Open Source, Ideology, And Knowledge

Is open source an ideology?

The open source movement sought to take away power from big corporations and disperse it among individuals. Richard Stillman, creator of GNU, was committed to working together and sharing software online. In the GNU manifesto, Stillman outlines some of his beliefs:

“I consider that the Golden Rule requires that if I like a program I must share it with other people who like it. Software sellers want to divide the users and conquer them, making each user agree not to share with others. I refuse to break solidarity with other users in this way. I cannot in good conscience sign a nondisclosure agreement or a software license agreement…So that I can continue to use computers without dishonor, I have decided to put together a sufficient body of free software so that I will be able to get along without any software that is not free. I have resigned from the AI Lab to deny MIT any legal excuse to prevent me from giving GNU away”

Stillman’s idealogical value of sharing propelled his desire for the GNU Unix. He wanted sharing to become the cornerstone for online users. He believed in the power of individuals working together and enhancing one another’s work rather than one person or company monopolizing the industry. For Stillman, open source was a way of life because he saw sharing online as a natural extension of good manners in the “real” world.

Is there a connection between passwords and knowledge?

Open source software can sometimes require a more intensive knowledge of technology. Users need to be able to understand how each part works in order to be able to create and enhance. Open source is against passwords that block access to software. However, lack of knowledge about how to use open source software could be a type of password. In order to thrive in an open source environment, a users needs to have the knowledge to make everything work. If that knowledge is absent, the user cannot take part in the open source sharing.

Sometimes individuals will take the “easy” way out and choose software from companies because then they are guaranteed support services. If someone is not technologically savvy, they might find the idea of independently running software extremely daunting. But rather than accepting the cathedral model (top down), users should seek information from others on content that they find unfamiliar. Everyone sharing information with everyone might seem a bit messy but it works. According to Eric Steven Raymond, “the Linux community seemed to resemble a great babbling bazaar of differing agendas and approaches (aptly symbolized by the Linux archive sites, who’d take submissions from anyone) out of which a coherent and stable system could seemingly emerge only by a succession of miracles”. Technology is evolving a growing at a rapid right. A renewing of historical trading could enhance modern technologies rapid advancements.

Can open source sharing be used for more than software? Yes!

Hitrecord is a production company that uses an open source model. The site was founded by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Any collaborator on the site can modify someone else’s content or upload their own original work. Everyone can work on anything that is on the site. According to their website, Hitrecord is an “open, community-sourced production company, and this website is where we make things together”.