Advogato: Free Software in the Movies ...or, did Antitrust get it right? | Linux Today

Advogato: Free Software in the Movies …or, did Antitrust get it right?

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Jan 15, 2001

“We’ve all heard of the movie Antitrust, and some of us have
gone to see it; I went last night. There’s no doubt that, as a
movie, it’s nothing exceptional–I think the Salon review is
spot-on. But the movie is interesting thing to talk about from
another standpoint: it’s really the first big appearance of free
software as a significant plot element in mass-market
entertainment.”

So how were our ideas portrayed?

“The first thing that jumps out is the exclusive use of the term
“Open Source” instead of “free software”. In my own circle, we
generally speak of free software, but I’ve met free software
programmers who use the arguably more marketable “Open Source”;
certainly today’s media almost exclusively does.”

“My own take on this is that, in this film at least, terminology
is the least important flaw–other problems rather overshadow the
naming scheme.”

Complete
Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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