Open Source and Open Minds

One of things I’m going to be doing on my own blog is reviewing cool free stuff. I’ve already written about a couple of neat tools for writers, WriteMonkey and Celtx. I’m constantly amazed at the quality of products that come from very small teams of developers—often teams of one—who put these programs together just because they can and they want to.

The sheer amount of free software that is available out there is nothing short of staggering. Some of it is freeware, some is shareware, some is donate-ware, some is nag-ware, some is guilt-ware, and some is demo-ware. But an awful lot of it is Open Source.

Open Source software has been around for a long time. It actually began in 1983 with Richard Stallman’s GNU project. In 1985, Stallman started the Free Software Foundation, which promotes the universal freedom to both distribute and modify software.

Both the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation are alive and well today, mostly because of the dedication of innumerable individuals out there who actively work on developing good, free software and making sure that it’s available to whoever wants it. It’s not just a random collection of people hacking and tweaking, either. Most Open Source software is developed in an organized manner, with change logs, branches, and documentation. It’s possible to trace the “lineage” of any particular version of a program back to its roots.

I feel I would be remiss here if I didn’t mention that the Free Software Foundation, on its website, indicates that its principles, while simliar to those of Open Source, are philosophically distinct. Open Source is an offshoot off the FSF, and while the two are not incompatible, they are also not the same.

I’ve been aware of this model of software distribution since the early days of GNU, and I’ve always been intrigued by it. I’ve become much more interested in it over the last few months, partly because certain friends and acquaintances of mine (like Asheyna, for example) have been delving deeply into it, partly because I’m coming to realize that a lot of really good free software is available, and partly because I’m tired of the bloated proprietariness of Microsoft and Apple.

Confession: I have, at various times, used “borrowed” copies of commercial software. The motivation has usually been a particular technical need and a lack of funds, but it has occasionally been simple curiosity or desire for the “cool” factor.

For some people, the motivation to “borrow” commercial software is more along the lines of “Screw the big companies! Make them lose money!” However noble that sentiment might be, I’m coming to realize that it’s somewhat misguided. We might not add to the company’s bank account by “borrowing” software, but we’re still using their product.

The best way to promote a company’s product is to use it. Conversely, the best way not to promote a company’s product is not to use it. And the best way not to use it is to use something else.

I’ve started adopting this philosophy. While I still have Windows XP installed on my computer (it came with it), I now have a dual-boot system with Ubuntu installed on the second disk. I no longer use Microsoft Office and have switched to OpenOffice. I’ve abandoned Photoshop for The GIMP. I’ve opted for Celtx rather than Final Draft.

I want to support these folks who are so diligently moving free software ahead by giving of their time and talents. I want to move away from the corporate giants who are trying to put a strangle-hold on us by dictating how the technology in our lives is going to work.

I want to help promote choice.

And I want to thank Asheyna for letting me rant on her blog. Let’s hope more people get the message about Free Software and Open Source. It’s worthing checking out.