OSIcertified

OSIcertified refers to products that have been certified by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) as conforming to the Open Source Definition (OSD). The Open Source Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting open source software. The OSD is a set of ten criteria that define what constitutes open source software, ensuring that the software's source code is freely available for modification and redistribution.

Companies or projects can submit their software licenses to the OSI for review. If a license meets all the criteria of the OSD, it is approved by the OSI. Products that are distributed under an OSI-approved license are then eligible to be referred to as OSIcertified. This certification provides a level of assurance to users that the software's license adheres to the principles of open source.

The OSIcertification mark is a way for vendors to clearly indicate their commitment to open source principles. It helps to distinguish truly open source software from proprietary software or software with restrictive licenses that may claim to be "open" but do not meet the OSD criteria. This simplifies the process for users and organizations looking to adopt open source solutions, as they can rely on the OSI certification as a trustworthy indicator of compliance with open source standards.