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20th Anniversary of Open Source
This weekend marks the 20th Anniversary of the term “Open Source” being introduced.
Twenty years later, that campaign has proven wildly successful, beyond the imagination of anyone involved at the time. Today open source software is literally everywhere. It is the foundation for the internet and the web. It powers the computers and mobile devices we all use, as well as the networks they connect to. Without it, cloud computing and the nascent Internet of Things would be impossible to scale and perhaps to create. It has enabled new ways of doing business to be tested and proven, allowing giant corporations like Google and Facebook to start from the top of a mountain others already climbed. – Simon Phipps
Dean might still have introduced Textpattern as “free software” but there was really so much momentum that came about from this that it is entirely possible that he would not have.
Also, it’s GPL. – Dean
So thankfully they did, he did, and we can all still benefit.
Eric Raymond approached me with the intention of forming the Open Source Initiative, I believe on February 2, 1998. Eric had been visiting California to see Larry Augustin of VA Linux Systems, and a meeting was held at VA where Christine Peterson (of the Foresight Institute and then married to Eric Drexler) suggested “Open Source” as a way to promote Free Software without the stigma of “free” in the English language. – Bruce Perens
Between meetings that week, I was still focused on the need for a better name and came up with the term “open source software.” While not ideal, it struck me as good enough. I ran it by at least four others: Eric Drexler, Mark Miller, and Todd Anderson liked it, while a friend in marketing and public relations felt the term “open” had been overused and abused and believed we could do better. He was right in theory; however, I didn’t have a better idea, so I thought I would try to go ahead and introduce it. – Christine Peterson
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