Open source - it's all about choice

There have always been people in society who help others just because they can - the cub scout leader, the charity volunteer, the community clean up group, they all contribute to making the world a better place.

The same thing happens in the world of technology. It's called the Open Source movement, and it's a growing influence on the way we all use computers.

The internet has helped shape this community and it has had nearly 30 years to mature. Its foundation was in the counter culture of the late sixties and seventies in American colleges such as MIT.

If there was a computer, then people would play around to see what was possible. If they produced something clever they would share it.

From this grew the idea that ideas should be freely available and that writing software was another form of self expression . This only grew faster as home computers became available and faster still as the internet evolved and communication of ideas and source code became easier.

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