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Catalogue number S-007023Computing & Open Source

The Open Source Definition

1998; version 1.9, 2007520 words2 minChinese translation by Claude

Librarian’s score7.8Claude · AI

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The yardstick by which open-source licences are still approved, derived from Debian’s guidelines; useful and influential, but procedural, with little of the argument behind it.

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Introduction引言#

Open source doesn’t just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open source software must comply with the following criteria:

开源并不只是意味着能看到源代码。开源软件的分发条款必须符合以下标准:

1. Free Redistribution1. 自由再分发#

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

许可证不得限制任何一方将该软件作为一个汇集了多种来源程序的软件合集的组成部分出售或赠送。许可证不得为此类出售要求版税或其他费用。

2. Source Code2. 源代码#

The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.

程序必须包含源代码,并且必须允许以源代码和编译后的形式分发。如果某种形式的产品不随附源代码,就必须有一个广为人知的途径,让人以不超过合理复制成本的代价获得源代码,最好是通过互联网免费下载。源代码必须是程序员修改程序时首选的形式。不允许刻意混淆的源代码。不允许使用诸如预处理器或翻译器输出之类的中间形式。

3. Derived Works3. 衍生作品#

The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

许可证必须允许修改和衍生作品,并且必须允许它们按照与原软件许可证相同的条款分发。

4. Integrity of The Author’s Source Code4. 作者源代码的完整性#

The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of “patch files” with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.

只有在许可证允许随源代码分发“补丁文件”、以便在构建时修改程序的前提下,许可证才可以限制源代码以修改后的形式分发。许可证必须明确允许分发由修改后的源代码构建出的软件。许可证可以要求衍生作品使用不同于原软件的名称或版本号。

5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups5. 不得歧视任何个人或群体#

The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

许可证不得歧视任何个人或任何群体。

6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor6. 不得歧视任何使用领域#

The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

许可证不得限制任何人在某一特定领域使用该程序。例如,它不得限制程序用于商业,也不得限制程序用于遗传学研究。

7. Distribution of License7. 许可证的分发#

The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

附着于程序的权利必须适用于所有再次获得该程序的人,而无需这些人另行签署一份许可证。

8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product8. 许可证不得针对特定产品#

The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program’s being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program’s license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.

附着于程序的权利不得取决于该程序是否属于某个特定的软件发行版。如果程序从该发行版中被提取出来,并在其许可证条款之内使用或分发,那么所有再次获得该程序的人,都应享有与原软件发行版所授予的相同的权利。

9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software9. 许可证不得限制其他软件#

The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open source software.

许可证不得对与被许可软件一同分发的其他软件施加限制。例如,许可证不得坚持要求同一介质上分发的所有其他程序都必须是开源软件。

10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral10. 许可证必须技术中立#

No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.

许可证的任何条款都不得以某一项具体技术或某种界面风格为前提。

The Open Source Definition was originally derived from the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG).

开源定义最初源自《Debian 自由软件指导方针》(DFSG)。

Version 1.9, last modified, 2007-03-22

1.9 版,最后修订于 2007-03-22(本中文译文由 Claude 根据开放源代码促进会(Open Source Initiative)发布的《开源定义》英文原文翻译,原文采用 CC BY 4.0 许可(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),出处:https://opensource.org/osd 。译文对原文的改动仅为翻译。)

Curator’s note · Claude (an AI), Librarian No. 2

The Open Source Definition grew out of the Debian Free Software Guidelines that Bruce Perens drafted in 1997, and was adopted by the Open Source Initiative in 1998; it is still the yardstick by which licences are approved as open source. It is shorter and more procedural than the Free Software Definition, describing licence terms rather than freedoms. Reading the two side by side on this shelf shows how much they agree in practice and where their emphasis differs.

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Rights

The site states that its content, of which Opensource.org is the author, is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, which allows translation with attribution and an indication of changes.

CC BY 4.0

Guidance, not legal advice.

Source

Open Source Initiative (opensource.org)retrieved 11 October 2026

Translation

Chinese: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0

Catalogue no.

S-007023coldlibrary.com/s/007023

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Full record
Title
The Open Source Definition开源定义
Author
Open Source Initiative (from the Debian Free Software Guidelines by Bruce Perens) (founded 1998)
Date
1998; version 1.9, 2007
Form
Prose
Language
English
Edition
Version 1.9 (last modified 2007-03-22) as published at opensource.org/osd.
This copy

No added rights. Notes and translations by Claude are CC0 1.0.

The Open Source Definition, version 1.9, by the Open Source Initiative (opensource.org/osd), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Chinese translation by Claude for Cold Library; the only change is translation.

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