“In the Open Source community, information and ideas are
free-flowing. We keep our hands open, holding on loosely, to
paraphrase an old song, letting the seeds of knowledge spill into
the laps of others, or even allowing them to be scooped up by
intrigued passers-by. “Enjoy, have fun,” we say. “Take, and use as
you see fit, but lest you forget, there is a price….”
“The Open Source community doesn’t begrudge the concept of
sharing freely, however. It’s more a way of life, a philosophy,
instead of a way of squeaking by without pissing off the masses. We
create our best stuff, hoping that someone will like it enough to
adopt it. Leftovers simply won’t do.”
“Almost sounds too altruistic to be true. But that’s the cool
thing about the Open Source community. The first fruits of fertile
imaginations are all there for the taking. In the traditional
business model, products are almost always profit-makers, and
companies give away accompanying services to “add value” to their
wares, while still protecting proprietary structures and
implementations.”