The concept of open source affects many fields of study from computer software and

hardware to architecture, health, science, robotics and even politics. Linus

Torvalds predicted this proliferation of source openness when he said: �the future
is open source everything�. But another founder of open source movement, Eric
Raymond, refused the using of this concept about applications outside software
(Wikipedia, 2009).

Free/open source software (F/OSS) is accessible software where end source code is
available for the user. It is not limited to software as applicable ones, it
exceeds to allow beneficial to read, modify and recreate the source code (V.
Hippel, V. Krogh, 2003). So F/OSS is usually provides users with source code and
information needed to apply their changes on them.

The ability to run the program as the user wishes is one of the essential freedoms
which Richard Stallman, the founder of free software and defender of open source,
was confirmed in an interview. These freedoms are: the freedom to study how these
software works, the freedom to change it according to project�s requirements, the
freedom to redistribute it and the freedom to distribute your modified copy to
others (Reilly 2008).

In Raymond opinion �good programmers know how to write, great ones know what to
rewrite�, and he illustrated that it is almost easier to use an already existing
solution to start with than to start from nothing at all. But this involves
developer in difficult-to-be-solved problems if choice is not suitable. Linux
operating system was not written from scratch where Linus Torvalds started by
studying ideas from Minix �a tiny Unix-like OS� and then reused it according to
project�s purposes (Raymond, 1999)
Beginnings:

It was a big surprise for those who used to pay for software to be told that groups
of volunteers create high quality software and produce it to the community for
free. The idea of FOSS began in 1960s. In this decade commercial software was not
available and researchers were in need to share software code. As a result, they
started to share source code in a limited framework.

�Open sharing of software code was a common practice in the MIT Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory in the early 1960s and in similar laboratories such as
Stanford and Carnegie Mellon� (Moon & Sproull 2002).

After that developers and users gave the idea more attention. Consequently,
foundations of free software have been established in 1980s when Stallman called
for free software and claimed that software should be common. In an interview,
Stallman confirmed that computer users could not use the proprietary software come
with most computers in the 1980s. So, such software keeps users �divided and
helpless�. Stallman was dissatisfied with that situation and he started the free
software movement in 1993 when he wrote the GNU open source operating system (M.
Reilly, 2008). The general public license of GNU operating system allows users
receive all their rights in essential freedoms mentioned above. In 2005 the idea
achieved its goals in software filed and became more trusted by users and
developers (Raymond 1999).

Wikipedia is a known example of F/OSS. It is a free encyclopedia started in the

beginnings of 2001 by means of highly qualified contributors. It provides 19 free
encyclopedias in 19 different languages and its content has been created by user
contributions.

Many other examples like Apache web server, BIND name server and Linux operating
system kernel are free for any user to use, amend and share.
Motivations:
The motivations of Stallman to produce free software are his strong belief in
freedom, particularly �the freedom for individuals to cooperate� (2003). But what
are the incentives other developers have to become contributors in open source
projects? In other words, why do programmers volunteer their time and experience
without any financial returns to create free software?

Raymond is one of the first GNU contributors, a developer of many net open source
software and a significant participant in Linux operating system development. He
indicated that Linux project was going from �strength to strength� and the reason
was the �bazaar� model of the Linux development style in which all contributors
worked hard as at individual projects. He added that the democratic atmosphere in
bazaar model motivated him and his partners to work hard regardless of financial
returns (Raymond 1999).

The Linux creator, Linus Trovalds, says: �I am basically a very lazy person who
likes to get credit for things other people actually do� (Raymond 1999). Torvalds ,
as he stated in his book �Just For Fun�, has an early interest in computing, he
does not seem to take himself too seriously, he is a lucky guy who can provide a
career for himself, and he finds a lot of fun when he writes software code.

It is surprising that hackers are also a significant motivating factor; they lead
developers to impress their peers, gain a better reputation and raise their ranks
in society (Zaleski et al. 2001).

Wikipedia showed, in a study made up by Wikipedia administrators, that the reason

for their participants to be a part in such free work is the desire to create a
benefit thing that helps others and meets their requirements (Wikipedia 2010).
While the basic motivations for corporation in learners open source community are
learning specific topics, learning how to be future learners and projects creating.