Brief History Of Open Source

Leo Migdal

-Dec 4, 2025, 5:07 PM

It’s difficult to imagine a world without open source. Open source is ubiquitous. In fact, open source is what powers the internet. For example, 60% of the world’s websites run on Apache and Nginx, the most popular web servers. And yes, even Fortune 500 companies use Nginx. One of the reasons open source software (OSS) has massive usage is that there are lots of contributors.

Developers from anywhere in the world can bring their ideas, perspectives, and use cases to software, making it more dynamic. This leads to wider adoption. The crazy thing is, OSS has not always been here. There was a time when you needed to build your own compilers, text editors, and maybe an operating system before you could write a program! The history of free and open-source software begins at the advent of computer software in the early half of the 20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s, computer operating software and compilers were delivered as a part of hardware purchases without separate fees.

At the time, source code—the human-readable form of software—was generally distributed with the software, providing the ability to fix bugs or add new functions. Universities were early adopters of computing technology. Many of the modifications developed by universities were openly shared, in keeping with the academic principles of sharing knowledge, and organizations sprung up to facilitate sharing. As large-scale operating systems matured, fewer organizations allowed modifications to the operating software, and eventually such operating systems were closed to modification. However, utilities and other added-function applications are still shared and new organizations have been formed to promote the sharing of software. The concept of free sharing of technological information existed long before computers.

For example, in the early years of automobile development, one enterprise owned the rights to a 2-cycle gasoline engine patent originally filed by George B. Selden.[1] By controlling this patent, they were able to monopolize the industry and force car manufacturers to adhere to their demands, or risk a lawsuit. In 1911, independent automaker Henry Ford won a challenge to the Selden patent. The result was that the Selden patent became virtually worthless and a new association (which would eventually become the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association) was formed.[1] The new association instituted a cross-licensing agreement among all... Computer software was created in the early half of the 20th century.[2][3][4] In the 1950s and into the 1960s, almost all softwares were produced by academics and corporate researchers working in collaboration,[5] often shared... As such, it was generally distributed under the principles of openness and cooperation long established in the fields of academia, and was not seen as a commodity in itself.

Such communal behavior later became a central element of the so-called hacking culture (a term with a positive connotation among free software programmers). Computer operating software and compilers were delivered as a part of hardware purchases without separate fees. At this time, source code, the human-readable form of software, was generally distributed with the software machine code because users frequently modified the software themselves, because it would not run on different hardware or... They were invited to send their improvements back to UNIVAC.[10] Later, almost all IBM mainframe software was also distributed with source code included. User groups such as that of the IBM 701, called SHARE, and that of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), called DECUS, were formed to facilitate the exchange of software. The SHARE Operating System, originally developed by General Motors, was distributed by SHARE for the IBM 709 and 7090 computers.

Some university computer labs even had a policy requiring that all programs installed on the computer had to come with published source-code files.[11] The open source movement has fundamentally transformed the software industry by promoting collaboration, transparency, and freedom in software development. From its early roots in academic and hacker culture to the creation of foundational projects and organizations, open source has reshaped how software is built, shared, and commercialized. This blogpost presents a detailed timeline of the open source movement from its inception to the conception of the Open Source Science (OS-SCi) in 2022, highlighting key milestones, pivotal figures, and major projects that... The open source movement’s roots lie in the 1950s when software was freely exchanged among researchers and academics. Institutions like MIT fostered a culture of openness and experimentation, with groups such as the Tech Model Railroad Club pioneering the hacker ethos.

The PDP-1 minicomputer at MIT in 1961 became a focal point for early hackers who explored computing’s potential through playful innovation. This culture valued sharing, modification, and collaborative improvement of software, setting the stage for the open source philosophy1. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw a shift toward proprietary software as legal decisions granted software copyright protection, enabling commercial licensing models. In response, Richard Stallman launched the GNU Project in 1983 to create a free operating system and founded the Free Software Foundation in 1985. The GNU Manifesto articulated the moral and practical imperatives of software freedom, advocating for users’ rights to study, modify, and distribute software. This period marked the formalization of the free software movement, which laid the ideological and legal groundwork for open source1.

The term “open source” was popularized in 1998 at a summit organized by Tim O’Reilly and supported by key figures including Linus Torvalds. The Open Source Initiative (OSI) was founded to promote open source software pragmatically, focusing on licensing and community collaboration. This decade also saw the rise of major open source projects such as the Linux kernel (1991), the Apache HTTP Server (1995), and the Mozilla browser (1998). These projects demonstrated the viability of open source as a development model and began to challenge proprietary software’s dominance1. The late 1990s and early 2000s marked the professionalization of open source with the IPOs of companies like Red Hat and VA Linux, which commercialized Linux distributions. The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) was incorporated in 1999 to support the growing ecosystem of open source projects.

