The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20021001164015/http://www.opensource.org:80/docs/history.php
| .:: OSD change log ::. |
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*1.0 identical to DFSG, except for addition of MPL and QPL to clause
10. *1.1 added LGPL to clause 10. *1.2 added public-domain to clause 10. *1.3 retitled clause 10 and split off the license list, adding material on procedures. *1.4 Now explicit about source code requirement for PD software. *1.5 allow "reasonable reproduction cost" to meet GPL terms. *1.6 Edited section 10; this material has moved. *1.7 Section 10 replaced with new "Conformance" section. *1.8 Section 1: replaced "may not" with "shall not". *1.9 Section 9: removed rationale referring to the action of the GPL as Contaminat[ion]. |
| .:: Conformance to the OSD ::. |
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(This section is not part of the Open Source Definition.) We think the Open Source Definition captures what the great majority of the software community originally meant, and still mean, by the term "Open Source". However, the term has become widely used and its meaning has lost some precision. The OSI Certified mark is OSI's way of certifying that the license under which the software is distributed conforms to the OSD; the generic term "Open Source" cannot provide that assurance, but we still encourage use of the term "Open Source" to mean conformance to the OSD. For information about the OSI Certified mark, and for a list of licenses that OSI has approved as conforming to the OSD, see the OSD Certification Mark page. |
The prehistory of the Open Source Initiative includes the entire history of Unix, Internet free software, and the hacker culture.
The "open source" label itself came out of a strategy session held on February 3rd 1998 in Palo Alto, California. The people present included Todd Anderson, Chris Peterson (of the Foresight Institute), John "maddog" Hall and Larry Augustin (both of Linux International), Sam Ockman (of the Silicon Valley Linux User's Group), and Eric Raymond.
We were reacting to Netscape's announcement that it planned to give away the source of its browser. One of us (Raymond) had been invited out by Netscape to help them plan the release and followon actions. We realized that the Netscape announcement had created a precious window of time within which we might finally be able to get the corporate world to listen to what we have to teach about the superiority of an open development process.
We realized it was time to dump the confrontational attitude that has been associated with "free software" in the past and sell the idea strictly on the same pragmatic, business-case grounds that motivated Netscape. We brainstormed about tactics and a new label. "Open source," contributed by Chris Peterson, was the best thing we came up with.
Over the next week we worked on spreading the word. Linus Torvalds gave us an all-important imprimatur :-) the following day. Bruce Perens got involved early, offering to trademark "open source" and host this web site. Phil Hughes offered us a pulpit in Linux Journal. Richard Stallman flirted with adopting the term, then changed his mind.
The Open Source Definition is derived from the Debian Free Software Guidelines. Bruce Perens composed the original draft; it was refined using suggestions of the Debian GNU/Linux Distribution developers in e-mail conference during most of June, 1997. They then voted to approve it as Debian's publicly stated policy. It was revised somewhat and Debian-specific references were removed at the origination of the Open Source Initiative in February 1998.
The Open Source Initiative is now a California public benefit (not-for-profit) corporation whose official address (to which you should feel free to send tax-deductible contributions) is:
Law Offices of Lawrence E. Rosen 702 Marshall St. Ste. 301 Redwood City, CA 94063OSI is comprised of the board members who make up its directorship. OSI is not a membership organization. Our web site is hosted by Brian Behlendorf, a former board member. Our email is hosted by Russell Nelson, a current board member.
This story is continuing ...
Eric Rauch has done Lexis-Nexis searches to track the number of references to "open source" (coupled with "netscape", "software", or "linux" to avoid false hits) in American newspapers and magazines. You can see his plot, which shows a steady rise from zero in January 1998 (with a spike in April doubtless due to the April 1 Netscape release).
(Unfortunately, Lexis/Nexis rearranged its libraries in August 1999, so later figures won't be comparable to those above.)
