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The Caldera announcement you’re referring to does not use "open source" as a term. They write "open (source code) model", not "(open source) (code model)". It’s

The Caldera announcement you’re referring to does not use "open source" as a term. They write "open (source code) model", not "(open source) (code model)". It’s an important distinction. And yes, Christine indeed invented the term, and folks from OSI gave it the current meaning by clearly defining it.

chrisseaton 6y ago
I'm afraid this just isn't true. Ask other people around at the time: > I joined Caldera in November of 1995, and we certainly used "open source" broadly at that time. We were building software. I can't imagine a world where we did not use the specific phrase "open source software". And we were not alone. The term "Open Source" was used broadly by Linus Torvalds (who at the time was a student...I had dinner with Linus and his then-girlfriend Ute in Germany while he was still a student), John "Mad Dog" Hall who was a major voice in the community (he worked at COMPAQ at the time), and many, many others. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-i7au3S45C4J:https://hyperlogos.org/blog/drink/term-Open-Source+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-i7au3...
- phaemon 6y ago
  So where are all the examples on public mailing lists and Usenet of them using this? I'm afraid I simply don't trust people's hazy memories of conversations from years ago.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > So where are all the examples on public mailing lists and Usenet of them using this? Here's one http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/fall96/0269.html http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/fall96/0269.html Also - even the USPTO rejected their claim as a trademark.
    - phaemon 6y ago
      One. The same one you already posted. Where are the thousands of examples of this common usage? Rejected after they'd made the term popular.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        How many examples do you need to prove that something existed? Isn't one enough? When you see a fossil of a dinosaur skeleton in a museum do you say 'well hang on are there any more or just one?' And it was rejected because it was a simple descriptive term. You can't take ownership of a simple descriptive term. Bottom line facts are: OSDI don't own it - that's a fact - and they didn't use it first - that's a fact.
        phaemon 6y ago
        I didn't claim it didn't exist so your strawman is irrelevant. If there was only a single dinosaur skeleton in existence I certainly wouldn't be claiming they were common animals. The fact is it was barely used until the OSI introduced it as a term at which point it became popular. You seem to have a personal problem with that.

chrisseaton 6y ago

I'm afraid this just isn't true. Ask other people around at the time: > I joined Caldera in November of 1995, and we certainly used "open source" broadly at that time. We were building software. I can't imagine a world where we did not use the specific phrase "open source software". And we were not alone. The term "Open Source" was used broadly by Linus Torvalds (who at the time was a student...I had dinner with Linus and his then-girlfriend Ute in Germany while he was still a student), John "Mad Dog" Hall who was a major voice in the community (he worked at COMPAQ at the time), and many, many others. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-i7au3S45C4J:https://hyperlogos.org/blog/drink/term-Open-Source+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-i7au3...

phaemon 6y ago
So where are all the examples on public mailing lists and Usenet of them using this? I'm afraid I simply don't trust people's hazy memories of conversations from years ago.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > So where are all the examples on public mailing lists and Usenet of them using this? Here's one http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/fall96/0269.html http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/fall96/0269.html Also - even the USPTO rejected their claim as a trademark.
  - phaemon 6y ago
    One. The same one you already posted. Where are the thousands of examples of this common usage? Rejected after they'd made the term popular.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      How many examples do you need to prove that something existed? Isn't one enough? When you see a fossil of a dinosaur skeleton in a museum do you say 'well hang on are there any more or just one?' And it was rejected because it was a simple descriptive term. You can't take ownership of a simple descriptive term. Bottom line facts are: OSDI don't own it - that's a fact - and they didn't use it first - that's a fact.
      - phaemon 6y ago
        I didn't claim it didn't exist so your strawman is irrelevant. If there was only a single dinosaur skeleton in existence I certainly wouldn't be claiming they were common animals. The fact is it was barely used until the OSI introduced it as a term at which point it became popular. You seem to have a personal problem with that.