Open source software is more than just software...

One of the things that I like about open source software, and why I enjoy using it, is that I can select the level of engagement I've with each piece of software I use.

I can just be an user on some, and with various levels of commitment on others. Those commitments can range from bug reporting, contributing money to keep the project going or some code. Being able to do this is important for me, since it allows me to better support the projects I like in the way is more convenient for me.

The idea that you can be a user of any project, or a part of the community around it, is really appealing for me. Not to mention that it resonates with the way I see software development, and how it should relate to its users. At the end software is used by people, it should allow the people who use it to interact with the software, developers and other users in any way each individual can do it.

Any software can only become alive, and dynamic, when it allows its users and developers to form a community around it to share their views, to contribute what they think they should, and be part of what goes on with the project. By allowing this, the software that comes out is something much more than just software. It becomes part of the lives of those that make the community around it their own, with all that comes with it.

Open source software is more than just software, or the interaction with it by its users. It's about human interactions, and building communities and friendships with people with similar interests. Being part of an open source software project can open the door to knowing more people that share the love and passion for the things you love.

I invite you to come to the open source software world, and have a look around. You'll be surprised about how big, and easy, to find something for you.

Open source importance...

The importance of open source, both in software and hardware, is something that can't be understated. If there is to fair access to technology by anyone who needs it, it's vital that the core of each technology used can be studied and modified by any person that's interested in doing so.

The idea of having any technology locking user to a single vendor because there is no real way around it, is appalling because it means that if something happens to that vendor all investment in time and money will be lost. Not to mention all the information that was in there.

It also means that monopolies are more likely, and if the come to be they will be more easily maintained since there is no option to go to in case of abuse or bad service.

Also, people that need especial adaptations of any software or hardware, could custom make them if that version isn't provided by the original vendor for whatever reason. This can streamline processes, and could bring life saving technologies to the people who need it a lot faster.

By allowing people to get to understand, and work on, the internal workings of whatever technology they are interested in, can have other important by products. With more people working to improve current technology, products that meet particular needs can come to market a lot faster. Also, those improvements needed by a particular group of individuals could make their way a lot faster, since they could get someone to make them with more ease.

Innovations will come faster, since there'll be more people covering a lot more technology. In some cases, it'd mean that there is a bigger chance of people will be working on fields that businesses would not take. Or NGOs could take existing technologies, and adapt them for their needs if they can't get any sponsor to do so.

Having open open source technologies is vital for us. Our society is becoming ever more dependent on technology to live our daily lives, so technology's inner workings have to be available for all of us. More importantly, they have to be easy to access by those who can do something of value with them.

If this doesn't come to happen, we run the risk of having the technology on which we depend on at the hands of a few hands. As history has shown us time and time again, that's not in the best interest of the majority.

A better understanding...

It's hard for some people to understand that lack of understanding about the working of a certain process, or why it does what it does, doesn't mean that it's proof of a supernatural forces are working. It just means that there's no answer on that matter as of yet.

There always be voids on our knowledge of how the universe works, or why things are how they are. Yet our best option is no saying that it should be that way, because there is a external force that it's at work. On the contrary, is because understanding why things are, and how they work, can lead to breakthroughs that make are lives better that an answer should be looked for.

Understanding is the best tool we have to actually have a shoot at increasing our quality of life, while we protect our environment. Doing things without understanding them, is asking for trouble that can come back to bite us hard. There is a need to understand what consequences can be expected from doing, or using, any tool.

True understanding can give benefits far beyond anyone can imagine, since it gives the tools to better use what surrounds us. We'll be able to better conserve our resources, and use them more effectively.

It also can come to strengthen our bonds, since it will enable not only to connect with our surroundings. It'll help us to connect with other people, and better share with them the resources in order to achieve both parties goals.

Understanding where things are made, and from where they come from, gives us a better perspective on the impact they have. Armed with that perspective we can give them the best possible use, at the best possible time. That's why we must be receptive to new knowledge about what we use, so we can give it the best possible uses.

Having the answers to our questions, and understanding the impact of our actions, is one of the most empowering things at the personal level.

Patent wars hurt the consumer the most...

Not a day seems to pass without at least of a couple of news about someone suing someone else on patent grounds. It seems that there is almost nothing out there that doesn't have a patent on it.

