The many meanings of open source
C. Gacek, Budi Arief · IEEE Software · 2004
Many software development methodologies are called "open source." However simply stating that a project is open source doesn't precisely describe the approach used to support the project. A multidisciplinary viewpoint can help determine those characteristics that are common to open source projects and those that vary among projects. These characteristics form the basis for a taxonomy of open source projects that's useful for analyzing and setting up projects. They also provide a starting point for understanding what "open source" means.