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One of the most important debates in computing is whether software should be open source (freely available for anyone to view, modify, and distribute) or proprietary (owned by a company that controls access to the source code). Understanding the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of each model is essential for GCSE Computer Science.
Open source software is software whose source code is made freely available to the public. Anyone can:
Open source software is usually developed collaboratively by a community of volunteers and organisations from around the world.
| Software | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Linux | Operating system |
| Firefox | Web browser |
| LibreOffice | Office suite |
| Python | Programming language |
| WordPress | Website/blog platform |
| VLC | Media player |
| Android | Mobile operating system (partially open source) |
| Apache | Web server |
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