INTRODUCTION ............... 1
HISTORY AND LICENSING OF FOSS 2
1. WHAT IS FREE/OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (FOSS)? ....... 3
2. THE FOSS PHILOSOPHY ............. 3
3. THE FOSS DEVELOPMENT METHOD ............ 3
4. THE HISTORY OF FOSS ............. 5
5. WHY FOSS? ............ 6
6. THE BENEFITS OF USING FOSS ... 6
6.1. Security ........... 6
6.2. Reliability/Stabi lity ......... 7
6.3. Open standards and vendor independence ..... 7
6.4. Reduced reliance on imports .......... 8
6.5. Developing local software capacity 8
6.6. Piracy, Intellectual Property Rights ( IPR), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). 9
6.7. Localization .... 9
7. THE SHORTCOMINGS OF FOSS .... 9
7.1. Lack of business applications ......... 9
7.2. Interoperability with proprietary syst ems ....... 9
7.3. Documentation and “polish” ........ 10
8. THE LICENSING ARRANGEMENTS FOR FOSS - AN OVERVIEW OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ... 10
8.1. How is software protected? ......... 10
8.2. Copyright Basics .......... 11
8.2.1. What can be copyrighted? ...... 11
8.2.2. Is anything required to be done in order to get a work protected?........... .............. 11
8.2.3. What are the rights granted to the copyright-holder? ............. 11
Copyright law protection has been expanded largely wi th time. ..... 11
8.3. The Expansion of Copyright Protection ........ 11
8.3.1. The first copyright leg islation (Statute of Anne, 1710) .. ........ 11
8.3.2. All-dimensional expansion of copyright protection ............... 11
8.4. From national to international protection .... 12
8.4.1. Berne Convention .... ............... 12
8.4.2. A more enforceable international standard - WTO and TRIPs ............. . 12
8.4.3. Protection upon creation, the abol ishment of formality requirements ... 12
8.4.4. Copyright law, a balance between public and private interests ......... ..... 12
8.5. Software and Copyright Protection .............. 13
8.5.1. The extension of copyright law protect ion to software in the 1980s ... .. 13
8.5.2. Copyright protects both the source and the objec t code under TRIPs .. .. 13
8.5.3. Users’ rights disguised in proprietary licensing mode ls .... .... 13
9. HOW IS FOSS DIFFERENT FROM PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE? ............. 14
9.1. Free Software ............... 14
9.2. Richard Stallman on a stark moral decision. 14
9.3. Free Software Definition .............. 14
10. CREATING A FREE SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT ............. 15
10.1. The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation 15
10.2. GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or GPL) .... 15
11. OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ....... 15
11.1. Open Source Definition ............. 16
12. OSI-APPROVED LICENSES ........ 16
12.1. Free or Restrictive? ... 16
12.2. How to make the source free/open? ............ 17
12.3. A Comparison of FOSS Licenses v2.1 ......... 18
12.4. GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or GPL) .... 20
12.4.1 Copyleft ............ .... 21
12.4.2. Major terms and condi tions of the GPL .......... .... 21
12.5. GNU Lesser General Public License (GNU LGPL or LGPL) ..... 22
12.5.1. Major terms and condi tions of the LGPL .. ........... 22
12.6. Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)-style Licenses . 23
12.7. Multiple Licensing ...... 23

Attached Files

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