Open source

Open source is the practice of publishing digital resources publicly alongside their source code or source files, enabling use, study, modification, and redistribution. It is historically and commonly associated with open-source software, software released with its source code. The concept has also been applied beyond software to other digital resources made available alongside their source files or design documents, such as open-source hardware, open-source educational resources or open-source fonts. The rights to reuse this type of digital resources are guaranteed through a specific legal framework, whether with open licenses or public domain dedication. The development of open source resources can be based on open collaboration, a decentralized and peer-to-peer model of production.

Open source resources are a shared component across openness movements — such as open-source software, open hardware, open education or open music — with each domain having distinct types of source files and distribution formats to manage. While the sharing of source code is an established practice with software, open resources in other fields may not systematically provide their source files, restricting the ability to modify these digital resources despite the rights granted to users.

The term open source can also refer to publicly available sources of information, notably in intelligence field with open-source intelligence (OSINT). By analogy to such practices of public access and collaboration, the notion is also used more loosely across many domains.