To promote and protect open source...

As a global non-profit, The Open Source Initiative (OSI) protects and promotes open source software, development and communities, championing software freedom in society through education, collaboration, and infrastructure, stewarding the Open Source Definition (OSD), and preventing abuse of the ideals and ethos inherent to the open source movement. See our about and history pages for more.

Open source software is software that can be freely used, changed, and shared (in modified or unmodified form) by anyone. Open source software is made by many people, and distributed under licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition.

News

SerenataFlowers.com and Hipper.com Extend Support to Open Source through OSI Sponsorship



Open source adoption continues to grow as companies seek not only higher quality software, lower costs, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in, but also leverage the power of community investment and collective intellect to drive innovation.

The Faces of Open Source: Kate Stewart



This is the third episode from the series in Shane Martin Coughlan's, "The Faces of Open Source Law," that puts a face to the vibrant open source community, and the fascinating discussions happening within it. This series of interviews focuses on issues related to law affecting open source projects and communities—copyright, licensing, patents, foundations, governance, etc.—and includes interviews with several current and former OSI Board Directors.

7 Rules For Engaging Communities On Legal Matters


Having watched a fair number of people attempting to engage both the Open Source Initiative’s licensing evaluation community and the Apache Software Foundation’s legal affairs committee, here are some hints and tips for succeeding when your turn comes to conduct a discussion over legal terms with an open source community.