OPEN SOURCE software is 20 years old this weekend.
At first, you might say "really, is that all?" but let's be clear on what we (and the industry) means by 'open source'.
It's not to do with copyright either. US law didn't allow software to be copyrighted until 1974, but that's still 24 years in the wilderness. Open source software still has a copyright. Somewhere. Lots of them in fact.
Open source is not free. Well, it usually is, but that's not the point. Open source means literally, that - the source code is open and editable and anyone can have it and modify it under the terms of a set licence. It's free to the end user, providing you don't profit from it yourself, and (in most cases) you contribute any changes you make back to the community.
It's a utopian dream that doesn't exist in many other industries - software by the people, for the people. But what's more amazing still is that it manages to sit alongside capitalism beautifully too - the software is free, the enterprise support will cost you. It's a wonder that the far-right hasn't singled it out as "leftie snowflake nonsense" yet.
