open source software
open-source software. Software that is usu. not sold for profit, includes both human-readable source code and machine-readable object code, and allows users to freely copy, modify, or distribute the software. • Even though open-source software is made widely available for free, it may be protected by federal trademark law. See Planetary Motion, Inc. v. Techsplosion, Inc., 261 F.3d 1188 (11th Cir. 2001).