Why I Use Open Source

This past semester, I found that one of my classes required that I use hardware whose drivers are not quite ready for prime time use on Linux. That, and the class required that my work be turned in using a proprietary format. That got me thinking about my choice to use Open Source software for much of what I do. My laptop has been running Ubuntu for several years now, and the big desktop at home uses Ubuntu and a dual boot with Windows XP, used predominantly for gaming and proprietary software. My wife’s laptop and our home server are both Ubuntu, and just about every system I build for internal use is also at least partially based on Open Source software.

However, the fact that the software is free is only a small part of my choice to use open source alternatives.

As a programmer and developer, I know how hard it is to program effectively in a vacuum flask. Working by oneself is difficult, and I also know that a small team of corporate developers are not much better. Being paid to code is like being paid to paint portraits. Sure, the result is relatively predictable, but it is built inside a box. What I am trying to say is that the corporate culture destroys part of the art of programming, and turns into into mass produced garbage.

Open Source, on the other hand, is done out of the pure love and joy of writing code. It is done with the desire to make it lean, mean, and adaptable.

Think of it like this: Get a group of artists together, hand them plans for a mural that is detailed, accurate, and restrictive, and you will get exactly what you want. Get a group of artists together, and say, “Paint a mural that has something to do with X” and you will get something that is creative, original, and fun that draws the eye and drives the imagination.

Think of the artwork you have seen in office buildings. Drab, uninspiring, and mass produced. Look at the pictures at Denny’s, and you’ll notice that, although they look cool, every single Denny’s has the same basic set.

Now, think of going to an art museum. Every painting has soul, it has flair, and it has, for lack of a better word, panache. Thisis what Open Source software looks like to me. It is unique, a piece of art.

I use Open Source to support the idea that software is art.

Please visit my main blog, Wogblog, at this link: http://aaronspringer.com This post can be found at http://aaronspringer.com/?p=4263. I will respond to comments here and at my blog: http://aaronspringer.com/?p=4263#comments