“In theory, free and open source software (FOSS) should have a
direct appeal to those concerned with ethics and social issues.
Yet, in practice, it rarely does. Although the FOSS and activist
communities frequently share ethical positions and social interests
ranging from freedom of expression and cooperative organization to
consumer rights, privacy, and anti-trust legislation, mostly the
two groups remain unaware of each other. Why?“Those comfortable in both the FOSS and activist arenas see
several problems that must be overcome before activists can accept
FOSS. These problems include the FOSS community’s insularity, its
failure to deliver the right message to the activists’
technophobia, and a failure to make connections. In the end, it may
be only by seeing the values that underlie both FOSS and other
causes that any connection can be made…”
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