sourceware

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noun

A precursor of open source software.

Less commonScrabble 15
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Meanings

nounsourceware (uncountable)
  1. dateduncountablecomputingA precursor of open source software.

    Because McVoy was trying to avoid recourse to the “customer solution” of NT, that left the programmers' solution: free software, or “sourceware,” as he termed it.

    2009, Glyn Moody, Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, Hachette UK, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    And last of the “open software”, a rarer implementation is sourceware. A variation of freedomware, sourceware offers “open source” code with “closed (proprietary) standards”.

    2005, Sys Admin: The Journal for UNIX System Administrators, page 48

    And we said, “We're all going to agree on one name, and we're all going to start using it.” We voted on “sourceware” versus “open source,” and “open source” won. We had the press conference at five, and the rest is history.

    [2009, Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene, quoting Tim O'Reilly, Beautiful Teams: Inspiring and Cautionary Tales from Veteran Team Leaders, O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 4

Origin

From source + -ware.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

courseware
Cite this entry
APA

sourceware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sourceware

MLA

“sourceware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sourceware. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sourceware,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sourceware.

Source: sourceware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.