By Paul Nijjar
Published in September 2009
On September 19th Computer Recycling is participating in an international celebration called “Software Freedom Day”. Although the name is awkward and misleading – we are neither celebrating an end to computer programs from our lives nor the triumph of our robotic overlords – we think the idea is worthy, and that there is a lot to celebrate.
To understand why, it helps to understand a little about software economics. It costs a great deal of time, effort and imagination to create a software program. However, once that program exists, there is no technological reason that prevents this software from being shared with thousands or millions of other people; copying software is incredibly cheap. The only barrier to this sharing is economic.
Because computer programs are so expensive to create, many software creators attempt to make money by putting restrictions on software copying. Such restrictions include licence keys, shiny stickers, access codes, and crippled “Home” editions of their software that cost a little less than the “Professional” varieties. This approach makes software seem scarce, so that it fits into the same economics of scarcity that governs helicopters, watermelons, haircuts and most of the other goods and services the world runs on.
Software Freedom Day celebrates a different approach to computer programs, one driven by sharing rather than scarcity. The idea is both simple and radical: instead of preventing you from copying software, software creators release their computer programs under licences that encourage you to share these programs, study them, improve them, and redistribute your changes to others. Such software is called “free” or “open source” or “liberated”, and it has changed the world. If you have ever searched Google or visited Wikipedia you have experienced it firsthand. Sometimes it hides behind the scenes delivering e-mail or running plasma TVs, and sometimes it is as visible as Firefox or OpenOffice or Ubuntu.
Although advocates of this movement loudly proclaim that this movement is about liberty and not low cost, on Software Freedom Day we also celebrate the opportunities low cost software creates. Low cost means a nonprofit in South Africa can run a computer lab full of up-to-date, legal software that is not infested with viruses and spyware. Low cost means that a systems administrator in Brazil has access to the same high-quality e-mail server software used by multinational corporations in Germany. Low cost democratizes access to software tools, letting people worldwide express their creativity and improve their computing skills.
Because open source programs can be studied and improved freely, users are encouraged to become participants – reporting problems, writing documentation, supporting their peers, and developing improvements.
Software that is modifiable can be repackaged and bundled with thousands of other programs so that it can be easily installed and explored. This flexibility puts control of computing resources back into our hands.
The people who first released their computer programs under open source licenses were taking big risks. After all the time, energy and imagination they put into their creations, they were letting them go with no promise of return. But in doing so, those people helped create a new economy – an economy of software abundance. Just as in the conventional economy, software freedom has its injustices and inefficiencies. Nobody knows what the future holds for free software, whether it will be wiped out or thrive. Although we use (and even sell!) software from the economy of scarcity at the Working Centre, we also use and appreciate open source software every day. We invite you to help us celebrate, whether on September 19 or afterwards.
