Just like
the business world is trying to green wash everything single product out there,
hence the term green washing, I would say people are trying to open source
every single thing out there. I will explain why this hit me especially today
later, but first let’s look at the open source concept.
Well, the
open-source concept can be basically defined as
“a development
model [that] promotes[…] universal access via free license to a product's design or blueprint, and […]
universal redistribution of that design or blueprint” (Wiki).
Put differently, this means, especially in the software
world, that you make, design, or construct something particular software out
there, and make it available for free. There may be some restrictions placed
based on different agreed upon open source licenses, but the general idea is
the same.
Examples of open source projects include Moodle, Firefox,
MySQL, OpenOffice and more. Regardless, wherever and whenever you are using
open source software, you have to weigh the pros and cons of choosing such an
option. Yes, the software might be cheap, that is to say, in fact, at zero
cost, but the support might cost you a lot of money (for instance, support for
Linux).
These are very simple examples of open-source projects. Now
let’s return to the point that really hit me today!
I was sitting in class today, (late late late afternoon), and
we were discussing the notion of open-source. And, the idea that the design of
a car could be open-sourced freaked me out! Then I googled “open source vehicle
(OSV)” and luckily I stumbled upon http://www.osvehicle.com/. And, as it
turns out, many open-source vehicle projects/initiatives are under way!
However, what alarms me is whether or not the person(s)
behind these open source initiatives will be held liable if something goes
wrong, supposedly, when someone takes an OSV for rid?
Stay tuned for more. OSV Hybrid Engine coming this fall!
References:
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