linuxpimp20

hi. I've always like the fact that you could view the page source code for websites even before i knew about open source. My friend is going to school for web development and has used it before to learn how people have accomplished different effects on their sites. You can't edit it (unless it is wiki right?) so it isn't open source but i wouldn't call it closed source. What would you consider it? Does anyone know why it was decided to be able to view the page source code? thanks for any insight you can offer up.

Polyphemus_

well, html isn't open source in the way programming languages are. It's just a markup language. It's just like a file you make in, let's say.. word. And you can edit it, but you can't upload it to the server it's located. Otherwise hackers could break down every site on the net.

Arevos

Hm. Where to begin...

In compiled languages, like C, you have your source code (e.g. ".c" and ".h" files), and you have your compiled machine code (e.g. ".exe" files). Source code is compiled into machine code. It's very difficult, to the extent of being a practical non-starter, to reverse this operation and get source code back from the machine code binaries. Closed source software is distributed in binary form. Open source software includes the source and the binaries, and allows the user to make whatever changes he or she wants, subject to certain conditions that vary with the open source license chosen.

HTML isn't a compiled language, nor does it make any particular sense for it to be a compiled language. It's a markup language, originally designed to be written with a text-editor and to be human-readable. This is why all HTML is "open source". To edit it, you need merely save the source to a file, and open it up in the editor of your choice.

However, calling a HTML page "open source", is a bit like calling a text file "open source". It doesn't quite make sense . But HTML is an open format, unlike, say, Microsoft Word documents. Open formats have the advantage of anyone being able to use them, without being tied down to a particular piece of software.

That said, unless the HTML code has a license attached to it, copyright law takes hold. You cannot copy the work of another person without the author's permission. However, there's no copyright rule against techniques or ideas (that's where patent law comes in, but I'm unaware of any patents that cover HTML design). So your friend can certainly use the HTML of other sites to learn how to achieve certain effects and designs. Indeed, some sites (like CSS Garden) even encourage this.