Open Source Terminologies

1. Open Source Software (OSS)

It is software where the n number of conditions, or, we could say, the restriction, is not required. Including the source code, the software is also freely available to users; even the copies can be distributed by users freely and are freely used and modified with no prior permission.

2. Free/Libre/Open-Source Software (FLOSS)

It is open-source and free software, so we can say everyone has the freedom to use it. Both OSS and FLOSS refer to one program or source code, but technical progress (open source) and freedom (free software) have an individual emphasis on each other.

3. GNU

This is initiated and developed to complete a UNIX-style operating system. It was launched in 1984 and has free software, the GNU system. It is pronounced “guh-noo” and it is a GNU project. This is expanded by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).

4. Free Software Foundation (FSF)

This is the Free Software Foundation, which was created to support GNU projects and licenses, as it has always been the primary sponsor of GNU projects. This is a non-profit organization originated by Richard Stallman in 1985. This will provide a development system for GNU maintainers as well as email and shell services in addition to the services given by Savannah for GU projects.

5. Open Source Initiatives (OSI)

This organization promotes open-source software. OSI was developed by Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond in 1998. This will tell you about the terms and specifications.

6. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

It was founded in October 1994. The responsibility of the W3C is to develop protocols and standardize software for the world wide web. The protocol is defined as www. W3C’s mission is to make www lead up to its full proclaimed caliber and potential by ensuring the guidelines and protocols for long-term achievement.

7. Freeware

The software is free of charge and unconditionally free to be used, copied, studied, modified, and redistributed as it is computer system software. Without the submission of any sort of fee, the freeware is distributed in binary, and we can say it is different from shareware as this payment is needed for a past trial date. Example: Microsoft Internet Explorer.

8. Shareware

The user has to pay license fees, but for an initial period, it is free of charge. This is the opposite of freeware, as here there is no source code provided without any modification to the software. The software is dispensed in binary form and includes a time mechanism. This name was formulated by Bob Wallace for describing, in his own words, PC-Write.

9. Proprietary Software

This software source code is not available freely. Regulation and distribution are done with the special permission of the supplier or proprietor. This is not open-source software.

10. Localization

The abbreviation term used for this is “l10n” (number ten between letters n and l, as the indulgence of ten letters is there).

11. Linux

This refers to the kernel of O/S and is a popular operating system. With the source code, it is easily available, so it is a good example of free software. From www.Linux.org, anyone can download it, so this can be modified, redistributed, and used easily. This was specifically developed for Intel 386 microprocessors and is now supported by all.

12. Mozilla

The Mozilla Application Suite, with the code name SeaMonkey, is a free, cross-platform internet suite whose components are e-mail, a web browser, a news client, an HTML editor, and IRC clients. This was developed by Netscape Communication Corporation. The development was spearheaded by the Mozilla Organization from 1998 to 2003.

13. Apache Server

It is also called the Apache HTTP Server. This gives an initial boost to the expansion of www, as it is an established standard in the online distribution of website services. It is an open-source web service platform, which will definitely guarantee the online availability of the various websites in the long run. The widely popular modern web platforms like UNIX, Windows, Linux, Solaris, Novel Netware, Free BSD, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, OS/2, etc. are aimed at the server. Everything can be freely downloaded from the site www.Apache.org.

14. MySQL

This can be spelled out as “My Es s Queue Ell,” not “My Sequel.” From the name of Monty’s child, the “My” portion came out. It is a multi-user database system that is written in a mixture of C and C++.

15. PostgreSQL

This is a free object-relational database server that is released under a flexible BSD-style license. For MySQL and Firebird, as well as for proprietary systems like Oracle, DB2, IBM’s SyBase, and Microsoft SQL Server, the alternative is provided by the open-source database system.

16. Pango

This is an open-source library for drawing texts in various scripts. For handling the worldwide written scripts, this is used. Also, in various open-source projects, it has been used. To avail of the library, go to www.pango.org.

17. OpenOffice

OpenOffice.org (abbreviated as OOo) is a free and open-source office suite. It was founded by an international office suite that runs all major platforms and gives access to all functionality and data through open-component-based APIs and XML-based file formats.

18. Open Document Format

This is an open XML-based document file format for office applications to be used for documentation containing text, spreadsheets, charts, and graphical elements. Transformation is made by the file format by leveraging and reusing existing standards.

19. Ogg Vorbis

For storing and playing music that is free, open, and unpatented, it is an audio compression format comparable to other formats. This is in the public domain and is freely available for commercial or non-commercial usage.

20. Tomcat

The servlets and JSPs are supported by this web server. This comes with the Jasper compiler, which compiles JSPs into servlets. This specification implementation is done by James Duncan Davidson, a software architect at Sun.

21. Apache Tomcat

It is a web container that was developed at the Apache Software Foundation.

22. Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)

It is a server-side scripting language for creating a dynamic web page and is an open-source programming language that helps in developing server-side applications and dynamic web content.

23. Python

Python is a programming language that has syntactic simplicity, flexible typing, and an interactive interpreter. It is used in both industry and academia for a wide variety of purposes. The symbol used is less like Java and C. Example: Blocks inside loops and IF statements are indicated by indentation rather than curly braces ({}) at the end line; there is no use of the semicolon.

24. UNICODE

The goal of Unicode is to provide a means by which text of all forms and languages is encoded for use on a computer, which is an industry standard.

25. Indian Standard Code for Information Interchange (ISCII)

In 1991, the Bureau adopted IISCII and this evolved by a standard committee of C-DAC a member under Department of Electronics during 1986-88.

Font Type :

Raster Fonts –
Each glyph defined as a little bitmap designed for a specific resolution.
Vector Fonts –
That contain glyph which is defined as a set of points that describe the line segment.
PostScript Type 1 Fonts –
Adobe launched PostScript Type 1 together with PostScript Type 3 1984 has a scalable font technology which is famous among desktop publishers but is now phasing out as Open Type font.
True Type Fonts –
A font technology that is scalable designed by Apple Computer, available since 1991
Open Type Font Collection –
This is an extension of True Type font format allowing support font PostScript font data.

Also Read

Introduction to Open-Source and its benefits

Step Wise Guide to start with Open Source

Difference between Open Source Software and Closed Source Software