This primer introduces Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), its philosophy, history and benefits/disadvantages of FOSS, including developing-country specific issues. It also contains a brief survey of FOSS initiatives in various governments around the world, legislative or otherwise. Other topics such as localization, licensing and Linux are briefly covered. It is meant as a basic introductory document that can be handed to a person when asked, "what is Free/Open Source?"

The primer can be downloaded from the following links:

• In OpenOffice format (77KB)
• PDF format (287KB, reduced print version)
• Print version with covers, PDF format (2.1MB)

Wikibook version

Translated Versions

Chinese

• PDF format (952KB)
• Wiki

Vietnamese

• OpenOffice format (71KB)
• PDF format (413KB)

The primer is intended to be a living document, constantly updated to reflect the latest information and available to all. It is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 license and should always be available from the IOSN website.