Open Source Software

Open Source Software (OSS) is provided with a license that gives the en d user the right to use it freely for private or commercial use. You also have t he right to inspect and even modify the underlying source code. You can give awa y or sell the original version you received or one with your modification, thoug h you may be required to in turn pass on the modified source code so that others can benefit from the changes you have made. This last clause protects the devel oper's work from unfair exploitation by others, while allowing the source code t o be released to the community. You are not required to pay royalties to previou s developers, but you are still permitted to charge money for the sale of OSS. T his disc may have been given to you by a friend; or sold to you for a small fee, and both are permitted. Keep in mind that there are many different licenses, e ach of which has its own particular set of conditions. If you plan to distribute or modify one of the programs on this disc, please double check the license bef ore you begin so you'll be clear on both your rights and obligations.

If you have no interest in source code, you may ask why the availabil ity of this matters. One answer is that the release of source allows external ob servers to inspect the true functioning of the program, which means you can be c onfident that the program treats your private data with respect. One problem wit h proprietary software is that it tends to use closed file formats to store your data. Once the parent company stops supporting older versions of a proprietary program, you may therefore have to upgrade to newer versions of that program, a t significant expense, in order to retain access to your data. This does not ha ppen with OSS, because when the source code for opening and saving files is avai lable, a third party can easily write an import filter for the next generation o f software, ensuring that your data will always be available. Finally, the relea se of source code has in some cases spawned large communities of volunteer devel opers who have in turn provided the world with highly useful, and entirely free software such as Linux, OpenOffice, and Mozilla. These are then available free o f charge to schools or anyone else who may not have a large budget available for software. So, you can see that the freedom of software is important for everyon e, not just software developers.

TheOpenCD project

Establised in 2002, TheOpenCD compiles a collection of high quality OSS for W indows on a CD, at regular intervals. There are thousands of OSS programs availa ble for free download making it difficult to separate the stable and truly usefu l offerings from those in need of further development. The landscape is made eve n more complicated by the availability of a vast number of Shareware and Freeware programs that you can also download freely from the net, but are not open source.

TheOpenCD is a small collection of only the highest quality OSS for Windows, easily available on a CD. The programs are carefully selected to ensure stabilit y, ease of use and a clean install and un-install from your computer. As the CD browser technology (called DiscTree) has matured and improved, it has become fea sible to create derivative distributions such as the recent Ubuntu LiveCD collec tion. The CD is intended as a first introduction to the world of OSS, but it is our hope that you will later go on to explore other projects, and at some stage you may even want to try a whole new operating system, such as Linux (sometimes called GNU/Linux).