Open source or licensed?

The world of software is interesting, for every software need of yours there are fundamentally 2 questions. Do you need open source or licensed? For the uninitiated in this world let me spell it out. Open source means free for use by the whole world and licensed means of course paying for what you need. For every licensed software there is at least an equivalent if not better flavor of free software available. Which makes me wonder who buys licensed software at all? When all & sundry is available for free who will pay for it? The truth is unnerving. There is a huge market for licensed software! Wonder of wonders a whole world out there which is not even aware of on the house freebees available.

I am tempted to apply this logic of open source versus licensed to the world today. I believe when the universe was created the development of it was free for all. One made rules just for themselves and stuck to it. Responsibility is one of the key things in open source software. If it is free for use, one takes responsibility for its maintenance & upgradaing it too! There are no written rules but it is all a part of the game and well accepted & understood. Some smart Alec somewhere decided to create countries and divided the whole world based on the license of “language” and “culture”. The result is very well seen by all of us by the use of these so called licenses. Not only are wars being fought amongst countries but also within a single country so many fights over a mode of communication! Absurdity at its best. Can someone see beyond these licenses and realize that these are all manmade? Unfortunately more and more we are getting caught in this language division web.

Relationships are another aspect that have suffered in this licensing game. With no “mine” and “thine” earlier, people had more of a “heartificial” relationship. Off late though there is more “artificial” relating. Humans created licensed marriage alright, but never stopped looking after getting married. The result is more extra marital affairs or strangers staying under a roof just because they have a license. Well, don’t get me wrong I am not professing for extra marital affairs but just wondering why they exist in the first place. Binding / forcing is the root- cause I suppose. May be I am wrong, I hope I am!

Due to these legal bindings we have courts full of warring couples who spend prime years of their lives fighting over proving the other person wrong. Imagine a free world where people lived responsibly and did not feel the necessity to belittle the other? Thanks to all this the Television industry is thriving fueling the already agitated minds with more stories to make the mind restless & eternally doubting the intentions of people around you :)

All in all I feel like going up to the guys creating more barriers in this world and showing them the open source world. It would be as good as a road without signals or traffic police. People would drive responsibly without overtaking the other. May be I am asking too much! But also may be it is time the buck needs to stop somewhere and let it start with me...

Comments

ponns said…
The way you have related real life issues to software licensing was good and again its a great blog. I could sense that it a reflection of the current issues in the soil you live.
It would be such a great idea to have an OperSource world :-)) Even nudists believe in this same thought process.. Why should we be bound by the clothes? :P (In Mangalore Summer, even I ask the same question!! :P) Sometimes it would mean 'Asking for too much!!' :-))
Sucha said…
@Ponns..

Thanks for ur ever gracious comments..

Well it the issues are great in the soil (concrete) I live in but also do exist in other places I suppose. We are getting more educated but also more narrow minded which is an irony!
Sumi said…
First i thought its to do something with the software and slowly i moved to a very different thought. After i finish reading i am wondering when did this transformation of idea take place. Sucha its ur wonder!!! Open source world.
wat a thought! seriously firstly i felt this has sumthing to do on a techi side. since am a first time visitor to ur page, i felt its sum technical blog i reached but seriously, really appreciated ur thought!
Sucha said…
Pretham,

I expect you to gimme radical observations..and you have not failed me :)
Sucha said…
@Sumi dear..Thanks..I spared you of opensource software jargon for once and gave you a different take on it

Shruti..I write once in a while and hence may be you have not visited. Thanks!
Adisha said…
Wow... a good comparison between the two worlds. If only people would take responsibility for their own lives rather than obsess over all the Options they ahve available to them :)

Nice one ...
rohit Iyer said…
This is one of the best pieces of writing I've come across. The very thought of comparing life with "Open-Source and Licensed" is amazing!!
I particularly liked this line-->
With no “mine” and “thine” earlier, people had more of a “heartificial” relationship. Off late though there is more “artificial” relating.....
Very true..
Keep penning ya thoughts.
Cheers!
--
RoHiT
dial-a-denial.blogspot.com
K Sitaram said…
Pappu excellent piece of work. You are amazing. keep it up. Hope everyone thinks and ponders over such issue which they feel it are trivial. Keep it up
Sucha said…
Adisha & Rohit..:)

Thanks!

Hubby dear..pleasant surprise getting a comment from u! Distance does wonders sometimes!
Wernamre said…
Hi I was going through your blog and I read through

one of your "Musings"
--Open Source or Licensed
Well, When I first read your blog I was also under the same impression as one of your commenter that its about the open source and licensed softwares but
as overthrown with your second para which completely diversified.

"I believe when the universe was created the development of it was free for all."

I m sorry but I do not agree with this statement of yours
Nothing is free. Everything has a cost. Even Nature God) has its rules, the Law of Karma? So, where would this fall into? Open Source or Licensed?For every action we do there is an equal and opposite reaction as rightly said.

I really like the word "heartificial" makes a lot of
ense. But your analogy to marriage bewilders me. If marriage falls into being licensed then would not getting marriage and having a so called live-in relationship be considered open source?

"Imagine a free world where people lived responsiblyand did not feel the necessity to belittle the other?"

I possibly believe that this was existing before us. But there are rules and "licensed rules" even beyond our sphere of dimension, why does God have rules in His own space like we have different Gods for

different requirements? For instance, why isn't the curse of Lord Brahma being lift off so that people can build more of His temples on Earth? Why not freedom there?

I believe barriers are created due to lack of Love and not because the world/relationships are licensed or open source. Yes, Love does teach you to become open by loving all irrespective of the shortcomings!
Sucha said…
@Wernamre

Finally I get to deliberate a little more on this subject..Sincere thanks for your candid observations & opinions.

I really agree with the law of karma and that God also has his set of rules. My take on this is, a person who really believes in the law of karma will anyway always try to be on the right side of karma and hence act responsible..

But, over the years in a sample space how many ppl around us really think / act according to this? My major point is we humans make rules and then look at ways of surpassing them. There is a lot of dichotomy that exists in most spheres of human life..Just hoping we as a race realize this..

Thanks again for your time spent
Sathish said…
Sucha,

Excellent post. Unlike others, I expected the topic to be a non-tech one and related to real life and you made it exactly the way I expected.

I like the words "heartificial" and "Artificial". Yes, it is VERY TRUE.

I would love to live the Opensource life.

Keep writing.

Waiting for your next blog.
Sathish
Anonymous said…
ur blog is like a super star movie, i cant wait to read the next one :)

-u know its me ;)
Anonymous said…
The anonymous comment poster is none other than Naresh from collabnet ;)

Popular posts from this blog

Take care!

It could have been me..

What’s my Net worth?