Several shifts in the open source landscape have made its future seem somewhat less conclusive and ideal than outlooks on it in previous years. While many view these shifts as natural and logical, others consider them contradictory to the very nature of open source.
There have been many open source expansions that have occurred this year with large tech companies like IBM and Microsoft, and these have been viewed as mostly positive. But other changes have been met with much controversy. The placement of restrictions over the use of open source code in particular, has made many question the future of open source. Because with such restrictions placed on open source, can it still be considered truly open source? Is this the next phase of open source development that we are to accept and which we are to adapt? Or should open source be preserved and remain completely open?
Reasons Behind the Changes
This particular issue is shaking up the industry as it is creating a clear rift between those that are adamant at keeping open source fully open, and those that are placing restrictions around it for one reason or another.
One of the prevailing reasons for these restrictions has been monetization. The ability to monetize open source software has been the driving force for many venture capitalists and large tech companies to invest in open source software, and their support has enabled open source to flourish all the more. But on the flip side, it’s also limited the freedom around open source.
Another reason for these restrictions was made exceedingly clear with Redis Labs’ move to keep Amazon Web Services from profiting from their software. Apparently Amazon had bundled open source software into their for-pay offerings with little contribution to the open source community. Redis Labs reacted strongly against this by creating a new software license that restricted the use of their open source software.
While Redis Labs’ actions appear logical, and while limitations set around open source appear to be a small price to pay for the rewards of open source monetization, these changes still raise a lot of hard-hitting questions. Are these changes just inevitable effects of the growth of open source? Should they be accepted without question in the name of protection and “progress”? Or should we resist these changes to keep open source open?
Creating the Future by Looking at the Past
No one organization or person can really say for certain where open source will be headed at this point, but one thing is for certain: open source should remain open. The core purpose of open source being open is to allow more and rapid improvements and innovations in software development, and restrictions will simply get in the way of this.
And if there are arguments about its progress being hindered, we need only look at the past decades to see how far open source has come by remaining open. Open source will inevitably undergo more extensive changes in the future, but if progress is the goal, then these changes most certainly will not and should not involve open source being anything less than open.
Keep “Open source” OPEN
The www is the nervous system of the planet. Open source is the vehicle that allows fast growth of new nerves. But the nervous system also needs nourishment to stay alive just like we all do. So start a fund something like a superannuation fund. When you publish your open source or other project also put something in the fund later you get money back when the number of users exceeds a certain number. Government gives back tax from general revenue proportional to the number of users.
I love Open Office suite. I down loaded it on my Imac27 and it ran very we;;, until I decided to allow some up dates wherein. Apple took it off my hard drive, and will not let me run it after downloading it again. They indicate a security problem with the source. I still have it on my computer and it shows up on my tool bar, but they shut it down every time I attempt to eun it.
That is a feature, not a bug (or a conspiracy against Open Source). There is a setting in MacOS to allow software from sources other than the Apple store. Search for “allow non apple store apps on mac” and a few articles and HowTos will show up.
Doctrinaire, rigid ideological, hide bound FOSS is self defeating in this wise as it’s not being fully realistic:
The word ‘Free’ needs to clearly defined. If the business Model is not Advertiser sustained as Google that scrapes every little bit of Data, legally or not to sell. If it is not a Subscriber sustained Model, then I say again ‘Free’ must be clearly defined.
For example as, ‘Please pay if/what you can to cover increasing overhead and to allow even a small living that we might continue to innovate.’
FOSS is ‘Free’ as in Free Will, Voluntary Payment/Offering. Not Free outright IF you can see your way to afford something.
It would seem a logical and simple thing to understand, I feel. If it’s to be used in an environment that’s for profit, then a proportional amount of said profits should be attributed to the use of the software and thus another (predetermined/scalable/etc?) percentage arrived at from such and forwarded to the creators of such software. It could even have a ‘royalties’ approach where the business operational sector would be a more appropriate model. Leave the open source sofware-ing to those who do software and leave the business/profiting to those who do that. Why make each have to take on the other’s profession, thus making it more difficult and less effective for each?
In a profit-based business, there are no doubt modifications to made and challenges to be met in applying software to the specific needs of different types of for profit businesses. With profit what it is in business the lack of an entirely too omnivorous, outrageously over-priced and upwardly inflating licensing/pricing scheme of, dare I say it, Microsoft, would leave I guesstimate a more than adequate amount of funding for open source software, in-house specialists to hammer out the necessary specific mods for company-x in a timely manner and these ‘mods’ can then carry with them the necessary licensing which makes the ‘base’ open source software as intended; open-source, and yet still allow for the business to protect itself with a modified ‘gated-source’ (if you will) license covering all after-base, custom coded portions of the open source base. I may be somewhat naive on this overall subject, but being so isn’t a sound reason for outright dismissal as most interested in claiming such have their greed-driven reasons for investing in the perpetration of such beliefs and generally-accepted practices of such, and like all things must come to an end if people are to survive as the dominant and collective caretaker’s of this world and not the short-sighted, singular-minded, infrastructure-challenged status quo we all regrettably endure at present.
