 Free and open-source software (also
known simply as Free software or Open
source software) is software created by
loose networks of people (both
companies and individuals) who
collaborated for mutual benefit. The
software they produce is also made
available for anyone else to freely
download, use and modify because the
developers also publish the human
readable source code used to create it.
 Making source code available means
anyone with the programming ability
can customize the software for their own
ends or contribute to the development
project directly. Others can help by
reporting bugs and helping with
documentation or translation efforts. So
this encouragement of interaction
between users and developers, and some
users becoming developers, creates a
positive feedback loop in the software’s
evolution
Operating system
 is a set of programs containing
instructions that coordinates all the
activities along computer hardware
resources. Most operating system perform
similar function that includes starting a
computer, provide a user interface,
managing program, managing memory
and configuring devices. Some operating
system also allows user to control a
network and administer security.
Examples of Free and Open Source
Software for Operating Systems:
 Linux is a Unix-like and POSIX-
compliant computer operating system
assembled under the model of free and
open source software development and
distribution. The defining component of
Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating
system kernel first released on 5 October
1991 by Linus Torvalds.
 Linux was originally developed as a free
operating system for Intel x86-based
personal computers. It has since been
ported to more computer hardware
platforms than any other operating
system. It is a leading operating system
on servers and other big iron systems
such as mainframe computers and
supercomputers. As of June 2013, more
than 95% of the world’s 500 fastest
supercomputers run some variant of
Linux, including all the 44 fastest.
 Linux also runs on embedded
systems, which are devices whose
operating system is typically built into
the firmware and is highly tailored to
the system; this includes mobile
phones, tablet computers, network
routers, facility automation controls,
televisions and video game consoles.
Android, which is a widely used
operating system for mobile devices, is
built on top of the Linux kernel.
 The development of Linux is one of
the most prominent examples of free
and open source software
collaboration. The underlying source
code may be used, modified, and
distributed-commercially or noncommercially-by anyone under
licenses such as the GNU General
Public License.
 Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux
operating system, with Unity as its
default desktop environment (GNOME
was the previous desktop environment).
It is based on free software and named
after the Southern African philosophy of
ubuntu (literally, “human-ness”) , which
often is translated as “humanity towards
others” or “the belief in a universal bond
of sharing that connects all humanity”.
 Development of Ubuntu is led by
Canonical Ltd., a company based on the
Isle of Man and owned by South African
entrepreneur Mark Shuttle worth.
Canonical generates revenue through
the sale of technical support and other
services related to Ubuntu. The Ubuntu
project is publicly committed to the
principles of open source development;
people are encouraged to use free
software, study how it works, improve
upon it, and distribute it.
 Haiku is a free and open-source operating
system compatible with the now
discontinued BeOS. Its development began
in 2001, and the operating system became
self-hosting in 2008. The
first alpha release was made in September
2009, and the most recent was November
2012.
 Haiku is supported by Haiku, inc., a
non-profit organization based in Rochester,
New York, founded in 2003 by former
project leader Michael Phipps.
 FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system
descended from AT&TUnix via BSD. Although for
legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “Unix,” it is a
direct descendant from BSD, which was historically
also called “BSD Unix” or “Berkeley Unix”. Due to its
permissive licensing terms, much of FreeBSD’s code
base has become an integral part of other operating
systems such as Juniper JUNOS and Apple’s OS X.
With the exception of the proprietary OS X, FreeBSD
is the most widely used BSD-derived operating
system in terms of number of installed computers,
and is the most widely used freely licensed, opensource BSD distribution, accounting for more than
three-quarters of all installed systems running free,
open-source BSD derivatives.
 NetBSD is an open-source Unix-like
operating system descended from Berkeley
Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix
derivative developed at the University of
California, Berkeley. It was the second opensource BSD descendant to be formally
released, after 386BSD, and it continues to be
actively developed. The NetBSD project is
primarily focused on high-quality design,
stability and performance of the system.
 OpenIndiania is a free and open-source,
Unix operating system derived from
OpenSolaris. Developers forked OpenSolaris
after Oracle Corporation discontinued it, in
order to continue development and
distribution of the source code. The
OpenIndiania project is strewarded by the
illumos Foundation, which also stewards the
illumos operating system. OpenIndiania’s
developers strive to make it “the defacto
OpenSolaris distribution installed on
production servers where security and bug
fixes are required free of charge”.
 Open SUSE is a general purpose
operating system built on top of the
Linux kernel, developed by the
community-supported Open SUSE
Project and sponsored by SUSE and a
number of other companies. After
Novell acquired SUSE Linux in
January 2004, Novell decided to
release the SUSE Linux Professional
product as 100% open source project.
 FreeDos (formerly Free-DOS and PD-
DOS) is an operating system for IBM PC
compatible computers. FreeDOS is made up
of many different, separate programs that act
as “packages” to the overall FreeDOS Project.
 FreeDOS supports vintage hardware IBM
PCs as well as modern ones, in addition to
embedded computers. Unlike MS-DOS, it is
composed of free and open-source software,
licensed under the terms of the GNU General
Public License (GPL). Its “BASE” distribution
does not require license fees or royalties and
creation of custom distributions is permitted.