Open Source Conference

I volunteered for the Open Source Conference. The conference itself cost around $500 to listen to all of the seminars. Being a volunteer though, I get to sit in on any one seminar of my choice. I listened to "Open Source Busines Model". The point the seminar raised was that although the name "open source" immidiately conjure up images of free software, the real selling point of open source software is not in their cost. Take China for example, because of the rampant and uncontrollable piracy industry there, the cost of software in most cases is not a strong point of concern. The Chinese government however, still choose Linux as their main platform of development ( See "Raising The Red Flag", Red Flag Linux ). The draw of open source is in the fact that it permits the user the freedom to modify the software to suit their own needs. Notice the key word here is "permit", since 99% of the users won't even look at the source code in most cases, let alone modifying them. Take Bittorrent for instance, how many people know it's written in Python? How many more actually tried to look at its file sharing algorithm? I know I didn't, reading the code that is. I like the car analogy that is used to describe open source. Imagine a car that has its hood wield shut, and any simple changes such as having the windshield wiper fluid refilled can only be done by Toyota. Ridiculous isn't it? However, this is the state that the software industry is in right now. Open source software simple opens up the hood of the car to the customers. Most customers will never have the need to replacing the engine or to modify the transmission, but the option is nevertheless there. This kind of freedom is the norm in all the other industries, with the software indutry being the oddball. Open source then, is simply a natural way of software development and distribution that puts the right of usage and content creation back to the user, enabling a more free exchange of information and knowlege. It prevents the formation of monopolies, and permits a more free economy to florish. It's clear that the IT software is not finished. We are at a crossroad right now. The old methods of doing things have taken us this far, with open source, we will continue to mature the industry towards a free market democracy. This is all begining to take shape right now, and people of my generation, the ones that are in university right now, will take part in it. How can one not become exciting when they hear of this? The future is bright indeed.