About OSOR.eu

Why F/OSS important for public organisations?

The users of free, libre and open source software (F/OSS) have access to its source code and the right to study, change, and improve its design. This collaboration among the user and developer communities leads to larger user bases, greater interoperability and improved sustainability.

Open source software can therefore:

• reduce the costly replication of public sector software that already exists in similar form elsewhere;
• lower the cost of eGovernment solutions; and
• help spread good practice throughout public administrations.

OSOR.eu helps public organisations reap these benefits by improving dramatically the sharing and reuse of public sector software and related information across Europe, providing a variety of resources covering a wide range of issues relating to open source software use and development.

What does OSOR.eu offer?

OSOR.eu provides unbiased advice and guidance on the use, development, and licensing of free and open source software. If you want to find out more about open source software, we're the people to ask. As a repository, we can also help your project build an open development community to test and use solutions, provide feedback, and contribute to improving the software's quality. OSOR.eu provides:

• a pan-European information platform, with up-to-date news and in-depth case studies on open source;
• expert guidance and legal advice on the implementation of F/OSS solutions, including the European Union Public License (EUPL);
  
• communities of interest to help you getting familiar with open source applications and projects;
  
• a state-of-the art development environment, or ‘Forge’, along with a repository and registry for code and documentation for public administrations;
  
• a Virtual Forge service for those organizations which would like to start their own repository of OSS applications for public administrations, but lack the resources to set up the necessary infrastructure.
  
• a project search tool covering numerous federated national forges in Europe.

Who is behind OSOR.eu?

OSOR.eu is financed by the European Commission through the initiative ‘Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens’ (IDABC) and is supported by European governments at national, regional and local level.

How to participate?

• Would you like to search for an open source project for your administration? Use our Projects page to search projects hosted on OSOR.eu or on one of the federated national forges in Europe. Thanks to the machine translation service of the European Commission, all project descriptions are searchable in English.
• Do you have an application to share with others? Visit our Forge which offers a development environment for open source developers – or even create your own Virtual Forge! Project owners are invited to open projects on the OSOR.eu platform and to license their content or source code under a recognised open source license.
  
• Do you have a story to tell or seek advice from the open source community? Share your experiences in one of our numerous communities of interest.
  
• Do you have news or an open source event to tell us about? Contact our editorial team.
  
• Are you curious about OSOR.eu's plans for the future? Or have you found a bug to report? Get involved with the OSOR.eu team at our Community page.

You can also search our resources using the search box or browse specific resources targeted at your particular role via the links. If you don't find what you are looking for please contact us, and we will do our best to help.

The more people contribute the more useful the platform will become, so everyone is welcome as a user. To upload code and information, or open a community project, you simply register. (Private sector users need a recommendation from a public sector sponsor.)