Open Source Software also known as Free Software (OSS/FS) (also abbreviated as FLOSS or FOSS) has risen to great prominence. OSS/FS programs are programs whose licenses give users the freedom to run the program for any purpose, to study and modify the program, and to redistribute copies of either the original or modified program (without having to pay royalties to previous developers).
Paul Allen, editor of ComputerActive magazine, said the defining feature of open source software was that the set of tools and systems were developed by enthusiasts rather than big companies. But he added it should be treated as "free thinking rather than a free lunch" because it is not always free of charge.
Out of this movement have come fully-fledged programs, such as Open Office for e-mail, spreadsheets, word processing and presentations, and VLC for video, that were put together for free by a community of people.
The entire source code for the software is made available to the community and anyone can modify it," said Phil Andrews from open source software provider Red Hat.