Proprietary or Free and Open Source Software

Beyond what a piece of software does lies the question of the terms on which it reaches you: can you use it freely, can you see and change its source code, or must you buy it from a copyright holder? On these terms, software falls into three kinds — Free and Open Source Software, freeware, and proprietary software.

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)

The developers of some software allow the public to use it freely along with its source code, with the aim that people will improve it further with each other's help. Such software is called Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The source code of the operating system Ubuntu, for instance, is freely accessible, and anyone with the required knowledge can improve it or add new functionality to it. Other examples of FOSS are Python, LibreOffice, OpenOffice and Mozilla Firefox.

Freeware

Sometimes software is freely available for use, but its source code is not made available. Such software is called freeware — free to use, closed to inspection or modification. Skype and Adobe Reader are examples of freeware.

Proprietary Software

When the software to be used has to be purchased from the vendor who holds the copyright of that software, it is proprietary software. Microsoft Windows, Tally and Quickheal are examples.

Which of the three a given software is depends entirely on the terms and conditions set by the person or group who developed and released it. The same category of product can exist in all three forms — LibreOffice and Microsoft Word do similar work, yet one is FOSS and the other proprietary.

The chapter in brief

This section closes the chapter, whose essential ideas run as follows:

• A computing device, also called a computer, processes input data as per the given instructions to generate the desired output.
• A computer processes data to generate information; further analysis and interpretation of that information yields knowledge.
• A computer system has four physical components — the CPU, primary memory, input devices and output devices — collectively called its hardware.
• Primary memory is of two types: RAM, which is volatile, and ROM, which is non-volatile. …