Copyleft and cathedrals

How the counterculture is changing the way we do

business

The counterculture reinvents business

Richard Stallman Who would vote

for Kucinich and who adores Dalai Lama

Inventor of GNU and Free Software Movement

Copyleft

Copyright I give you a license to use whatever I created as long as

you obey the following terms: Don’t share Don’t show in public Pay a set price

A twist on the copyright idea: I give you a license to use my intellectual property in

whatever way you want as long as you let others do the same with the product you have created with my stuff

Open source

All software is distributed in machine readable format (binary)

Hard to reverse code When people distribute content using copyleft

licenses They use an open source philosophy as well You get access to the human readable aspect of

the program

Free software

Free as in freedom of expression, not as in free beer

Software you can modify freely There is software that is being distributed for

free, but is not “open” or “free software”

The four freedoms

The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).

The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).

The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Work philosophy of open software

Bottom up programming Release often release early, Delegate Let people mess up with your code

A thousand eyes make all bugs shallow Involve the users in the process or writing your

software Allow share and share alike (necessary

precondition)

An example: Linux

An operating system written by the many for the many

Started by an undergrad: Linus Thorvalds Built on the Internet By thousands of collaborators who changed

one little bit of code at a time

Why does Linux Matter

Up to 50% of the computers running vital applications on the net are powered by Linux

Yahoo and Google use Linux The Chinese government has adopted Linux

as its main operating system in education

Linux enables Apache

Apache Server application Gives you access to web files About 40-60% of the server market Without it the web will collapse

Browser wars

20-40% of the browers are non-Windows Firefox Opera Safari