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Something proprietary is something exclusively owned by someone, often with connotations that it is exclusive
and cannot be used by other parties without negotiations. It may specifically mean that something is covered by one or more
patents, as in proprietary technology. It can also mean that the copyright is used in a way that restricts the users' freedoms.
Etymology
The word proprietary comes from the French
proprietaire, from the Latin proprietarius. Compare with the Latin
proprietas, property, and proprius, owned.
Proprietary software
Closed-source material is proprietary software which
means, fundamentally, that you don't control what it does and for users it means they cannot study the source code, or edit it. This is according to Richard Stallman, who is the leading figure in the promotion of free software projects such as GNU.
Proprietary software, or non-free software is currently the
most globalised industry. For example Microsoft and Windows which dominate their
markets around the world.
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