What is it?
The Open Source movement is not a new phaenomenon - it's been around for
years, even decades. The only thing that's changing is the environment.
In the olden days, Open Source Software (OSS) was mostly found in
universities and colleges. Nowadays, even companies that historically
guarded their source code as if their life depended on it (which in many
cases, in fact, it did) contribute. Open Source software, however, is not
necessarily the same as Free Software.
The terms OSS and Free Software are quite closely related. The latter
does not mean "software for free", but rather it means that
anybody is free to do with the software whatever he wants to do - modify
it, distribute it, even sell it. Usually, depending on the license granted
with the software, the only restriction is that he cannot restrict others'
access to this software, including the modifications he made. One of the
most popular such licenses is the Free Software
Foundation's GNU General Public
License.
Why should I care?
Basically, having the right to do whatever you want should be something you
care for. In the context of software, however, there are some not-so-obvious
advantages:
- Modifications/Corrections
Whenever you find a bug in the software, or wish to see a specific issue fixed, you can do it yourself, or hire someone who does it for you. You don't have to beg some company to listen to your wishes.
- Verification
Access to the source means that quite a few people will actually be
interested enough in it's inner workings to take the time and read through the
code. This way, serious errors or even hidden mechanisms, malicous or
otherwise, will be uncovered in short order. Think about this the next time
you enter your credit card number or secret PGP key into some binary-only
software.
- Decomoditisation
By opening up the protocols and interfaces the software uses, anybody can
write software that follows these exact same standards. They thereby become
open as well, reducing the possibility of one company retaining an unfair
advantage over other software producers.
Penguins?
One of the most visible effects of the whole phenomenon is certainly the
success of that free operating system, Linux. As you'll find confirmed
in at least a million places on the web and even in your daily newspaper,
Linux has proven the viability of Free Software. It's success, both in
the home and commercial environments proves a vital point: Free Software
not only rivals commercial code in price/performance comparions, but also
in head-on quality and performance matches.
This whole scheme would probably have never come about hadn't it been for
Richard M. Stallman of the Free Software Foundation and others who like
him invested a great deal of their personal lives to make Freedom
a reality - in software.