FOSSM

Free and open source software (FOSS) are software that are free and open source. Free refers to the liberty to use and or distribute, not the price or value. [1] Proprietary software licenses usually take away these rights. Open Source refers to the source code of the software being available. [2]

Introduction

Some believe that FOSS software licensing is an especially good fit for medicine and medical practice because of its fast-changing nature, relatively small market and ability by 3rd parties to readily and directly scrutinize software for privacy, security and interoperability problems. In addition the community building and sharing aspect is akin to the publishing and sharing of medical knowledge for the greater good.

There is a popular though very incorrect impression that FOSS developers and users do not take the idea of intellectual property seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth. FOSS advocates believe very strongly in intellectual property rights and aim to protect them using appropriate licenses based on international copyright law.