Open Source Software is many things, but first of all it is a licencing approach to software. It is also an efficient and cost-effective software development methodology, a huge repository of freely available software, a community of people around the world working cooperatively to create software solutions, and finally it is also a philosophical outlook. Here we will explore generally what Open Source is. For information specific to Open Source for Research or Education, see OSS Strategy .

See the OSS References Page for specific references to Open Source including Case Studies, the business cases for Open Source, OSS Policies and Procedures and more specific information that is locally relevant.