Why You Should Care about Open Source Software...
…and what Homes, Cars and Democracy Have to do with it. A short imaginary story.
Imagine you buy a new home or a rent a new appartment. Usually you will go buy some new furniture, maybe paint the walls, put up curtains, invite friends to a warm up party. Yeah!
Now compare a computer with a home. If a computer you can buy today was a home it would have some restrictions:
- The furniture is already there, if you like it or not, most of it cannot be removed easily. Your seller or landlord tells you, that if you remove it, you will loose any form of warranty instantly. He/she claims, that this is for your own safety and you must be an expert to change it. So you agree to better not touch it.
- You can choose between homes equipped in city-style or country-style. For the more experimental ones beneath us there is also the ethno-style line, but this option is offered very rarely, maybe at other places, but not at the place where you want to live. More choises are not available.
- Now what’s really weird: Even if your new home has plenty of space, only one person at a time can stay in this home at the same time (they call it “personal home”).
For example You can let your spouse enter (to take a bath or to eat), but you have to take a walk in the meantime. Enjoy the silence!
Even worse, although you own that home now, the landlord or former landlord reserves him- or herself rights to…
- …drop by occassionally to see if everthing is ok. In most cases that person would not just ring on your door and say “Hey, how are you doing?”. No, often he or she would come through the backdoor, climb through a window, even crawl through the pipes or use some other strategies of disguise.
During such a visit that person will open all your drawers, sniff at your underwear, read your mail, gaze at your family photos and examine your trash to know what you have eaten yesterday.
A visit can happen also when you are not at home yourself. - …install cameras to watch you and if he thinks that some strange things are going on that might be against the law, he will immediately snitch on you at the public authorities without asking you.
Imagine you buy a new car. I strongly assume you do not buy a car every day, it is quite an event, isn’t it?. Some new features to learn, your previous car didn’t have. If its brand new you might even enjoy the smell. Will you take a test-drive with your spouse or a friend? Will you make a speed test on the highway?
Now compare a smartphone with a car. If a smartphone you can buy today was a car it would not quite be what you’d expect:
- It comes with an obligatory co-driver, who tells you directions and gives you annoying tipps about your driving style.
That co-driver is also a well-trained salesman and gives you constantly offers to new features, if you like it or not.
He tinkers around on the existing parts of your car. He says the vendors provide a new version of wipers, pedals or alike. This is a friendly gesture, but he also does during the trips. - The “friendly” co-driver is of the same sort as the (former) landlords from the “home story” above in terms of nosiness. With the important difference that he is now always with you, you cannot just escape him during your trips. Now that are somewhat bad news: someone is snooping around in your private life at home AND when on the road. If you don’t like it and prefer some privacy, you have to walk in the woods or go to some other lonely places.
- Some cars (not all of them) come only with one set of firmly mounted tires. You can happily go with them as long as they are ok. But in case they are worn out, you have to consult an unauthorized mechanic. The seller doesn’t officially authorize anyone to do it. They will recommend you to buy a new car in such a case.
- The companies that build cars are also the companies that build the roads. So they can decide what trips are possible at all and if there is a road across the alps or to the Mao temple or not.
So you might ask what has that to do with Open Source software? The answer is easy and short: it is a matter of freedom. The freedom to choose and to participate. It is a matter of right for personal privacy.
Would you choose dictatorship or oligarchy over democracy? I guess you would not! So why in your digital life?
