Open source - it's all about choice

There have always been people in society who help others just because they can - the cub scout leader, the charity volunteer, the community clean up group, they all contribute to making the world a better place.

The same thing happens in the world of technology. It's called the Open Source movement, and it's a growing influence on the way we all use computers.

The internet has helped shape this community and it has had nearly 30 years to mature. Its foundation was in the counter culture of the late sixties and seventies in American colleges such as MIT.

If there was a computer, then people would play around to see what was possible. If they produced something clever they would share it.

From this grew the idea that ideas should be freely available and that writing software was another form of self expression . This only grew faster as home computers became available and faster still as the internet evolved and communication of ideas and source code became easier.

Throughout this period of rapid change the basic premise was that the source code of software should be available for all. Linux, the flagship operating system of the open source community, grew from an idea posted on a system called Usenet over 15 years ago by Linus Torvalds into a variety of desktop systems called distributions that cover almost any use.

To see if there is one that may meet your needs, try looking at http://distrowatch.com/

The open source revolution has now spread beyond Linux so that you can find open source solutions for most programs that you care to look for that will run on Windows.

Some of the most popular are Mozilla (an open source web browser), the Gimp (an open source alternative to Photoshop), and OpenOffice (an open source office suite).

A variety of other packages are available with just a simple Internet search. Try sourceforge for others (http://sourceforge.net).

Often starting a software project is as easy as suggesting something in a user group. Commercial companies are often envious of the manpower that open source can bring to a project. The current distributions of Linux are the combined work of hundreds of people, and often the more people you throw at a project the more clever ideas you get.

This is reflected in the way that Linux and open source can lead the field, often to the point where the big players such as Microsoft later adopt similar ideas. For example, the recent Aero interface on Windows Vista is a very similar interface to one called Compiz (www.compiz.org), which has existed for a while in Linux.

This is where some of the perceived aggression to companies like Microsoft stems. The open source community sees their ideas being taken and developed as a commercial product and no credit being given and nothing being returned.

In defense of the commercial sector if they did provide credit then they would probably under their license terms have to provide royalties, so it is not in their interest to.

But if the commercial companies gave back to the community and gave credit where it is due then they could leverage the pool of talent to develop their ideas further, and some companies have already recognised this.

Novell is now developing one of the premier versions of Linux (http://www.novell.com/Linux/) and supporting the open source community, Google (http://www.google.co.nz/intl/en/options/) is releasing free software as fast as it can develop it, and many devices now come with a version of the Linux system on-board.

The latest toy is the Asus EEE PC a tiny laptop that on release came with a cut down version of Linux. Linux can now be installed on everything from media players, mobile phones, laptops and PlayStations, often to save the cost of having to develop a new operating system for the device, or sometimes - as in the case of the PlayStation - just to see if it was possible.

One of the most socially positive areas that Linux and the open source community has been involved in is providing computing resources for disadvantaged communities across the globe. The one laptop per child project (www.laptop.org) is struggling to provide a rugged laptop that can be used in the developing world and that costs less than US$100 to all school children.

This laptop runs a version of Linux with other open source software to keep the costs of the project down. In schools, colleges, universities, health centres and communities throughout the world Linux and open source software is providing an avenue to computing through its free model and community of help sites.

Without this the prohibitive cost of commercial software licenses would mean most of these projects would not be undertaken.

In the past this kind of help was the scope of the Red Cross or Medicine Sans Frontier, now we are seeing the need for a communication infrastructure in the developing world, and charities, community groups and just the kind hearted are helping develop and maintain systems for these communities.

One complaint laid against Linux is that it will never beat the market share of operating systems such as Windows or Apple. But this is missing an important point. The developers of Linux would love to have the users of Windows - more people - more ideas, more acceptance, however whether they have 0.1 percent or 99 percent is irrelevant to them.

Imagine a world where all you were allowed to eat is one type of cake from one manufacturer, this would be boring and unhealthy. In the real world we enjoy a variety of foods, in a variety of forms all made by different people, and you can chose how healthy or unhealthy you wish to eat. The same argument exists in the world of computing.

Linux is another part of the choice that people require. If they feel they want to try it great, if not then that too is their choice. Linux can almost be a clone of Windows or as different as you require. Don't like the way the Windows system works? Download and install another. Don't like the browser? Try another. Choice and the freedom to choose are as important as the software.

This isn't to say that everything is rosy in the world of open source. Linux still has some failings and people who use it complain of incompatibilities when you share documents or files, systems that cannot talk to each other or hardware that just plain won't work. Most of this can be pinned down to the difference in attitudes between the world of open source and commercial software.

Often proprietary hardware and software does not disclose how it works, which leaves the developers trying to make it work by approximating its operation. This often leads to user frustration. However unlike Windows or Mac, if you notice something not working or working in an unexpected way, the developers or user groups are usually only an email away.

And if you get stuck there's help online for all the software that is released, all for free. There are also Linux user groups throughout the world and throughout New Zealand where you can go along for help or to learn (http://www.linux.net.nz/) and see for yourself what the people involved in this community are actually like.

The Open Source community has its fair share of Microsoft haters; but they miss the point. It is a movement to share ideas, collaborate and return something to the community. In the process they are exercising their rights to express themselves and giving people a choice, and Microsoft is part of this choice.

Ideas have a tendency to spread, and on the Internet they can spread quickly. Regardless of the rights and wrongs, free software is part of the ideals that built the Internet. The Internet was designed to survive and grow and the ideas will grow with it. Linux may or may not be right for you, but the important thing is that you have the choice and the right to try.

* Owen Payne has worked in various roles in IT for many years, is a chartered IT professional, and now works and lives in Christchurch.

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