01Overview

In 1983 Stallman launched the GNU project to build a free operating system; in 1985 the Free Software Foundation was founded, and the GPL used copyleft to keep code and its derivatives free. In 1991 the Linux kernel was released, and GNU tools plus Linux formed a complete system.

In 1998 the Open Source Initiative coined “open source”, softening the ideology and emphasising the development method. Apache, MySQL, Eclipse and later GitHub made open source the default way to collaborate. Today almost all commercial software depends on open-source components — and supply-chain security has become the new problem.

02History

  1. 1983

    The GNU project

    The free-software movement begins.

  2. 1985

    The Free Software Foundation

    An organisational and legal home for GNU.

  3. 1989

    The GPL, version 1

    Copyleft becomes law.

  4. 1991

    The Linux kernel

    A model of global collaboration.

  5. 1998

    The OSI is founded

    The term 'open source' is coined.

  6. 2008

    GitHub

    Social collaboration for code.

03Core concepts

Licences

Legal text setting the conditions for use, modification and redistribution.

Copyleft

Derivative works must keep the same free licence.

Community governance

The decision structure among maintainers, contributors and foundations.

04Hands-on

Do it once — it beats reading it ten times

Pick a small open-source project, read its licence, and send one documentation fix through the full PR process

05Self-check

Say it in your own words first, then open the answer. Whatever you cannot explain is what to review next.

Can you explain "Licences"?

Legal text setting the conditions for use, modification and redistribution.

Can you explain "Copyleft"?

Derivative works must keep the same free licence.

Can you explain "Community governance"?

The decision structure among maintainers, contributors and foundations.

What problem did it solve, and why was there nothing better at the time?

Go back to the history section: how was this done before, and what did it cost?

If you had to build it today, how would you break it down?

Use the hands-on task above: write a plan of at most three steps before you start.

06Key people

R

Richard Stallman

1953 –

Founder of GNU and the Free Software Foundation.

L

Linus Torvalds

1969 –

Creator of Linux and Git.

07Further reading

  • The Cathedral and the BazaarEric Raymond · 1999
  • Free Software, Free SocietyRichard Stallman · 2002