Re: Article for comment

This is an excellent article that would explain and clarify much to non
technical persons. I myslef would like to post (an circulate) this in our
institution; that is, if you would allow. But as Sacha pointed out, I will
have to wait one month after publication.
Keep it up Dom!


On 11/28/05, Dominique Cimafranca <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Hi, all,
>
> Wrote this up for a publication.  Thought it might be useful to some
> folks, so I'm posting it here.  Please do send in your comments.  Thanks.
>
> --Dom
>
>
>
> Why You Should Care About Open Source
>
> To many people, open source is synonymous with free software.  Therein
> lies the trouble.  While the two sometimes coincide, it is not always the
> case.  Sometimes, you have free software that is not open source; and
> sometimes, you have open source software that is not free.
>
> Confused?  Let's try to clear things up, starting with the word "free."
> There are two meanings to "free" when referring to software.  The first, and
> probably the more common, refers to zero-cost.  Appropriately, this is the
> term that applies to freeware, whatever platform they may run on.  The
> second meaning is less common and relates to freedom.
>
> Ah, but freedom to do what? And why do we need this in the first place?
>
> Most software today is governed by licenses that permit the user to do
> certain things while restricting others.  So, for example, a Microsoft
> Windows license will legally let you run the operating system on only one
> computer, and not on another.  It does not allow you to give it away to
> another person nor to take it apart and study what makes it work from the
> inside.
>
> In contrast, an open source license, as defined by the Open Source
> Consortium, will allow you four fundamental freedoms: (1) the freedom to run
> the program for any purpose; (2) the freedom to study the program; (3) the
> freedom to improve the program; and (4) the freedom to distribute the
> program. The human-readable source code is fundamental to the last three
> freedoms, and therefore, access to it is a precondition for open source
> software.  Hence, the term "open source."
>
> Now, some of you might exclaim: "What does that have to do with me?  I'm
> not a programmer.  I just want to use nice software that's free or available
> at a reasonable price."
>
> It might help if we take a step back and tackle it by way of a commonplace
> analogy: cookies.  Not the kind that goes into your web browser, but the
> kind that's yummy and gets all crumbly when you eat it.
>
> Let's say that in the course of your gastronomical experiments, you've hit
> upon a wonderful new recipe for a cookie.  It's so good that everyone who's
> tasted it wants more.  So what do you do?  You have two options before you.
>
> One: you could keep the cookie recipe a secret, bake the cookies yourself,
> sell your product, and make a nice profit out of your labors.  You can price
> the cookies as high as you want because no one else is able to make them
> quite like you do.
>
> Or two: you could give out the cookie recipe so that other people can bake
> their own cookies.  You can still sell your cookies, but now other people
> can even sell them in competition to you.  They are free to make
> improvements on your recipe with the precondition that they also give away
> those improved recipes.  In turn, you can also make and sell cookies based
> on these recipe variations.
>
> Which option is right and which option is wrong?  Well, neither, really.
> You're free to do as you choose, depending on the circumstances.
>
> If you take the first path, you will be able to sell more cookies, and
> that's a good thing.  On the downside, there isn't going to be as much
> variety on the market and after a while your recipe could get, well, stale.
> And who's to say that somewhere down the line there won't be someone else
> who can match your cookie recipe?
>
> If you take the second path, you won't get to sell as much as when you had
> a monopoly, and that might not be so good for you financially.  But there'll
> be more cookie recipes out in the market, some of which may be even better
> than your original and which you can bake for yourself.  And overall, the
> prices of cookies will be lower because many more people can make them (and
> you might even choose to buy from someone else who can bake them better).
>
> The analogies should be obvious enough: cookies stand for software, and
> the cookie recipe is the source code.  While it's alright to keep the source
> code for yourself -- and there may be good reason for doing so --  it opens
> up a whole avenue of wonderful possibilities if you open it up.
>
> Now, put yourself in another role.  Say that you don't bake cookies
> yourself, but you do like to eat them.  As a dedicated cookie connoisseur,
> Which of the two situations above do you think would be better for you?
> Again, it's alright to buy from someone with a secret recipe, wouldn't it be
> better to create an environment where you get more variety and at lower
> prices?
>
> The same analogy can hold for software as well.  This is the promise that
> open source presents: more variety, and at more affordable prices.
>
> So you see, that's why, even if you're not a developer, open source ought
> to mean something to you.  And even if you are just a user, try to find some
> means of contributing to open source: using the software, reporting bugs,
> and getting other people to use it.
>
>
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>


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