1. What is the main difference between open source software and proprietary soft
ID: 3884060 • Letter: 1
Question
1. What is the main difference between open source software and proprietary software?
2. Name at least 3 examples of open source software besides Ubuntu and give a link to their
source code.
3. Name at least 3 reasons why people contribute to open source software projects without
financial compensation.
4. Who is credited with the creation of Unix, and in what year?
5. UC Berkeley was a major contributor to Unix: True or False?
6. Who started the free software movement, and in what year?
7. Who is credited with the creation of Linux, and in what year?
8. Explain what is copyright?
9. Explain what is copyleft?
10. Name 4 exclusive rights granted by copyright law.
11. Most software are copyrighted and come with a license: True or False?
12. What does the term “free” in “free software” refers to?
13. What are the two main differences between “free software” and “open source software”?
Explanation / Answer
1)
Open Source software:
A software whose source code is available for modification or enhancement by anyone.
Its source code can be modified and distributed.
It is not reviewed by experts and lacks technical background.
It has a lack of documentation, can be learned via online communities and forums.
They are developed by users as well as the developers, so the software will be efficient and adaptable.
It releases regular versions.
It is supported by many developers which lead to innovation, efficiency, freedom, and flexibility.
It is more prone to security risks.
Proprietary Software:
Proprietary Software does not release the source code but only the object code.
It cannot be modified nor distributed.
It is supported by expert reviews and technical support.
It is well documented.
Proprietary Software, developers, do not use the software which leads to less improvement and functionality in respect to the users.
Its versions release takes time comparatively.
It is dependent on Research and Development.
It is less prone to security risks like viruses and bugs.
2) Examples of Open source code
Linux, GIMP. Blender, Inkscape, MozillaFireFox.
3) It has a lack of documentation, can be learned via online communities and forums.
They are developed by users as well as the developers, so the software will be efficient and adaptable.
It is supported by many developers which lead to innovation, efficiency, freedom, and flexibility.
4) The history of UNIX starts back in 1969, when Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and others started working on the "little-used PDP-7 in a corner" at Bell Labs and what was to become UNIX.
5) False, Dennis Ritchie described their vision for Unix.
6) Free software is software that can be freely used, modified, and redistributed with only one restriction: any redistributed version of the software must be distributed with the original terms of free use, modification, and distribution.
Richard Stallman established the Free Software Foundation in 1985 to support the movement.
7) The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds.
8) Copyrights exist in order to protect authors of documentation or software from unauthorized copying or selling of their work. A copyright infers that only with the author's permission may such activities take place.
9) Copyleft (a play on the word copyright) is the practice of offering people the right to freely distribute copies and modified versions of a work with the stipulation that the same rights be preserved in derivative works down the line.
10) The primary goal of copyright law is to protect the time, effort, and creativity of the work's creator.
11) False, Most of them are free.
12) It means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
13) Free Software:
Open Source Software:
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