
Standards
- The set of specifications developed to define interoperability
between diverse systems. The standards are owned and maintained by a
vendor-neutral organization rather than by a specific commercial
developer.
-
Open
Architecture
- An Information Technology (IT) architecture whose specifications
are open and available to the public and that provide a platform
that enables continued evolution and interoperability. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_architecture
Open
Access
- Providing free and unrestricted access to journal articles,
research findings, books, and other literature. See
http://www.soros.org/openaccess
Open
Data
– Data that anyone is free to use, reuse and redistribute without
restriction. For more detail, see http://opendefinition.org.
Open
Data Format
- A standard way for describing data formats, per the “Open Data
Format Initiative (ODFI)”, and a program to validate that a data
file is “ODFI compliant”. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument
Open
Community
- An environment in which the creative energy of large numbers of
people is loosely coordinated into large, meaningful collaborative
projects and generally avoids the traditional closed organization
structure many are used to seeing in the private sector.
Open
Computing
- This is a general term used to describe an “open” philosophy
in building information technology (IT) systems. It represents the
principle that includes architecture and technology procurement
policies and practices that align IT with the goals of an open
interoperable computer systems environment.
Open
Knowledge
- An open system of knowledge transfer using the Internet and other
information technologies to share best practices, emerging
practices, knowledge and innovations within one or more “Community
of Practice (CoP)” or across organizational boundaries. Visit
http://okfn.org
Open
Publication License (OPL)
- This is a license used for creating free and open publications
created by the Open Content Project. Other alternatives include the
Creative Commons licenses, the GNU Free Documentation License and
the Free Art License. See http://opencontent.org/openpub/
Open
Source Hardware
- Hardware whose design is made publicly available so that anyone
can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the hardware based on
that ‘open’ design. See http://freedomdefined.org/OSHW
HOT
NEWS - The War is Over: Open
Source has Won. The growing
global Open Movement has shifted
its focus to Open Culture and Open Society.
|
We
are now seeing the emergence of new, related terms like 'Open
Movement', ‘Open
Culture’ and ‘Open Society’ as more people and organizations
around the world adopt ‘open’ technologies and solutions and
embrace the philosophy behind them. They
are defined as:
Open
Movement
- A broad-reaching social movement that has slowly
grown in scope and strength over the past decades to become a major
force helping to reshape the world we live in, the way we do
business, and improving healthcare being provided to hundreds of
millions of people across the globe.
The movement now encompasses open source, open access, open data,
open standards, open hardware, as well as open business models, open
government, open leadership, and much more.
Open
Culture
- A
growing social movement
that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative
works. The
movement objects to over-restrictive copyright laws that restrict
the free exchange of creative ideas and works.
Open
Society
- In
open societies,
citizens
are encouraged to
engage in critical thinking, facilitated
by cultural and
legal institutions that
support the concepts of freedom
and tolerance of diverse
individual, groups, ideas, and beliefs.
Have
you heard some other ‘open’ terminology being used that you can
take a shot at defining and share with us?
