Original Advogato Article (2002)

garym — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 17:59:09 -0500

Barnraising your IT

Posted 16 May 2002 at 16:18 UTC by garym

When people buy a software product, they say they get a sense of security they say is missing from opensource and free software. Not only is this myth-information at it's worst, but it also betrays an old-world thinking that misses the point of open source software.

There's a common argument against open source software which is typified by the following quote:

... free software is sometimes not very well maintained. I buy the Eudora package from Qualcomm so I can feel justified in complaining to them when a bug needs fixing, for example, rather than using the free version.

With all due respect to the author, this Eudora story is missing the point, it's spreading un-called-for FUD, and at best betraying an "old-world" way of looking at our software ownership.

There is only we

Ok, this is advogato, so I'm preaching to the converted to some degree, but bear with me. There's a point which a lot of us need to take home from this, and one which many of those seeking to "make money from free software" seem to miss: Free software is not about selling a service, it is about a community activity, a shared commons. If some software we are using is broken, or needs work, like any commons, it is our failing, not a failing of the "vendor".

There is no "vendor" in this world, there is only "we".

That the users don't participate, that is the crime, that is the sad omission. We are so accustomed to being sold to, we don't recognize when a neighbour comes up to shake our hand.

Helping the Helpers

- Original Advogato Article (2002) - Comments

Original Advogato Article (2002)