“自由／开源软件运动在20世纪60和70年代起源于美国计算机科学实验室（斯坦福，伯克利，卡内基梅隆，以及麻省理工）中的‘黑客’文化。

“程序员的群体是一个紧密联系的小团体。代码在这个群体的成员中传来传去。如果你对程序作出了改进就应该把代码提交给开发者群体。而不开放代码会被人们看作是不知趣的做法——毕竟你从朋友的工作中受益了，就应该有所回报。”

-- 自由／开源软件运动简史[7]

自由／开源软件运动几乎可以追溯到计算机工业的最初时期，虽然当时它还没有正式的定义和概念。直到1970年代和1980年代早期分享软件的做法才和私有软件产生了冲突。最早提出私有软件的可能是比尔盖茨现在尽人皆知的“给玩家的公开信”（An Open Letter to Hobbyists）[8]。在这封发表于1976年3月2日的信里，他抨击了当时盛行的软件分享文化：

“为什么？大多数玩家应该明白，你们在偷窃软件。硬件是要花钱购买的，软件却可以分享。谁真正关心软件工作者是否获得了报偿？”

在后来数年里私有软件越发盛行。在1980年代早期，业界领先的麻省理工（MIT）人工智能实验室里诞生了一家叫 Symbolics 的公司，他们将当时可以自由获取的代码（LISP 编程语言）变成了私有软件。这种做法使 MIT 实验室当时的软件分享文化化为乌有[9]。但是这样的毁灭最终导致了 FSF 的创建和今天的自由／开源软件文化。

当时还是 MIT 实验室成员的 Richard Stallman 对于发生的一切感到恼怒。他在那时形成了对私有软件的看法，并坚定了创造一个自由的操作系统的决心。GNU（GNU is Not Unix 的迭代缩写形式）工程在1984年1月诞生。在后来10年中，它创造了许多工具，都成为自由操作系统的关键组成部分。1985年，为推广自由软件和 GNU 工程， FSF 成立了。但是直到1991年，GNU 工程都无法完成完全自由的软件系统，因为缺少一个关键部件：操作系统内核。

内核就是操作系统的心脏。1991年，还在赫尔辛基大学念研究生二年级的 Linus Torvalds 编写并发布了一个类 Unix 的内核。这个内核被按照自由／开源软件开发的方式广泛传播、改进并迅速被改造成 GNU/Linux 操作系统的核心。

这一时期还有其他的自由／开源软件项目，包括 BIND，Perl 和 BSD 操作系统家族。后来这些项目间都产生了合并和相互影响。

此后 GNU/Linux 操作系统继续稳步增加功能和能力。1997年，国际数据集团（International Data Corp, IDC）发现 GNU/Linux 已经占有25％的服务器市场[10]并正在以每年25％的速率增长。Linux 受到了媒体的广泛关注。

1998年，作为对网景（Netscape）开放 Netscape Navigator 浏览器代码的回应，一群自由／开源软件开发者聚到一起并创造了“开源”（Open Source）的标志。随之而来的是开放源代码运动和开源定义的形成。这一运动的主旨是让业界注意到自由／开源软件并在自由软件运动的“对抗”态度之外开辟另一条道路[11]。

1999年，GNU/Linux 厂商 Red Hat 以48亿美元的价值成功上市。当年其他成功的上市企业还有 VA Linux （70亿美元），Cobalt Networks（31亿美元）和 Andover.net（7.12亿美元）[12]。GNU/Linux 的成功也代表了其源头自由／开源软件的成功。

What is the history of FOSS?

“The free/open source software movement began in the "hacker" culture of U.S. computer science laboratories (Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT) in the 1960's and 1970's.

The community of programmers was small, and close-knit. Code passed back and forth between the members of the community--if you made an improvement you were expected to submit your code to the community of developers. To withhold code was considered gauché--after all, you benefited from the work of your friends, you should return the favor.”
A Brief History of Free/Open Source Software Movementi

The FOSS movement dates back to almost the very beginning of the computer industry, although it was not then formally defined or conceptualized. It was only in the late 1970s and early 1980s that the sharing of software began to really come in conflict with proprietary software. One of the earlier references to proprietary software was made by William H. Gates III in his now-famous “An Open Letter to Hobbyists.”ii In this letter, dated 3rd February 1976, he rails against the prevailing culture of software sharing:

Why is this? As the majority of hobbyists must be aware, most of you steal your software. Hardware must be paid for, but software is something to share. Who cares if the people who worked on it get paid?

Proprietary software would gain momentum over the years. At the pioneering MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab in the early 1980s, a company called Symbolics was formed and took what was freely available code (the LISP programming language) and made it proprietary. In the process, it wiped out the software-sharing culture of the MIT lab at the timeiii. This destruction, however, would eventually result in the creation of the FSF and the FOSS culture today.

Richard Stallman, one of the MIT lab members at the time, was appalled at the turn of events. It would shape his view of proprietary software and instill in him the resolve to create a free operating system. The GNU (recursive acronym for GNU is Not Unix) project was born in January 1984 and over the next decade, it created a variety of critical tools that formed a portion of the operating system. The FSF was created a year later to promote Free Software and the GNU project. However, up until 1991, the GNU project had yet to produce a totally free software system due to a missing critical piece: the kernel.

The kernel is the heart of the operating system. In 1991, Linus Torvalds, who at the time was a second year graduate student at the University of Helsinki, wrote and distributed a Unix-like kernel. In the manner of FOSS development, it was distributed widely, improved upon and soon adapted to become the core of the GNU/Linux operating system.

There were other FOSS projects in progress at the time, including BIND, Perl and the BSD operating systems. All of these projects eventually ended up merging or cross-pollinating.

The GNU/Linux operating system would continue to grow steadily in features and capabilities. In 1997 Linux exploded into the press limelight, with International Data Corp (IDC) noting that GNU/Linux already owned 25 percent of the server marketiv and was growing at an annual compound growth rate of 25 percent.

In 1998, in response to Netscape’s release of its Netscape Navigator code as FOSS, a group of FOSS developers came together and the label “Open Source” was created. This led to the formation of the Open Source Initiative and the Open Source Definition. The primary purpose of this initiative was to get the corporate world to pay attention to the FOSS development process and steer a path away from the “confrontational” attitude of the Free Software movementv.

In 1999, the massively successful IPO of GNU/Linux distributor Red Hat gave it a market capitalization of US$4.8 billion. Other successful IPOs that year were VA Linux (US$ 7 billion), Cobalt Networks ($3.1 billion) and Andover.net ($712 million)vi. As the poster child of FOSS, GNU/Linux’s success meant that FOSS had truly arrived.