Open Source Licensing

Open Source Licensing is basically when someone is granted permission to alter existing software. The easiest way to explain it would be to a drivers license. If you learn how to drive a car(code programs) that is fine and no one can stop you from learning that. If you want to drive a government approved car on public roads however(alter existing software) then you need a license from the government(the author of that software) to do so. A great deal of open source licenses give you the ability to alter the software for personal use, however a few big name ones actually let you alter them and actually assist them with feedback. Mozilla Firefox and Linux are notorious for this. Acquiring an open source license can be beneficial to you if you are new to coding. If you have just begun and aren’t familiar with exactly how to do various things like start the code, then acquiring an existing and functioning one can be extremely beneficial. As students in our current generation we are a lot more technologically advanced than a lot of older people. This can actually make us an asset to them when it comes to their software. Personally I am very proficient at Adobe Photoshop and I have never taken a single class teaching me anything about Photoshop. I have been using it along with tutorials myself and learned from friends. This is an example of how formal education or age can be irrelevant when it comes to technology. Open source licensing makes it easier and legal for people like you and I to learn or assist existing programming teams all over the world, often for free. Open source licensing is often unrestricted access to the software code as well, this allows it to be altered and changed around without limits at little to no cost to whoever wants to do it.