Free and open-source software

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Free and open source software (for short: FOSS, means free software and/or open source software) is software whose source code is open and available to anyone who wishes to:

• improve it,
• study it,
• modify it, and
• share the original and the modifications with others.

These additional rights are generally granted to the user through the GPL, LGPL, or BSD license.

Related pages

• Free software
• Open source
• Free software movement
• Free Software Foundation
• Linux
• GNU

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1. ↑ "What is FOSS? What is Open Source? Are They the Same Thing?". It's FOSS. 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2026-10-28.
2. ↑ Fortunato, Laura; Galassi, Mark (2021-03-29). "The case for free and open source software in research and scholarship". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 379 (2197). doi:10.1098/RSTA.2020.0079. PMID 33775148.
3. ↑ "Which License to Use for Open Source Projects?". It's FOSS. 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2026-10-28.