What Does Freedom Mean To You?

What does Freedom mean to you?

I first came to know about Open Source when I was in 9th standard in my school when I had accidentally bought a Linux for You magazine from the store. To me, it was the curiosity of Linux with drew me closer. I had heard about Linux before, only once and twice I guess. To my unknown eyes, Linux looked a command line giant, where only geeks can fit themselves in. Flipping the pages, I got to know that Linux is not just a kernel and other software utilities that make up the system. Its a software culture, a religion which is more humane that proprietary ones. Its where the ‘good people’ still exist, and the thing called sharing and caring is still exercised. Unlike the real world, people still follow manners and morals here and goodwill of the community is looked before individual profits. Fast forward four years, my first year in college and the first time I tried Linux in a computer. Today I know that Linux is powerful, extensible, fast, secure and what not. But I don’t love Linux for it. I love Linux because its good.

To you, I ask a question. What does freedom mean for you? When can you call yourselves free? From the philosophical context, here I list a few points that must exists to call yourselves “free”.

• The ability to be not under control someone
• Not under any restrictions
• The ability to make choices of your own
• To “own” yourself or what you own

Though it may seem that all the points above mean the same thing, I will explain how they differ and why, in a short while. Before that, lets have a look at what drives the Linux thing – Open Source.

Though Open Source software is also termed as free, both of them mean the same thing. The software we use in computing today is made by programmers using some kind of high-level languages. Many organisations and also individuals are after these software creation and maintenance. In most cases, the source code, i.e. the code of high level language the software is made in, is not exposed to the users for the obvious reasons,, they don’t need it. Open Source software follows a different philosophy, the code of the software is given to any one who wants it, and he/she can duplicate and modify the source code according to his her needs. This is called “freedom”, because you are free to obtain the software and do whatever you want with it according to your needs.

Open source benefits a lot to developers as it reduces a lot of work. Imagine you are making a dish, and some part of it is already ready made supplied to you. Wouldn’t it be nice then? Not only it will save your time, but also money and other headaches. And whats more better if you are able to mould the ready made ingredient according to your wish without any restrictions?

Please note that Free and Open Source software (FOSS) need not to be free of price, though mostly it is. Imagine again the Kitchen example to have a clearer view of it. You need to buy all the ingredients from the market, be it salt, pepper or chilies. However, you are free to use them as you like, and mix them to quantities you desire. No one will object on how you use it. Same is the case with FOSS software. Maybe sometimes you will have to pay to buy it, but to use it or to modify it, you are free.

Our Indian readers will understand it better. There are two terms in Hindi, one is “muft” (which means free of price) and another is “mukt” (which means free to modify and use). Here in open source, we focus on “mukt” one, though most of the time, “mukt” software can be “muft” too.

Its comes from a common sense that Open Source offers a lot of benefits for the developers and software makers. It makes the software making process faster and the software more reliable. In proprietary software, its a few individuals that make the software, but in Open Source, there is a whole community. And its a fact that more heads are better than one or few. If there is something wrong with the software, then its gets fixed by the community in a short time. A bigger community also means a better help system, as you have a lot of people to ask and seek help. This is the open source culture, where people share and care the code, and are always ready to help any person with a problem. Its more social, more helpful and more good.

Okay, now how odes Open Source benefit you, as a user, who doesn’t need to care what the code is? As stated earlier, it makes the software more reliable. Also as lot of people are behind the project, bugs and errors in the program are fixed soon and there are large communities that help you in every distress. Also, as most FOSS softwares are also free of price, it doesn’t make a hole in your pockets. It offers you a lot of freedom which proprietary software cant offer you anyday. Now to discuss freedom we have to move to our previous discussion as what does freedom mean to you. We will discuss the points that we highlighted and discuss them one after other in FOSS context.