Open Source Utopia

The Magic Spell

April 12, 2022 Mathias Bolt Lesniak Episode 2
Open Source Utopia
The Magic Spell
Show Notes Transcript

When open source happens, dead things come to life — and it's not zombies.

Watch the video version on YouTube



This episode is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Created by: Mathias Bolt Lesniak
Creative advisor: Jeffrey A. “jam” McGuire

Hi! This is Episode 2 of the Open Source Utopia Podcast. Few have ever become rich … … from making open source software. Developers are essentially giving away their product … … for free without expecting anything in return. It's also a really poor platform for vanity. Developing open source software … … is a lot of work. And I think most projects actually start out … … with someone scratching their own itch. And building something for themselves. However … Open sourcing a project is like … … casting a magic spell. Dead things come alive! No, it's not zombie software … … or Frankenstein's monster. It's more like a fairy tale. Think about Pinocchio or the Gingerbread Boy.

The story goes like this:

There are some parents who wish they had a child. Magically, their ersatz … … a wooden puppet or cookie boy, becomes alive. The child doesn't only have a life … … but also a mind of its own. The same thing happens with a … … a successful open source project. It gets a life of its own. Suddenly, there are other people around … … with thoughts about how the software should be. That might be hard to get accustomed to. But, unlike the fairy tale … … software doesn't run away.

That's because everyone is sharing a common goal:

Making the piece of software better. That is a job best done together.

Enter:

the Open Source Community … … where the roles of buyer and seller no longer apply. What kind of a marketplace is that? Hang in there for the next chapter … … and “Ultimate Freedom”.