Be part of the OSOR community and make your voice heard!
The Open Source Observatory (OSOR) serves as a place where the open source software (OSS) community can come together to publish news, find out about events, find relevant OSS solutions and read about the use of OSS in public administrations across and beyond Europe.
Mission
“OSOR aims to become a trustworthy observatory that provides FOSS expertise and information as well as serves as middle-ground to connect European Public Administrations with other relevant stakeholders. To reach this objective, OSOR will support a dynamic community and further promote the use of FOSS.”
The underlying philosophy is to promote collaboration, sharing and digital development by providing the following main services:
OSOR’s community is characterised by three main stakeholder groups: national and local public administrations, private sector, and citizens such as academics and OSS enthusiasts. Each group can contribute to the further adoption of OSS and benefit from the OSOR initiative by reading up-to-date news and in-depth case studies that are posted on a regular basis.
History
2000: The European Commission defined a strategy concerning the internal use of OSS in the context of the recognition and use of the Apache Web Server, as a recommended solution for the UNIX systems.
2007-2010: The European Commission recognised the importance of turning to Open Source solutions in its first Open Source Software Strategy.
2007: The launch of the Open Source Observatory and Repository (OSOR) (former osor.eu) that encourages the use of OSS within the Member States.
2011: The OSOR stand-alone website has migrated onto the Joinup platform and is characterised as a collection. OSOR’s role shifted to become an observatory only, with focus on news, case studies, events and community-building.
2014-2017: Second Open Source Software Strategy of the European Commission.
2019: The new vision and strategy of OSOR were defined to revamp the initiative.
Get involved - Stay informed
Legal coaching service:
In need of any legal counsel regarding the licencing of your open source project? Consult the legal expert:
Contact us - select the option 'Question on legal issues'.
Resource Centres:
Looking for a resource centre on open standards and open source close to you? Consult this list:
Competence Centres on Open Source Software
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