In his lecture Open Source: Software and Beyond..., Adam Muir (2008) asked everyone what open source software do they use. I scratched my head, not able to think of anything, until my peers started to say "Mozilla Firefox", " Linux", and "Open Office". It was then that I realised that I was using open source software almost every day, I had just taken it for granted that it was free, and don't really have the technical knowledge to contribute to it.
Just last year I interviewed singer songwriter Bobby Flynne for an university assignment, and used the open source software "Audacity" to edit the interview and cut out all of my nervous laughter and silly comments. I did not think twice about how convenient it was that there was a software application online that suited my very needs, and that I could access it with the click of a button, no charge applied.
This YouTube video introduces the watcher to many open source alternatives to commercial software:
"CNET Insider Secrets - Open Source Free Software" - stephenjudge, 2007.
Axel Bruns (2008) has said that "open source software emerged to a significant extent in response to the shortcomings in commercial software development" (p. 69), and I believe that one of the main benefits of open source software is that it can be constantly updated, without the need for new versions and revisions. With open source software, the source code is freely and openly available (Muir, 2008), which to me means that everyone can contribute to the creation of the software, if they know how to. I myself don't know how to, and limit my produsage to more simple areas such as blogging. To those people who do contribute to open source software development, thankyou, my life is much cheaper and easier due to your collaborative work.
References:
Bruns, A. (2008). Chapter 4: News Blogs and Citizen Journalism: Perpetual Collaboration in
Evaluating the News. Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to
Produsage (pp. 69-99). New York: Peter Lang. Retrieved May, 2008, from Quensland University of Technology, Course Materials Database.
Muir, A. (2008). Open Source: Software and Beyond... Retrieved May 14, 2008, from Queensland University of Technology Blackboard: http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_29175_1
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This topic of Open Source Software intrigued me also. I too had the same reaction to Adam's lecture and no I hadn't done my readings which is probably what left me completely confused for most of the time but once I understood exactly what it was, I became intrigued. Somehow I had been regularly using free, consumer created software without knowing it for so long. Of all things 'Mozilla Firefox' got me the most- the number of times I had taken that software for granted and it had saved me from the failing internet explorer when I was overseas and needed to contact home! What interests me the most regarding open source software however, is the fact that it has been produced by volunteers who merely want their software to work better and have shared this with everyone also. Without the hard work of such dedicated people who clearly love experimenting with technology, we would all be left to our own devices to somehow battle the mighty Microsoft, and who knows how much money we would be left out of pocket after a single dance with the billion dollar devil. So I second your thankyous to hard working software loving citizens who save uni students like myself from technology trouble every time an assignment is due!
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