School Paper
Everything Zen

Could there possibly be anyone crazy enough to not like the word “freeâ���? Who can even think of a single negative connotation of the word? Just a few ideas that come to mind are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free items, or buy one get one free sales. Whether we are talking about your constitutional rights or free doughnuts, these things should make you smile. So why aren’t there more freedoms within our computing environments? With so many freedoms in our country, we should not be restricted with the use of the software we own.
There is a growing amount of free software supported by established open source groups. The term free software or open source software is a matter of liberty, not price. In other words, open source is more comparable to free speech than to free doughnuts. Probably the most established open source group is known as GNU; which stands for Gnu Not Unix. The GNU project was founded with the goal of putting a cooperative spirit into the computing community. Free software is made for the purpose of helping the computer community, not to make a profit. Most of the software we use, such as Windows, is proprietary software made for profit. Open source software is developed by developers and is compatible with other open source software made by other developers. With proprietary software you have no choice but to be a loyal customer to one group of developers. Open source can freely be modified to fit any need on any platform. The majority of free software is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) which is composed of four parts.
• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose
• The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits

If less restrictive licenses and community development does not interest you then hopefully the savings of open source software will. Think about how many office and home computers are in daily operation. Almost all of these computers use proprietary software and operating systems, these licensing fees can add up; especially for companies installing software across multiple systems. One of the largest businesses is the world is the United States Government which depends on millions of computers for daily tasks. There are multiple open source systems that meet federal security requirements but there is still endless debate about Government agencies adapting to open source. In summary, let’s say a business owner needs to install software on 10 different computers. With open source software the owner purchases the software once, and installs it on all 10 computers. With proprietary / commercial software, like Windows, the owner will need to buy licenses for every computer.
Not only is open source software cheaper, it has been proven time and again to be more reliable, and there are many reasons to support it. Free software has the whole community involved, from the developers to the users. Users not only report bugs, they are actually allowed to fix them. When users are able to help develop this software and publish fixes it makes a faster support system. When you purchase a license on proprietary software, you are dependent on that one developer to publish fixes and new features, leading to more costs for that company. While open source software can be updated with fixes and new features by multiple developers, not just one. It can originally be developed by one group, tweaked by another, enhanced by yet another group and finally perfected to fit the end user’s needs. The bottom line is cooperative computing is what makes the software so reliable.
As far as adaptability goes, open source software is unmatched. Chances are, if you own a cell phone, it is using open source software. If you’re on the internet web sites such as Yahoo, Amazon, Google, or CNN they all run on free open source software on their servers. Aside from how many companies find various uses for open source, another key is the ability to modify the program. Let’s say a user is in a situation where the software must be modified to meet the user’s needs - open source becomes the only option. If a user modifies non open sources software they are likely to get arrested. Modifying and even viewing commercially licensed software���s code goes against the user license and is a serious federal crime. Open source software developers promote users to modify the software to meet any need the user has, making it the most adaptable software available.
We have come a long way in the 15 years since the beginning of the GNU project and free software movement. In the early 80’s consumer computers only had proprietary software with restrictive licenses. You were not able to share software freely with other users; basically, you were bound by the many obstacles of the original developers. It has taken hundreds of programmers (some being volunteers) to get free software where it is today. But the future does not sit still; we need to realize the importance open source software has on development. Commercial licenses and proprietary software limit our abilities as computer users. Be aware of your freedoms and give a second thought before handing your freedoms and money over to big commercial companies.

School Paper
Everything Zen

Could there possibly be anyone crazy enough to not like the word “freeâ���? Who can even think of a single negative connotation of the word? Just a few ideas that come to mind are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free items, or buy one get one free sales. Whether we are talking about your constitutional rights or free doughnuts, these things should make you smile. So why aren’t there more freedoms within our computing environments? With so many freedoms in our country, we should not be restricted with the use of the software we own.
There is a growing amount of free software supported by established open source groups. The term free software or open source software is a matter of liberty, not price. In other words, open source is more comparable to free speech than to free doughnuts. Probably the most established open source group is known as GNU; which stands for Gnu Not Unix. The GNU project was founded with the goal of putting a cooperative spirit into the computing community. Free software is made for the purpose of helping the computer community, not to make a profit. Most of the software we use, such as Windows, is proprietary software made for profit. Open source software is developed by developers and is compatible with other open source software made by other developers. With proprietary software you have no choice but to be a loyal customer to one group of developers. Open source can freely be modified to fit any need on any platform. The majority of free software is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) which is composed of four parts.
• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose
• The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits

If less restrictive licenses and community development does not interest you then hopefully the savings of open source software will. Think about how many office and home computers are in daily operation. Almost all of these computers use proprietary software and operating systems, these licensing fees can add up; especially for companies installing software across multiple systems. One of the largest businesses is the world is the United States Government which depends on millions of computers for daily tasks. There are multiple open source systems that meet federal security requirements but there is still endless debate about Government agencies adapting to open source. In summary, let’s say a business owner needs to install software on 10 different computers. With open source software the owner purchases the software once, and installs it on all 10 computers. With proprietary / commercial software, like Windows, the owner will need to buy licenses for every computer.
Not only is open source software cheaper, it has been proven time and again to be more reliable, and there are many reasons to support it. Free software has the whole community involved, from the developers to the users. Users not only report bugs, they are actually allowed to fix them. When users are able to help develop this software and publish fixes it makes a faster support system. When you purchase a license on proprietary software, you are dependent on that one developer to publish fixes and new features, leading to more costs for that company. While open source software can be updated with fixes and new features by multiple developers, not just one. It can originally be developed by one group, tweaked by another, enhanced by yet another group and finally perfected to fit the end user’s needs. The bottom line is cooperative computing is what makes the software so reliable.
As far as adaptability goes, open source software is unmatched. Chances are, if you own a cell phone, it is using open source software. If you’re on the internet web sites such as Yahoo, Amazon, Google, or CNN they all run on free open source software on their servers. Aside from how many companies find various uses for open source, another key is the ability to modify the program. Let’s say a user is in a situation where the software must be modified to meet the user’s needs - open source becomes the only option. If a user modifies non open sources software they are likely to get arrested. Modifying and even viewing commercially licensed software���s code goes against the user license and is a serious federal crime. Open source software developers promote users to modify the software to meet any need the user has, making it the most adaptable software available.
We have come a long way in the 15 years since the beginning of the GNU project and free software movement. In the early 80’s consumer computers only had proprietary software with restrictive licenses. You were not able to share software freely with other users; basically, you were bound by the many obstacles of the original developers. It has taken hundreds of programmers (some being volunteers) to get free software where it is today. But the future does not sit still; we need to realize the importance open source software has on development. Commercial licenses and proprietary software limit our abilities as computer users. Be aware of your freedoms and give a second thought before handing your freedoms and money over to big commercial companies.