OSS

Oss (ôs), city (1994 pop. 62,141), North Brabant prov., S Netherlands; chartered 1399. It is a significant industrial center. Manufactures include meat products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electrical equipment, and metalware.

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Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

(1942–45) U.S. agency formed for the purpose of obtaining information about and sabotaging the military efforts of enemy nations during World War II. It was headed by William J. (“Wild Bill”) Donovan (1883–1959). With some 12,000 staff, the OSS collected and analyzed information on areas of the world in which U.S. military forces were operating. It used agents inside Nazi-occupied Europe, including Berlin; carried out counterpropaganda and disinformation activities; produced analytical reports for policy makers; and staged special operations (e.g., sabotage and demolition) behind enemy lines to support guerrillas and resistance fighters. Many of its functions were later assumed by the Central Intelligence Agency.

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OSS

(1) (Open Source Software) Software that can be modified and recompiled by the user. See open source.

(2) (Operations Support Systems) An umbrella term for software that supports the telecommunications industry, but is not involved with the routine network operations of transmitting and switching data. OSS includes inventory management, CRM, middleware, performance monitoring, test & measurement and provisioning. B/OSS includes the billing. For more information, visit www.nextgenerationservices.com.