4 Lessons Linux Taught Me About Open Source

Understanding the Nuances of Open-Source Software

When you think about open-source software, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the cost—free. However, this is only part of the story. There's a vast ecosystem that includes selflessness, selfishness, and moral ideals. Through my experience with Linux, I've learned several key lessons about free and open-source software.

Open-Source Software Takes Many Forms

Many people view open-source software as both free of cost and having accessible source code. However, they often overlook the fact that software licenses can have political motivations. The term "open source" doesn't fully capture all these aspects. To understand this better, there are several key factors to consider.

The Difference Between Free Software and Open-Source Software

Two important terms are "free software" and "open-source software" (OSS). While there's significant overlap in their meanings, the distinction lies in their focus. Free software emphasizes the political aspects of software, while OSS focuses on the practical aspects.

To grasp the political nature of free software, you can refer to the assessment of non-free licenses. For example, the JSON license assessment from GNU highlights a specific case. This license uses the Expat license as a base but adds a clause requiring the software to be used for "Good, not Evil." This restriction conflicts with freedom 0, making the license nonfree.

OSS is fundamentally just software, but free software aligns more closely with free speech, safeguarding users' rights. Both approaches allow users to modify and distribute software as they please, but free software has a deeper philosophy.

Free and Open-Source Software Combines Both

Free and open-source software (FOSS) functions as an umbrella term that encompasses both "free software" and "open-source software." It includes the four essential software freedoms from the free software document along with the stipulations found in the open-source definition.

Source-Available Software Isn’t Free (As in Freedom)

Source-available is a distinct fourth category that may use a proprietary or dual license model. I consider it essentially open-source proprietary code. Many self-hosted developer services are released under a source-available license, which typically incorporates some form of vendor lock-in.

FOSS Developers Are Selfless

Software development requires significant effort. Most people don't realize that developing an application up to a usable state can take months of hard work. Further developing it until it's genuinely useful often requires years of hard work. It's not just about adding new features; it's also an endless game of whack-a-mole to squash bugs. This explains why the development cycle never ceases—it represents a long-term commitment requiring substantial effort.

Undertaking all this work demands dedication, but doing it for free requires exceptional passion and selflessness. Without the selfless contributions of FOSS developers, a significant portion of our economy would collapse. The infrastructure supporting banks, online stores, cloud services, websites, phones, toasters, and smartwatches all typically stands upon the shoulders of FOSS.

Big Companies Will Exploit FOSS

There are many companies that heavily rely on FOSS but give nothing in return. While that's forgivable for small companies, it's unacceptable for large, multi-billion-dollar corporations. FOSS thrives on collaboration, so such corporations should feel a strong obligation, but often they don't.

The web browser is one frequently overlooked area; large companies often depend on hundreds of small projects to maintain their corporate face on the web, yet they fail to provide even minimal sponsorship to those who consistently provide for them and the community at large.

Another concerning thing that companies sometimes do is they wear a FOSS mask and masquerade as do-gooders, projecting an ethical public image. More often than not, they're acting solely in their own interest, which typically surfaces as vendor lock-in.

Consider Android, which is built upon a core of FOSS, yet Google has a deeply entrenched proprietary moat dug around it. This system restricts users' freedom by controlling the surrounding ecosystem; it restricts what you can do with the software through vendor lock-in. That vendor lock-in is a large barrier for custom ROMs that attempt to resolve privacy issues.

Free and Open Collaboration Forms a Solid Foundation

If you have ever looked around you and marveled at how far humans have come, you may have asked how this was possible. At a high level, you might answer science and engineering, but at a more fundamental level, it was cooperation. At some point in our history, our ancestors banded together in groups, and we've been cooperating ever since.

Without collaboration, we only have competition, and we see how that plays out in the wild. The term "dog-eat-dog" describes that environment perfectly and is often used in the upper echelons of corporate society. While competition squeezes the best out of all of us, it's the solid foundation of collaboration that props the system up, no matter how you look at it.

FOSS is the modern embodiment of that collaboration, and some would say it represents the purest form. The exploitation that I covered earlier corrupts those ideals, but it does bring competition and so drives innovation. Like yin and yang, both have come to depend on each other.

I think it's important to understand the differences between the various open-source models. By understanding the differences, we can better defend what we already have. While the Linux project remains secure, other projects are declining in terms of openness, and it's never nice to see a large and useful project succumb to corporate whims.

Now more than ever, people need to become involved in FOSS, even if it's just as true advocates—we need people to carry the flag for free and open software, or we may see our software slide into something much worse.

Although I religiously sing the praises of FOSS, it's not all Kumbaya; there are some good and bad aspects about FOSS that may interest you. There are also several BSDs that are worth trying if you fancy a break from Linux.