The European Commission is an enthusiastic user, producer and contributor of free and open source software (FOSS). Freely licensed to use, copy, study and change in any way, open source code is publicly shared to encourage people (anyone) to voluntarily improve the design and features of the software.
Many people already use FOSS without knowing they are benefiting from it. This is about to change. To spread the message about the benefits of FOSS, the EU-FOSSA 2 project has created a simple quiz in an effort to assess the level of understanding of FOSS among the public. In addition, the quiz covers issues such as the safety of FOSS, how often it is used, and whether European institutions use FOSS. To take part in the quiz, click here.
The benefits of increasing the level of FOSS usage are undeniable. According to recent studies, the European economy saves around EUR 114 billion per year by using open source software solutions. The overall contribution of FOSS to Europe’s economy is estimated at almost EUR 450 billion.
Public services that procure free and open source software solutions generate significant future benefits that are, by their nature, available to everybody - citizens, companies and public sector organisations. Open source contributions create a virtuous loop, and are a key component of the European Commission’s free software strategy.
About EU-FOSSA 2
The quiz is part of the EU’s Free and Open Source Software Auditing project, EU-FOSSA 2. The project aims to ensure and maintain the integrity and security of key open source software. EU-FOSSA 2 has set out to improve FOSS security and raise awareness of its many benefits, which, amongst others, include lower software costs and increased security.
To find out more about what the Commission is doing to improve the security and usage of open source software visit the EU-FOSSA 2 collection on joinup.