The public perception of open-source software
New Post on freeswitch.org from Kathleen King check it out at http://ift.tt/1OsGMcz The public perception of open-source software These days “free” software seems to be a scary prospect to the general public. The association between open-source software and malicious “click here for free stuff” ads is strong and the fear of unknown “hackers” runs rampant. The old adage that “nothing good in life comes for free” has ingrained the idea that free is synonymous with scams. Why would anyone in their right mind give away a great product for free? This thought process is why most of the general public limits themselves to costly, proprietary services. The tech industry is huge and understanding it all is impossible, but buying trust isn’t the answer to guaranteed safety. There is plenty of fantastic open-source software available and it shouldn’t only be accessible to experienced, tech savvy individuals. And, as we move toward a more tech based culture, the up and coming generations can have an especially difficult time trying to explain this misconstrued conclusion to their older peers. Jim Salter from Opensource.com addressed this issue with an open letter to all parents with kids that want to use open-source software. He goes on to say free open-source software (FOSS) “is not “stolen” software. Free software licenses like the GPL and the BSD and Apache licenses allow users the ability to freely use, and developers the ability to freely develop, the software placed under those licenses. Another important thing to understand about FOSS is that it is not merely “free” in the sense of “free in every box of cereal.” Making a new copy of a piece of software literally costs nothing at all—this has made it possible for community efforts to produce world-class products in a way material goods never could be.” Helping the general public to understand the definition and motivation behind open-source will bring it out of the shadows of the industry and help it become mainstream. You can read his letter here: http://ift.tt/1UnfwRq
Ken Rice <krice@freeswitch.org> writes:
These days “free” software seems to be a scary prospect to the general public. The association between open-source software and malicious “click here for free stuff” ads is strong and the fear of unknown “hackers” runs rampant. The old adage that “nothing good in life comes for free” has ingrained the idea that free is synonymous with scams.
Open source works best when you have multiple contributors. Linux is a really good example, you have multiple companies paying developers to contribute to it. I suspect Freeswitch might be another good example. Sometimes however you end up with a very important project, with perhaps as little as only one overwhelmed developer. Everyone uses the project, everyone assumes it works, nobody actually audits the code or reviews the changes made to ensure that they are sane. The developer is rushed and doesn't have time to check his changes properly because he isn't getting any outside help. Or makes what looks like an innocent change only years later is found to be a massive security hole. A classic example of this was openssl, before a number of high profile security issues were found. The situation is much better now for openssl and forks, however I know there are important packages still in a similar situation. Sometimes these projects suddenly turn into orphaned or unmaintained projects because the developer left his company he was working at and is no longer interested in the project. So open source is good, anybody can contribute to the development; however there are certain risks that also need to be managed properly. Even more so if you are not actively involved in the community and have no idea who is developing the software you are using. -- Brian May <brian@linuxpenguins.xyz> https://linuxpenguins.xyz/brian/
Just a short comment: pretty good example most parents will understand is volunteering: parents often volunteer to take part in class' activities - in school trips (as assistants to teachers), their kids' parties, events and so on. Parents willingly donate their free time and/or skills (when they, for example, are chemists and explain children what science actually is, sometimes sparking life-long interest) but it doesn't mean that children goes astray on trips, get poisoned on science fairs or drugged and robbed on primary school parties. Or become communists. Parents donate their time and expertise to provide their community so much needed experience, skills and - probably most precious - time. Same with with FOSS and developers. Just my 3 pence ;) O. On 15 December 2015 at 00:04, Ken Rice <krice@freeswitch.org> wrote:
New Post on freeswitch.org from Kathleen King check it out at http://ift.tt/1OsGMcz The public perception of open-source software
These days “free” software seems to be a scary prospect to the general public. The association between open-source software and malicious “click here for free stuff” ads is strong and the fear of unknown “hackers” runs rampant. The old adage that “nothing good in life comes for free” has ingrained the idea that free is synonymous with scams. Why would anyone in their right mind give away a great product for free? This thought process is why most of the general public limits themselves to costly, proprietary services. The tech industry is huge and understanding it all is impossible, but buying trust isn’t the answer to guaranteed safety. There is plenty of fantastic open-source software available and it shouldn’t only be accessible to experienced, tech savvy individuals. And, as we move toward a more tech based culture, the up and coming generations can have an especially difficult time trying to explain this misconstrued conclusion to their older peers. Jim Salter <http://ift.tt/1I5ykTL> from Opensource.com <https://opensource.com/> addressed this issue with an open letter to all parents with kids that want to use open-source software. He goes on to say free open-source software (FOSS) “is not “stolen” software. Free software licenses like the GPL <http://ift.tt/13egZNC> and the BSD <http://ift.tt/1G3TBY4> and Apache <http://ift.tt/1h4jwC0> licenses allow users the ability to freely use, and developers the ability to freely develop, the software placed under those licenses. Another important thing to understand about FOSS is that it is not merely “free” in the sense of “free in every box of cereal.” Making a new copy of a piece of software literally costs nothing at all—this has made it possible for community efforts to produce world-class products in a way material goods never could be.” Helping the general public to understand the definition and motivation behind open-source will bring it out of the shadows of the industry and help it become mainstream. You can read his letter here: http://ift.tt/1UnfwRq
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participants (3)
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Brian May
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Ken Rice
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Olgierd Ziolko