What is Open Source Software and how does it work?
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If I give you a slice of cake, you may be able to guess at most of the recipe, based on what it tastes like and general baking knowledge, but it would be very difficult to get the recipe exactly right just based on that finished slice of cake. Without having the actual recipe, you would have a hard time making your own cake that tasted exactly the same.
Computer programs are sort of the same thing. The “recipe” for a computer program is the source code, and generally that isn’t something the people who buy a program have access to. They can’t see the recipe of how it was made, they can just use the program in its finished, “compiled” state. There are some programs that allow you to try and reverse the process to figure out the original code, but it’s not always the most accurate.
Open Source software are programs that have the source code freely available. This means that anyone can work on building new features for the program, because they can see exactly how it works. Or that someone can copy bits of that program to make something new for themselves. Rather than trying to make money by selling a program to people, these tend to be community projects where people work together to improve a program just for the sake of having better programs to work with.
In general, open source software is free to use, with a lot of volunteers working to improve it, or make new programs based on the older one that they feel might be a better replacement.
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