On a recent article on Forbes, technology journalist Adrian Bridgwater pointed out what the term “free” truly means when it comes to open source software. “Free” here does not mean a lack of monetary value. It means that users have the liberty to run, change, distribute and copy the software as they wish. It is not like “free beer”; it’s more like “free speech”. The true value of free software then, lies not on any price but in the liberty; in the way open source software can continuously develop through the unrestrained contributions of the community.
The Value of Freedom
It’s important for us to not only make this distinction, but also realize how valuable this type of freedom is. By making software free, it is free to constantly improve – something that many non-free software are unable to do or at most, are unable to do at the same pace.
This freedom also means users are liberated from licensing, functionality and other such concerns, which in turn enables them to freely innovate and share these innovations.
And although users don’t have to shell out to be able to share, use and improve open source software, they “pay” in other ways. User feedback, documentation updates and new codes are all user contributions that help improve the software and ultimately help increase software adoption.
Benefits for the Software Developer
But freedom does not only produce value for users or increase the value of software. There are also things that developers can gain from the freedom of open source. The development of the open source community where they can continue to thrive, share and learn is one. Another is credibility – earning the trust of collaborators and users of the software. Users know through the freedom that’s been allowed to develop and change the software that they can rely on it for their own purposes, and on the developers that created them.
Freedom is Faith in Humanity
It may seem like a long shot to connect liberated access to software as something that restores faith in humanity, but think about it for a second. With the way open source works, it’s not really a business as much as it is a system. It’s technology with very positive human ideals as the driving force behind it: the pursuit of constant improvement, a sense of community, sharing and helping one another. In that sense, it is a system that reflects some of the best qualities of humanity. And no matter how complex and advanced open source software will become, it will always reflect the best of us as long as it remains free.
SourceForge and Open Source
SourceForge is committed to being the premier trusted destination for free open source software. A few weeks ago, we eliminated the DevShare program, and going forward we will be rolling out additional improvements to SourceForge to improve transparency for both users and developers. Stay tuned.