# Open source

Concept · [Technical basics](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/technical)

Also called: open-source, open source software, OSS, open-source license, free software

Software whose code is published for anyone to read, use and build on, under a [license](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/licensing) that sets the rules for doing so.

**For example:** Instead of writing a calendar from scratch, a [developer](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/software-engineer) uses an open-source calendar component that thousands of other projects already rely on.

## Connects to (52)

- [Repository](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/repository): The folder where a project's code lives, together with the full history of every change made to it.
- [Intellectual property](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/intellectual-property): Things you create that can be owned, such as code, designs, brand names and inventions.
- [Tech stack](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/tech-stack): The set of programming languages and tools a product is built with.
- [Open source vs open weights](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/open-source-vs-open-weights): Two labels for AI models that people often mix up.
- [Fork](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/fork): A copy of someone else's repository under your own account, which you can change freely.
- [GitHub](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/github): A website where developers store code repositories, review each other's changes and work on software together.
- [Open source hardware](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/open-source-hardware): Physical products whose design files are published so anyone can study, change, make and sell the design or hardware based on it.
- [Vendor lock-in](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/vendor-lock-in): Depending on one vendor so heavily that switching to another would cost a lot of time or money.
- [MCP](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/terms/mcp): Model Context Protocol.
- [Hugging Face](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/hugging-face): A platform where the machine learning community shares AI models, datasets and demo apps.
- [Supabase](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/supabase): An open source back end platform built on the Postgres database.
- [Code of conduct](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/code-of-conduct): The written rules for how people in a community or at an event must treat each other, and what happens when someone breaks them.
- [Mozilla](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/mozilla-tulsa): The organization behind the Firefox web browser.
- [OKC LUGnuts](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/okc-lugnuts): Oklahoma City's Linux user group, part of the Techlahoma network.
- [Civic tech](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/civic-tech): Technology built to serve the public good or improve how people interact with government, often by volunteers or nonprofits.
- [Package manager](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/package-manager): A tool that downloads and updates the pieces of shared code, called packages, that a project depends on.
- [WordPress](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/wordpress): Free, open-source software for building and running websites and blogs, used by a large share of the web.
- [Hacker News](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/hacker-news): A news and discussion site about technology and startups run by Y Combinator.
- [Signal](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/signal): A messaging app for texts, calls and groups that encrypts messages from end to end.
- [Rclone](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/rclone): Free, open-source command-line software for copying and syncing files between a computer and many cloud storage services.
- [Cal.com](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/cal-com): Open-source scheduling software.
- [OpenClaw](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/openclaw): An open-source AI agent that a person runs on their own computer or server.
- [promptfoo](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/promptfoo): An open-source tool for testing prompts and AI apps.
- [Rust](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/rust): A programming language for fast, reliable software that prevents many memory bugs before the program runs.
- [shadcn/ui](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/shadcn-ui): A free set of interface components, such as buttons, dialogs, forms and tables, that become part of an app's own code.
- [React Flow](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/react-flow): An open-source React library for building node-based diagrams and editors, where people drag boxes onto a canvas and connect them with…
- [Mermaid](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/mermaid): An open-source tool that draws diagrams, such as flowcharts and system maps, from short text descriptions.
- [Video.js](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/video-js): An open-source web video player.
- [Player.js](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/player-js): An open-source JavaScript library that lets a web page control embedded video players, such as play, pause and seek, through one common…
- [Formula.js](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/formula-js): An open-source JavaScript library that recreates spreadsheet functions, such as SUM and VLOOKUP, so an app can run the same calculations…
- [Drools](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/drools): An open-source business rules engine written in Java, now part of the Apache KIE project.
- [Capacitor](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/capacitor): An open-source tool that wraps a web app so it can be published as an iPhone or Android app with access to phone features.
- [xcbeautify](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/xcbeautify): A small open-source command-line tool that makes the long build output of Xcode easier to read.
- [PostgreSQL](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/postgresql): A free, open-source relational database known for reliability.
- [SQLite](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/sqlite): A small, free database that keeps everything in a single file and runs inside the app itself, with no separate server.
- [Directus](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/directus): An open-source tool that puts an admin app and an API on top of a SQL database, so non-developers can manage the content.
- [npm](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/npm): The standard package manager for JavaScript, and the public registry that holds millions of shared JavaScript packages.
- [pnpm](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/pnpm): A JavaScript package manager that works like npm but saves disk space and installs faster by sharing packages between projects.
- [Playwright](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/playwright): An open-source tool from Microsoft that controls web browsers automatically, used to test that a website works by clicking through it like…
- [T3 Code](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/t3-code): An open-source desktop app for running and managing several AI coding agents, such as Codex and Claude Code, from one place.
- [Ghostty](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ghostty): A free, open-source terminal app for macOS and Linux, known for speed.
- [FFmpeg](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ffmpeg): Free, open-source command-line software for converting, cutting and combining audio and video files.
- [OBS Studio](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/obs-studio): Free, open-source software for recording and live-streaming video, mixing camera, screen and audio sources.
- [Linux](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/linux): A free, open-source operating system family.
- [openSUSE](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/opensuse): A free version of Linux made by a community project, used on desktops and servers.
- [Zen Browser](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/zen-browser): A free, open-source web browser based on Firefox, with vertical tabs and a focus on privacy.
- [Meshtastic](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/meshtastic): An open-source project that uses small, cheap radios to send text messages over a mesh network without cell service or internet.
- [Matomo](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/matomo): Open-source web analytics software that a site can host itself, so visitor data stays with the site owner.
- [Hex](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/hex-dictation): A free, open-source voice dictation app that turns speech into text on the person's own computer, so audio is not sent to a server.
- [freeCodeCamp](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/freecodecamp): A 501(c)(3) nonprofit where people learn to code for free by building projects in the browser, with free certifications, a forum and a…
- [Oklathon](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/oklathon): Techlahoma's free open-source hackathon in Oklahoma City, a weekend of pitching ideas, forming teams, building and demoing projects with…
- [Git](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/git): The free, open source version control program that almost every software team uses.

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/open-source