Mozilla Firefox’s release in 2004 further expanded open source’s reach into web browsing, emphasizing privacy and security. These developments showcased open source’s economic potential and its ability to support sustainable business models1. Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash As a programming teacher for over 15 years, I‘ve witnessed the open source world evolve rapidly from a niche pursuit into a pillar of modern software development. In this article, we‘ll explore the history of this movement – from its rebellious beginnings to mainstream dominance to the opportunities and challenges on its horizon. The term "open source software" refers to computer programs with source code made available for anyone to access, modify, enhance, and redistribute.

It is open by design for unrestricted collaboration and adaptation. This contrasts with proprietary "closed source" models where software code remains secret and solely controlled by its owners. Open access spreads improvement across diverse decentralized talents rather than isolating it within rigid company walls. As an educator, open source has been invaluable for demonstrating transparent and evolutionary code development patterns hands-on to students. They can witness firsthand how "showing the code" enables better software through shared effort – empowering their own future participation. Open source software, or OSS, has become an integral part of the modern technological landscape.

With its roots dating back to the early days of computer development, the history of open source software is both fascinating and inspiring. The development of open source software can be traced back to the advent of the free software movement in the 1980s. This movement was led by passionate individuals who believed that software should be freely available to everyone. They championed the idea of open source, where the source code of a program is made available to the public, allowing anyone to study, modify, and distribute it. This concept of openness and collaboration paved the way for the evolution of open source software. As more developers began to embrace the power of the open source model, a vast ecosystem of software projects began to emerge.

From operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD to web servers like Apache, open source software has become the backbone of countless industries and organizations worldwide. Over the years, the open source movement has gained momentum, driven by the collective efforts of a global community of developers. Today, open source software has come a long way from its humble beginnings. It has not only revolutionized the world of software development but has also influenced various areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and internet of things, to name a few. The evolution of open source software continues to shape the way we interact with technology and holds immense potential for the future. Open source software has a rich and fascinating history, tracing its evolution from the early days of computing to the modern era.

The development of open-source software has drastically changed the software industry, revolutionizing the way software is created and distributed. In the 1980s software used to be shared via BBS systems and it was common for source code to be distributed freely, it encouraged hacker culture which is the basis of free and open... NDAs and proprietary software licenses became the norms, Richard Stallman saw this culture threatened, and advocated that software should not have owners. Then he decided to create a complete operating system that would not deprive users of the freedom to understand how it worked, and would allow them to make changes if they wished. so he launched the GNU Project in 1983,which spurred the free software movement, and is the basis for the open source movement. It is thanks to this groundwork that "open source" and its accompanying principles were established in 1998.The goal of the GNU project was to clone the Unix operating system to create a system that...

In January 1984 he created the first compiler system the GCC. Then in Early in 1985, he published "The GNU Manifesto," which was a call to arms for programmers to join the effort, and launched the Free Software Foundation in order to accept donations to... This document is the founding charter of the free software movement. Until 1989, software written and released by the Free Software Foundation and RMS did not have a single license however, after a company called Unipress forced Stallman to stop distributing copies of an Emacs... Then first version of the GNU General Public License was released in 1989, which encapsulated the values of copyleft(not copyright). You may use, copy, distribute, and modify the software covered by the license, but if you make changes, you must share the modified source code alongside the modified binaries.

This simple requirement is what enabled the decentralized, collaborative development model of the free software movement to flourish. In the early 1990s the free software community received the first complete free operating system with Linus Torvald’s kernel combined to GNU operating system. Debian, founded by Ian Murdock in 1993, committed to the GNU and FSF principles of free software. Linux adoption by businesses and governments began in the late 1990s. Website-based companies emerged and made extensive use of free web servers, especially the Apache HTTP Server. The LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack gained popularity over expensive proprietary solutions.

Posted on Apr 10, 2023 • Edited on Apr 11, 2023 It’s difficult to imagine a world without open source. Open source is ubiquitous. In fact, open source is what powers the internet. For example, 60% of the world’s websites run on Apache and Nginx, the most popular web servers. And yes, even Fortune 500 companies use Nginx.

One of the reasons open source software (OSS) has massive usage is that there are lots of contributors. Developers from anywhere in the world can bring their ideas, perspectives, and use cases to software, making it more dynamic. This leads to wider adoption. The history of open source began in the 1960s with the first large-scale commercial computers that came with freely distributed software with source code. The trend died in the 1970s, when it was more likely to find proprietary software. The Free Software Movement of the mid 1980s desired to return to the 1960s system of software distribution.

Brief History Of Open Source

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