According to Ts'o, the difference between organic and non-organic is related to how much influence a single corporation has in the development of an open source product. The broader the developer community around a project and the lower the barrier to contributing, the more organic it is. Citing Linux, Apache, Mozilla, and Eclipse among those in the organic open source camp, Ts'o singled out OpenSolaris as a prime example of non-organic open source. In fact, he objected to "Sun claiming that Solaris is just like Linux because it's open source"--a characterization that seemed to inspire his interest in asserting these definitions.
Gonzalo San Gil, PhD. on 21 Dec 13"1. Introduction The whole Linux community is based on the concept of community and collaboration. Without it, Linus Torvalds' e-mail sent out 20 years ago would have been forgotten and none of us would have known about Linux. As time went by, it became easier and easier for users, regardless of experience and knowledge, to contribute to his/her favorite distribution. While we're at it, it's a common misconception that you have to be a programmer in order to help the Linux community."
