Open Source¶
Open source means that the source code of software is publicly available, and people are allowed to view, use, modify, and share it under a specific license.
PHP is using an open source licence. It was under the PHP licence until 2026: that licence was OSI approved. Later, the licence was turned to BSD.
PHP software may use a different licence thant PHP itself.
Open source is often related to free, as in freedom to access the code and modify it. It needs to be distinguised from free as in gratis, or without fee, although both are often going together.
See also PHP Licence 3.0.1 and Good First Issue/PHP.
Related : Closed Source, Licence, Vendor Lock-in, Contribution, Community, Free, Content Management System (CMS), Forum, Library, Proprietary Source, Source Code