It’s time has come and it is yet a part, an important part, of the worldwide awakening of the peoples and citizens which these same offenders have purposefully kept in the dark, manipulated, cheated, lied to and otherwise directly and indirectly used and abused with impunity for far too long. The lines had been drawn very long ago by those who would have them for their own betterment and security against their own self-imagined would-be wrong-doers, (pronounced: all the other human beings on the planet) and as every other bad actor in the history of the planet, be it corporate or familial, it isn’t long before the mask, veil, manipulation or lie starts to slip and crack and the facts of their goings-on are exposed to the daylight the rest of humanity is enforced to live in by said bad actors, by virtue of their own vice, (nice one that, eh?) and the majority are able to clearly see the absolute inhumane horrors they have wreaked upon the planet, all manner of living creatures and even the inanimate objects that would purposefully or otherwise stand in their obsessive profit-driven way. Once awareness has begun in the individual, it then grows and spreads it’s knowledge as is the way of our life on this planet. It’s clear and easy to see that this has indeed taken place and to such a level that certain interests are now concerned enough to begin taking actions against this rapid spread and acceptance of a more equal and mutually beneficial way. The industrial revolution brought with it untold wealth and prosperity for our country (USA, no offense to others intended) and at the same time open communications and the easy ability to simply step around any efforts to deny such were not present and so nurtured many of the offending systems now in place worldwide. For those of all of us with eyes, it is clear to see; with ears clear to hear and finally, for those with voices, so very easy to say. In every area of any system that may effect their ability to maintain their stranglehold, they will and are purposefully taking action continuously to see these systems and means are held strong and firmly in place.
Simply think of a cell phone contract, the unbelievably complex and secretive nature of every aspect of it, the impossible to comprehend nature of any logical reasoning for it to be this way, the rampant use of centuries old con-man ruses in these contracts and so much more in nearly all infrastructures worldwide, laws and rights have been infected with deceit and recourse has been eliminated by simple way of this very complexity and manipulation. the technological revolution has brought with it as an inherent part of it’s very being, the ability to communicate openly, to discover nearly anything be it a good and positive experience or a frighteningly subversive and life threatening experience. On may talk to their children halfway around the entire planet as if they were sitting on the couch next to them in real time, and one may also have their entire life ripped out from under them by an assailant they never see, hear or are aware of until after the complete destruction has occurred which can be months or even years . Have you ever wondered why, this is allowed to go on? I did at first, but in having traveled outside my own country before and in thinking of all the borderlines the internet crosses without the slightest knowledge of how it would occur otherwise, the majority of us simply don’t ever think about it, or care much. Why would we. The status quo has had to move fast to acclimate all of us to the acceptance of ‘it’s just the way it is’ and they’ve spent billions and more to do so, to keep the false image and beliefs of the industrial revolution first and foremost in our reactive minds, we’ve been and are continually being conditioned to accept, ‘it’s just the way it is’ so it will remain so.
Open source software is a serious threat to the status quo, they have no way to control it, to control it’s content, to control it’s distribution. Some fear loss of profit, some loss of freedom, but there are the very select few who fear loss of control. It is my belief that human beings need each other to live, to thrive and to maintain their very humanity. it is easy to see how this is an undeniable fact if one simply takes a horribly terrifying trip back through humanities entire history. It is absolutely clear what happens when humans become disconnected from their fellow human beings and their minds are led to believe that some are better then others, have a right to ensure the superiority of one above another and in every instance of allowing these beliefs to take actions unchecked and at will, atrocities of unfathomable proportions always ensue, human beings seek to destroy and eradicate human being’s in ways most of us will never know, thankfully, but unfortunately, as this is their way. Re-write, censor, hide, abolish, persecute, vilify, discredit, fake reporting/news, manipulate, dehumanize, genocide….
I am old enough to have witnessed many changes and to wonder about their purpose and effects. I was born at a time which has allowed me this insight, many of us were. I have had quite an eventful life, typically due to my curiosity and my blind faith in humanity. Many troubles and trials I have endured, survived and some even overcome. I am somewhat obsessed with the ‘why’ of things having a mind that naturally and easily grasps how things ‘work’ . My entire employment history has a single unifying thread, repairs. Sometime only a handful of years back I started to realize we’re all hear for some reason, nothing concrete and/or definable in terms of ‘you shall – shall not’ and similar, just an intuitive mix of knowing how ‘things’ work here and a slightly heightened sense of a certain continuity of it all to relate to and realize that this is just as certainly the ‘how this works’ of us all and this planet! Through this ‘insightfulness’, which I know some are going to have fun with giving it another name (Please do, fun is great for relieving the personal trauma disassociation disorders like Complete World Domination can cause!) I have come to the conclusion that there lies a responsibility to ourselves, for ourselves, all human beings.
Those who somehow lose their way and would seek to do what so many before them have tried, partially succeeded and failed to do, they are still human beings and need our help, not hatred or violence or similar negative reactions and responses. That’s something we have to stop doing to each other, really! It’s time has come and all we need do is be human to humans, all of them, all of us. It is the simplest thing and really easy to understand. You will instantly feel better, so will the other human and you both will be better humans for it. It’s simple and that should tell you that you can trust it enough to try it and find out. As always use common sense and if your little brother or sister didn’t get very much upon arrival, well that explains why you got so much, think about it, you’ll see the continuity in it because it’s simple and easy to understand. It’s what we all are, simple and easy to understand. It’s just that simple…. and that easy to understand… Really!