 History of free and open-source software

The history of free and open-source software (FOSS) is rich and complex, rooted in the early days of computing and evolving with technology and community practices over several decades. Here’s an overview of its key developments: ### Early Beginnings (1950s-1970s) 1. **The Mainframe Era**: In the 1950s and 1960s, software was typically shared among users in university and research environments.