[hpsdr] Brief definition of Open Source.

[Gerda & Kevin]

Hi All, I’ve been luring in the background and for a while, thought it was
time to introduce myself! Very briefly, I’m dedicated to homebrew, SMD
construction preferred, always looking to explore new technology, never used
FPGA’s and keen to be involved. Not sure if I’ll ever have any technical
input into what you guys are doing, but I’m sure gonna enjoy the ride,
(smile).
 
Phil, here is my attempt to provide a brief definition for open source,
please bin / modify as appropriate! (plagerised from the web).
 


Brief definition of Open Source.
 
In a ‘nutshell’, open source is a term that is applied to a philosophy, in
that the production and organisation of a project or system is created
through open and cooperative efforts.
 
Open source software refers to computer software available with its source
code and under an ‘open source licence’ to study, change and improve its
design and functionality.
 
There are many ‘Open source software’ licences, the most prominent being the
GNU General Public Licence (GNU GPL or simply GPL), originally written by
Richard Stallman.
 
The GNU grants the recipients of a computer program the following rights, or
freedoms:
 
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
The freedom to study how the program works, and modify it.
The freedom to redistribute copies.
The freedom to improve the program, and release the improvements to the
public
 
The users are treated like co-developers, are encouraged to submit additions
to the software, code fixes, bug reports, documentation etc. Having more
co-developers increases the rate at which the software evolves. Furthermore,
each end user’s machine provides an additional testing environment. This new
testing environment offers the ability to find and fix a new bug quickly.
 
This GPL philosophy extends to the hardware for this HPSDR cooperative
project.
 
 


 
Order placed for Atlas, and looking forward to future installments.
Kevin
M0KHZ
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