Saturday September 16 is Software Freedom Day, an international annual event where people from all around the globe celebrate something that many of us take for granted.
Every time you visit the internet, an incredible number of diverse programs have to work together to bring you the information that you asked for. The very existence of our information age relies on software that has been written and made available for use by anyone who wants it, free of charge, for whatever purpose they choose, together with the guarantee that they will always have access to the latest version and be able to share this information with whomever else they choose.
There are quite a few very big examples. The Internet's Domain Name Service(DNS) is the system that maps names like www.google.org to computer addresses, the email delivery program that started the whole email explosion is called Sendmail, and over 70% of all websites (including Google) use a program called Apache. All of these and more than 10,000 more pieces come bundled on CD's with the GNU/Linux operating system which will run on a wide variety of hardware, including most home personal computers and Macs. There are even versions that will run on the Apple iPod and Microsoft XBox.
Anyone, including budding software engineers and scientists, can download the code to these programs, investigate how they work, make changes and give the changes to anyone they choose without restriction.
So what does this mean to you?
If you think that you not using Open Source software, then, as mentioned above, I'm afraid you're a little mistaken. It's already all around you and it's influence will continue to grow.
The developing world is making huge use of this resource, China has already developed it's own version called 'Red Flag Linux', and Spain is using it to educate its children.
Open Source software is not dependent on the fortunes of a single company, or the economy that it operates in. It welcomes improvements and contributions from wherever they come. Business leaders can contribute by funding bounties or directly employing programmers to add the features that they need. Community organisations can get better value from their limited resources, and Governments can use and promote a more open and equitable infrastructure, benefiting the entire society.
For more information on the plans for Software Freedom Day, of if you would like organise your own event, see softwarefreedomday.org.
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