RantsAndRaves

I am currently reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman for my ENGL 030 class. There are a lot of issues in here that are relevant to IST. I just finished reading one chapter which had a section entitled "Who Owns What?” This chapter talked a lot about Open Source and intellectual property and the laws that govern these subjects. We already talked about Fair Use in class. However, I think this is even more important for us. Simply, open source is the idea of one person writing a code or solution (computer program) and letting others edit it. For example, take a look at Apache. Apache is a web server program, a key piece of software for companies or individuals looking to put themselves on the World Wide Web. So how much does this important software cost? NOTHING. Anybody can download the Apache web server software for free. Apache was not created by any big company (it actually beat out IBM's version of a web server). Apache was created using open source. A few people created the original code; a few more people downloaded it, edited it, and posted their new versions. These versions were then edited by others, and so on.

Basically, I pose this question: What is more important--one person owning the rights to something so they are able to profit or allowing software to be available to all so that it may be improved by the masses? In other words, think of it this way: Would you rather buy the Encyclopedia Britannica and pay for it while getting the knowledge from a select few? Or would you rather use Wikipedia to get free information from many individuals? We are the future of information systems. If you were to create a wonderful new application, would you want your quick dollar for a good application? Or would you be willing to allow everyone to have that application in hopes that people edit it to make it a great application? In this world of music-sharing, information sharing, and open-source programming, I ask you, "Who owns what?"