ronnielsen1
September 18th, 2008, 02:16 PM
http://www.siliconvalley.com/opinion/ci_10470746
Woodstock. It's an apt image because the Linux community — a catch phrase for backers of the many Linux-based operating systems and the open-source applications that run on them — has a certain hippy-dippy feel to it. Instead of free love, it's about free software. The programs are designed and tweaked by volunteers who want to make the software better. And once they're finished, they give them away to all who want them.
Linux is not just a technology. It's a belief system. It's about sharing and helping one another through vast user groups. It's about increasing access to computers among the poor. (The software is free and generally can run on older, as in surplus, computers.) It's about sticking it to the man — particularly the man in Redmond responsible for Microsoft's operating systems, which command 90 percent of the market.
Woodstock. It's an apt image because the Linux community — a catch phrase for backers of the many Linux-based operating systems and the open-source applications that run on them — has a certain hippy-dippy feel to it. Instead of free love, it's about free software. The programs are designed and tweaked by volunteers who want to make the software better. And once they're finished, they give them away to all who want them.
Linux is not just a technology. It's a belief system. It's about sharing and helping one another through vast user groups. It's about increasing access to computers among the poor. (The software is free and generally can run on older, as in surplus, computers.) It's about sticking it to the man — particularly the man in Redmond responsible for Microsoft's operating systems, which command 90 percent of the market.