Which makes me ponder how much does this affects innovation, and ultimately consumer's ability to have several options to choose from. With a higher risk of being sued, many small companies and startups might not want to take the change of getting sued out of existence and probably not bring to market products that compete with the ones of established players.

This playing it safe attitude is not good for the consumers, since it limits our choices, or to innovation that produces better products though open and direct competition for our money.

The current patent wars need to end, they are not beneficial to innovation or consumers. They are about companies, and how to protect their profit margins.

I can't really hold a straight face anymore when corporations say that the lawsuits they make are for the benefit of consumers, so they can bring the best possible products to them. Each time they fail to mention that by barring newcomers to the market, they are effectively locking the consumer to use their products.

There is a dire need of a new patent system, one that makes it easy to innovate while protecting those ideas that are worth it. Or else, the ones that are set to lose more are the consumers.

A better understanding of science...

As science advances, we gain a better understanding of the world around us. This understanding helps us not only understand our place in the universe, but it gives the opportunity to gain a better quality of life.

Yet, many don't trust science because they don't understand how science works and many misconceptions people have regarding how scientist work. People don't really understand the scientific method, much less many of the concepts that come with advanced fields.

That's why science educations is vital on our schools, so our children grow knowing how science works and have an understanding of at least the most basic scientific concepts on several fields.

In many ways, the problem is not science. The main problem is the lack of understanding of what science is, and how it works. There is a lot of misconceptions that spawn because there is no solid knowledge of science, and the terms it uses. Much less the proper usage of those terms.

When we take into account that all the technology we use comes from scientific discoveries, it becomes more important to give our children exposure to science so to start an interest on it. This with the aim to have some of them to study science, kick starting the next generation of scientist that'll take us to the next level of understanding.

But, it's important for all to have a basic understanding of science. It's vital so we all can better function on societies that are ever more integrated with the fruits of science through technology.

Ownership means total control over your devises..

As technology advances, some embrace it and try to take it to its limits. Most people just take it as is, just doing adding or changing some minor things personalizing their device.

Though the users that go deep into the inner workings of their devices are few, that doesn't give the manufactures the right to limit the ability to do so. Having the option to do so should be at least easily accessed to make any change by the user possible without trouble, or to require the intervention of the manufacturer.

Users should have full control over their devices, even if most won't take full advantage of all the possibilities it gives the user. The user should have full ownership of his devices from the moment of the purchase.

Limitations are just beneficial to the manufactures, not the users. When impose restrictions to what you can do with the devices you bought, they are in fact controlling almost every aspect of what can you can do with the devices you own.

At the end of the day, once a device is purchased the users should be the one who decides on any changes made to it and be on total control of it.

Education, science and research are investments...

I find it to be discouraging and angering that education, science, and research are areas that suffer some of the first cuts when times get though. Worse when the ones who make those cuts talk about how important these areas are for the continued development of people and communities.

Theres is a dire need to see educations, science and research not as expenditures. They are investments, we need to have them well founded so they can bear the fruits we need them to make a better world. These are pillar that make our modern world, and without them we wouldn't have the things we have now, nor we can hope to make the world we live in a better place.

Through education, we can enrich peoples lives while making better citizens. Well educated citizens are beneficial not only to the community they live in, but to themselves since they can actually do something for themselves in various ways. They are only limited by they own imaginations and capabilities, that can help them to go far in life while doing constructive things for themselves and others they come in contact with.

Science has given us all things that have improved the quality of life exponentially in the last century, and can do much more. Yet, to be able to deliver on that, science needs to be well founded to attract the minds to work on the projects that show more promise to deliver the results.

If we can't give them what they need to work, and live, we can't reasonably expect the results needed.

Last, we need to have good research facilities if we want to be able to find a way to apply what science learns. Knowledge by itself is not very useful, if it can't be applied in some way, shape, or form to solve a practical problem. But, it takes time and money to find a way to put them in use.

If that research is well founded, and correctly managed, it becomes an investment. Research is a necessary step to bring science to use in as many areas of human experience as possible. Avoiding it is a risky move, since a potentially beneficial concept can do harm if it's not properly tuned to do its best work.

Without making substantial investments on these three areas, we have more to lose than what we can imagine. Investing on education, science and research, is not only investing on the present; but in a better future too.

Science and technology are not intrinsically good or evil...

