Number 278 - July 2006

Is Open Source Doomed?
by Grant Fuller, May 2006 Big Blue and Cousins
The internet is buzzing with panic over the rumour that the end is near for free Open Source computer programs. It might as well be the end of the world if we can't get free stuff from the internet. How can they do this? Who would want to stop anyone from giving us free stuff?    Some of the programs that we can get for free are truly powerful and save us a lot of money. Google gives us some great freebees like Picasa and Google Earth. Open Office is another powerful and free program from the open source community. There are many examples of programs in all areas of business and leisure that are free and, if you believe the rumours, someone wants to put a stop to it. But who? What about the companies who sell similar programs? Might they resent the competition from giving their product away? How can they beat the price?    On the other side of this question, how do people make a living giving free products away? This seems a bit self destructive.    I will answer these questions to the best of my ability. First, the rumour that Open Source was nearing the end started as an over reaction to an interview with Dave Dargo, the Chief Technical Officer of Ingres. His claim that within five years the term open source will be gone actually means that the term will be so common that it will not be an oddity, in fact, he thinks that closed source will be the oddity.    Would anyone not want Open Source to continue because it presents such a competitive disadvantage? That could be the initial reaction of some and it may not be that easy to change their way of thinking. Closed source is the way they make their living. Many others believe that the more people you have contributing to the pool of knowledge, the better it is for all. It is so easy to copy and reproduce the great ideas that go into the computer or come out of the computer, that protecting them the old fashioned way that Grandma kept her secret recipes is no	longer practical. We need a new commercial structure. One where the raw materials are available to anyone who wants to build their house from scratch.    How can we have a successful business and make a decent living if we give programs away and not at least charge for licenses? Learning many of these programs is as complex as building your house from scratch and it doesn't take long to figure out that you would be wise to hire an electrician for that specialty and a plumber and so on. The same process is at work in the world of open source. By providing the software free, it allows a small business or individual to get started. If there is some degree of success, it then becomes practical to pay someone to help maintain the business by providing some type of service. Software companies give free downloads of their programs and offer paid tech support for certain kinds of help. Many businesses fail because the start up costs are so high that there is no financial protection between opening day and the time profits are realised.    The other area of great benefit in the open source community is the one of human resources. There is this giant ladder of skill and knowledge starting at the bottom rung with newbies and going well into the clouds with experienced experts at the top. Information is passed freely and it is possible to learn as much as one desires simply by frequenting forums, asking questions and doing the necessary research. Virtues required are patience and determination. The options are always to learn to do as much as we want and if successful, we can hire someone else to help.    There is no stopping the open source community but there will be some interesting alterations in the way businesses are structured and commerce is conducted in the future. It looks like more specialists will be needed as the programs get so big that no one person can know the whole thing. I still haven't uncovered all the features in Photoshop.    Copyright c 1990-2006 by Big Blue and Cousins, The Greater Victoria Personal Computer Users' Association. www.bbc.org
Number 278 - July 2006