Open Source

Open source means software whose source code is publicly available for anyone to use, modify, and redistribute under licenses like MIT, Apache, or GPL. Linux, Python, and React are prominent examples.

QR codes benefit from open source in two ways: the specification itself is standardized as ISO/IEC 18004 with DENSO WAVE not enforcing patents for standard-compliant use, and numerous generation libraries (qrcode.js, Python's qrcode, ZXing) are freely available. This open ecosystem has been a key driver of QR code adoption worldwide.