History of Open Source Software
Open source software, or software with the source code readily available for users to modify as needed, has a controversial history that extends into the present day. With the computer and technological boom of the modern age, patenting and licensing of software has become an extremely profitable business, as software giant Microsoft can attest. However, software’s humble beginnings sprouted from the free model of open source. Richard Stallman, an employee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), became involved with open source software in 1971, although he claims the open sourcing community had been around for many years before his participation. Several user groups of the early period include the SHARE group for IBM 701 and the DECUS group for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Operating systems in existence at the time, such as UNIX, provided academics and corporate researchers a template for their work. Open source software was extremely valuable during that time...