open-source

American  

[oh-puhn-sawrs, -sohrs] / ˈoʊ pənˈsɔrs, -ˈsoʊrs /

adjective

1. Computers.  pertaining to or denoting software whose source code is available free of charge to the public to use, copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute.

2. pertaining to or denoting a product or system whose origins, formula, design, etc., are freely accessible to the public.

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open source British  

noun

1. 1. intellectual property, esp computer source code, that is made freely available to the general public by its creators

   2. ( as modifier ) Compare closed source

      open source software

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open-source Scientific  

1. Relating to source code that is available to the public without charge. Open-source code is often enhanced, improved, and adapted for specific purposes by interested programmers, with the revised versions of the code are made available to the public. For example, most of the code in the Linux operating system is open-source.

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Etymology

Origin of open-source

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Beyond that, they said, “Most developers and open-source models, and almost all deployments of today’s technology, should have minimal additional regulatory burden.”

From The Wall Street Journal

It used common open-source penetration-testing frameworks orchestrated through Model Context Protocol servers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, federal agencies built an extensive domestic intelligence infrastructure, developed open-source surveillance capabilities, and benefited from new technologies that make monitoring far more granular than ever before.

From Salon

Over the past months, a slew of Chinese AI companies have rolled out competitive models that often cost less than leading American models, or are open-source for free use.

From The Wall Street Journal

He wasn’t part of the team that helped create Meta’s first open-source large language model, called Llama, and he hasn’t been involved in the day-to-day operations of their development since.

From The Wall Street Journal