What Is Open Source?

We'll start with an introduction to open source, which encompasses not just software but also data, education, standards, hardware, and access.

• Open-source software is released under a license that allows users to use, study, change, and distribute it for any purpose.
• There are various open source licenses with different levels of permissiveness, but for this course, we'll focus on projects under the MIT license.
• Open-source code empowers users to study and adapt software to their needs, similar to how user scripts or custom style sheets modify websites.
• You can learn from open-source projects like React to understand how companies build complex systems.
• If you make changes, you can fork the project or submit your changes back to the original project through a pull request.

Connect with James:

• GitHub: https://github.com/jamesgpearce
• Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/jamespearce