An eWeek staff editorial affirms the need for software
independence, and points to Open Source software as a way that
corporations and individuals can achieve their software
independence.
“Open-source software, although viewed by some as risky
and uncertain, does empower users in ways that proprietary software
does not. Sure, many needs can be satisfied by good-quality,
reasonably priced proprietary software. But the absence of the
right to access and change source code and then redistribute those
changes is one of those things that some people are willing to
fight and make sacrifices for….”“lower cost and greater empowerment. Sure, there are many
flavors of open-source licenses, and they must be read
carefully—but so must conventional licenses. The open-source
process may seem chaotic to those who aren’t used to it, but so did
democracy to those used to the rule of monarchs.”