Let's Share!

A reflection on Matt Mason’s chapter “Boundaries” in The Pirate’s Dilemma (2008)

Since we were very young, we’ve always been taught that sharing plays an important role in life. Whether it helps to make friends in kindergarten or contributes to a greater cause, sharing has become very natural to a great deal of people. Throughout this blog, I have discussed Web 2.0 ideas like remixing, social networking, pirating and user-generated content that all involve a component of sharing over the Web. Another opportunity to share online that has not yet been covered is open-source software.

In The Pirate’s Dilemma Matt Mason gives a really clear explanation of what open source software entails: "The idea behind open-source software is to let others copy, share, change, and redistribute your software, as long as they agree to do the same with the new software they create in the process" (147). Open-source software is essentially the rebel action against proprietary software, which is only available to people if they pay, and even then, they may only use the software and cannot copy and change it.

Based on my previous entries dealing with young people sharing personal information online, it can be said that this generation in itself is extremely open. Various media, including blogging sites like this one, have been introduced in the last twenty years that allow people with ideas to express themselves openly over the Web. The same frame of mind is behind our open-source future. “Open-source systems work like the youth cultures that dreamed them up, open environments that can infect people with the passion of those who built them and become self-perpetuating, growing sustainably and often substantially” (167).

A great deal of independent learning is involved for those who choose to explore the open-source data. Often, people who experiment with the software on their own time soon become both creators and collaborators in the field. This involvement not only benefits the individual, but also the software and essentially, the massive community of users. Due to its major role in shaping the Web 2.0 phenomena, open-source has allowed the boundaries between users and producers to dissolve significantly.

For major corporations like Microsoft and Apple, open-source software is a competitor and a threat to their proprietary enterprises. However, Mason argues that “open-source isn’t going to end free enterprise on a global scale, it’s going to make it fair (170). Is that not what Web 2.0 is supposed to be about?

Many people, including Mason, believe that the open-source mentality will dominate all types of industries. As a matter of fact, with more and more people supporting remix culture, the media is already heading in this direction. Moreover, software companies could look to the world of fashion to see successes made completely from the open-source, copyright-free industry. Like clothing, software is a utilitarian product, and it is only a matter of time before open-source is demanded by the public. Until then, innovators will continue to share, improve and redistribute open-source to draw people away from using the proprietary opponents.