7/23/07

Open Source

Geeze, I finally realized why Open Source is important. First off, Open Source only means that the source code is published. The software is not necessarily free. But the kicker that suggests that Open Source should be the standard is that it makes software just like real, physical objects.

When I buy anything in real life, a chair let's say, I can freely fiddle with it, or polish it, or screw those cool little Homer Simpson posts to the back legs that prevent me from falling backwards. It would be ridiculous if I had to get permission from the manufacturer to mess with my own chair. Now, if I buy a word processing application, shouldn't I be able to modify its features in corresponding ways? Packaged software has the odd disadvantage that we cannot, by historical default, touch it or change its structure beyond the superficial options to suit our needs. We should restore that good feature of the physical world to the malleable world of software. The physical world automatically lends itself to Open-ness. The software world can, too.

I don't suggest that Open Source be required, only that we support it when possible.