Is there really such thing as an "open source movement"? Some people use that term. But I think it's baloney. There is no "movement". There is just "open source".
What are people thinking when they refer to the "open source movement"? Here's what I think. Those who refer to an "open source movement" mean a belief system that says software should be free. If you are a user, and you buy into the open source movement -- that is, you adopt the open source belief system --, then you ought to be very happy, because you aren't going to pay for software. If you are a developer and you buy into the open source movement, then you are going to start giving away all the source code to the software you write. If you are a software company and you buy into the open source movement, then you are going to offer all your software for free and you are going to give away the source code for free. Since this is a "movement", it's catching on: developers are giving away the source code they write and companies increasingly are giving away their software products. Right?
It's all baloney. Open source is nothing more than a bunch of software developers who like to write code as a creative outlet and who share the code they write with others.
Posted by Doug Sauder at July 21, 2002 07:25 AM