Robert Lindh's blog post over at opensource.com, make a good point arguing that open source software might need a re branding. There is no need to change the core principals of the movement, but how they are conveyed to people who are not familiar with them.
One of the biggest obstacles that keep people from embracing free software is their perception, and it only gets worse when it comes to free and open-source software. At the core of free and open source software are the user rights, so that they truly own their both their computer and software. They can do with them as they please, but that doesn't mean that others can do it as well.
It's also about people coming together to build communities around the software they use to make it better, by sharing the changes they made to it among themselves. Also, making it safer by looking for bugs and vulnerabilities in order to take them out.
Free and open source is not about people working for free, or stealing from others. It's about making the tools that people need for whatever reason, and to share them with others so that tools can benefit others. The benefit can come in many ways; from having access to the software that people may need and making the changes they need, to developers making money from their work.
Free and open source software has already proven that its quality and its security. While every software has its flaws, the communities around several examples of free and open source software projects have rallied together time and time again to prove that they can deal with them.
What it's needed, is to find a way to change the perceptions out their that stop the wide spread adoption of free and open source software. We need the find a way to convey what out story better, only then we can start bringing more people to adopt it.
We need to make it clear that free and open source software is not just for geeks, or computer guys. It can be used by everyone, for whatever purpose they want it for.
No comments:
Post a Comment