Open source software is a choice, a check-and-balance, an innovation...and something that makes Microsoft very uncomfortable. (That last just gives me a warm glowy feeling.)
Lately, Microsoft has been dissing the Open Source movement. It’s not an economically sound model, they say. It’s the same business practices that helped sink the dot-coms, they say. (I’m not going to touch their flawed initial premise that the open source system is based solely around making money…but I digress.) The talkback over at ZDNet, plus a follow-up rebuttal article, showed different points of view with the majority of them supporting OpenSource and condemning Microsoft for its hypocrisy. These folks do an excellent job of deconstructing the speech — I just wanted to weigh in on why I personally throw my full weight behind the Open Source concept.
The emperor is wearing real clothes
Open source software is not just “free to take, reuse, resell, recompile, rip off”. There are several licences that provide varying degrees of re-use and profit protection, including the most well-known, the GNU Public License (GPL). The GPL states that while anyone may see the source code of a program, may alter the source code of a program, may even give away this altered source code, and may do so without paying the author However, a person may not charge or accept any monies or other form of barter for any changed product — that is, they can’t change the code and then sell the application as their own work. They can’t even use a small portion of GPL-protected code in a larger application and then just include charges for that program. If I create graphics, for example, and offer them for free on my web site under the terms of the GPL, then anyone may take and use my graphics — even in paid projects. They just can’t redistribute the graphics in any form for which they receive any renumeration. This includes massive graphics galleries like ArtToday, CDs that are either available on their own or bundled with other software, or in any other form. The full text of the GPL is available online, and anyone is free to examine it.
What Really Sank the dot-coms
Giving things away for free was not what sank the dot-coms. What sank the dot-coms was poor business management, market oversaturation, and consumer greed. I’m not talking about folks who visit lots of sites and use as many free services as they can, I’m talking about the semi-ignorant day-traders and golden-boy (and girl) CEOs frantic to star in their own garage-to-gold fairy tale, a la Hewlett-Packard. Sitting here typing this, I can easily think of twenty people that I worked with who said, at one time or another, "I’m here to suck out a few hundred thou, then I’ll retire when things peak and get out while I can."
"Gosh, what laudable ethics you have."
"All the better to fuck you over with, my dear."
Why I Love Open Source…and you should, too
I learned HTML in 1991, back when I was in university. I have not ever taken a single formal class in web design, development, or architecture. When I started learning HTML, I was living in a mentor-rich environment, and I took advantage of that. I asked questions: of the people around me, of the owners of web sites I admired, of other programmers whose work I ran across and wanted to learn. Even Bill Gates says that the best way to learn to be a computer programmer is not to take a class, but to study code from other great programs (and, by extension, web sites). But finally, I support the Open Source movement for the same reasons that I support legalisation of abortion, legalisation of drugs, and freedom of speech. I like being able to make my own choices about how to live my life, as long as it does not impinge upon the freedoms of others: choosing where and how (and even -=if=-) to worship, choosing my own vote, choosing my own job, choosing from a variety of products all with different advantages and disadvantages, choosing what tools to use to accomplish tasks. There are responsibilities that go along with these choices, true; and I even have the option of choosing to have someone else make certain choices for me. But ultimately the choice, and the responsibility, is mine. I have the option to exercise as much power as is possible over the events in my life.
Keywords: | philosophy | Open Source software | marketing | choice | business model |
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