[jordigh]

> Yes, there's some confusion because the term "open source" was around before OSI attempted to define it.

No, it was not. OSI coined it. Specifically, Christine Petersen coined it.

It appears to be such a natural term now that we have become convinced that we were using it before OSI, but we weren't. The earliest OED citation for "open source" is from 1998, around the time when OSI coined it. If you have an earlier citation, please submit it to the OED. I don't believe one exists.

There is an unrelated term "open source intelligence" which is indeed older, but nobody called software "open source" before OSI.

[flomo]

Sorry, no reference. But I recall the term was not eligible for a trademark for some reason.

[jordigh]

I don't know why Bruce Perens apparently trademarked a bunch of things but not "open source" itself. However, as part of its trademark policy, OSI asks that people do not call software "open source" if it's not under an OSI-approved license:

http://opensource.org/trademark-guidelines#Usage_That_Does_N...

[pbhjpbhj]

"open source" is descriptive (even if you capitalise it). Descriptions aren't trademarks; that's probably why.