Science, and technology, should always be at service our needs and interests first. The interests of companies should come second, while governments should be limited to manage laws and regulations to make sure that the people are not being limited in a harmful way.

Science gives us a better understanding of what happens around us. With this understanding technology can produce new things that improve our lives in several ways. It also helps protect the things that make our lives, or we need to keep ourselves and what we love healthy. There should be regulations that helps to keep science on a track that helps to have a better understanding of our surroundings, giving us the knowledge to better protect what's needed while improving our lives.

Then, we can apply that knowledge to produce technology can apply to produce the devices needed in each case. Well developed technology should produce as little impact as possible, while giving the best possible results for the intended purpose it was meant for.

We need to educate people to understand that science and technology are not evil, or harmful, in themselves. Nor they are intrinsically good in themselves, all depends on how they are applied.

The issue lies on the people who do the scientific research, and those who develop the technology that use the results from the research. It comes down to the ethics that the people involved have, and they way they apply it.

In many ways, at the end it comes down to the people. Not the tools themselves.

We need the Internet to remain free and neutral...

It's hard not to see the community building that the Internet has, since it allows people come together in ways that wouldn't be possible in any other way. In some cases it gives some people access to things, like the ability to learn or communicate, that they wouldn't have in any other way.

There is a true opportunity not only to engage people at the local level, but from your state to the rest of the world. The Internet has been a mayor factor in allowing the construction of a global village, by giving the average person the chance to engage people from all around the world without having to live their respective cities or towns.

The Internet can give people a way to share with others things that would be difficult to do, like pictures or videos with people that live far away and can't afford to see frequently. Keeping in touch is much more easy, with a variety of ways to fit the level of intimacy and what is to be shared with who.

Options consist from email to video chats, all of them becoming easier to do with each passing day. Suddenly, one can share what they want with the ones intended without having to wait to see them in person or on-line.

As with any other tool, the Internet can be used in ways that are harmful. Yet, it would do a lot more harm to just shoot it down or restrain its use by everyone. This is why its control should remain with the people, with no single government, or private entity, so that it remains free and neutral.

It's in our best interest that the Internet to stay as unregulated as possible, since only this way it'll be the tool we all need to really have a smaller and safer world.

As technology advances, it actually gives the people the chance to be more self sufficient. It helps by allowing people get to more information, and people, that helps them do more by themselves or getting in contact that can help them.

It truly helps to build communities to do what's needed to solve almost any problem, in a way allowing people to have more control over their lives. Communities build this way are becoming more powerful, and self sufficient, with each passing day. In many cases, those communities can develop the tools they need to get the job done.

Not only that, communities can also interact directly with each other to get what they don't have or the help needed to solve a particular problem that it hasn't faced before.

This could lead to communities that are more self contained, and that are self governed by the individuals that conform it. Communities would be able to truly have more control on what happens within them, and how they interact with other communities. In many ways, the individual would be the one that benefits the most with a more self sufficient communities.

Mainly because in a smaller communities give the individuals to have a bigger say on what, and how, choices are made. Not only that, when it comes to enact those choices the individual has the possibility to be active in making it happen.

Technology has the potential to truly empower both communities, and individuals, in ways that couldn't be imagined in a few years ago. I just hope we can take this chance, and make the most out of it.

Two great products, ducking it out at the wrong place...

On the mobile space there the two main operating systems out there are Android and iOS. Both are great, and bring different thing to the table.

Not withstanding what many people say, the choice between the two is mainly one of taste and which one most of your friends use. Most users won't tinker with their phones much, so at the end the choice of which one the user will choose will come down to which one gives the user the best experience.

Personally, the one that cuts it's Android. No matter how much I try the iOS, I can't seem to like it or the iPhone. But, I just love the Android in every way that matters to me. There are several handsets out there that I'd love to have, the main ones being the Samsung Nexus or the Motorola Driod Razr. These two handsets are the ones that give me the user experience that I want from a smartphone.

I really believe that some people, and some companies, should let the users make their choice by themselves. Yes, there has been some very bad behavior by Apple and should stand down of their sue everyone campaign. All of this is bad for the costumer, since it distorts what's really going and that's what really confuses the costumer.

Competition should be taking place at the market place, by companies giving information and comparing the their products with others with facts. And market observes, and experts, should be helping the users to make their choice by giving fair independent criticisms and comparisons.

We have two greats products that are doing their fight at the wrong place, the court room.