An Extremely Short History of Personal Computers & the Significance of Open-source Software

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Anyone else see any humor in my having an obnoxiously long title for this post?

Personal computers only were really invented in 1976 with the release of the Apple I (and it was the Apple II that really made the market take off starting in 1977). The organization that incited this was the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of hobbyists in Silicon Valley in the mid-’70s who can be called responsible for bringing computing to the masses. Before this, computers were huge machines reserved for businesses or universities, and not devices that just anyone might have in the home. This group was all about sharing their designs and ideas. Even before them, the culture existed. I cannot give salient examples, but the open culture has always existed in parts of the tech world.

Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project (which led to the creation of GNU/Linux) in 1983, 2 years before Windows was first released (but after MS-DOS was around). Unix has been open-source since its creation. Linux has technically been around since 1991 when Linus Torvalds released the kernel), but Unix (specifically BSD Unix, the “free,” non-AT&T version) has been around since 1977. Unix was one of the, if not the, first powerful, free, complete operating/time-sharing system, and Linux was intended to be (and is) a compatible replacement for it, and is now even better and more capable for use by individuals for day-to-day computing.

The original code in Windows that handled the networking was taken right out of Unix. And, the modern (post-2000) Mac operating system is based upon Unix and mostly compatible with Unix and Linux software programs! Both software companies have benefitted from free operating systems in huge ways.

• See this previous post for examples of major open-source projects today.
• See the first paragraph of this previous post for more on the open-source movement.

“Harmful” Programs

With all of the hype about copyright issues and piracy, I thought I should bring up something new to compare to these issues: products of the free software movement. As a class, we have already explored this topic, but not in the same context. Previously, we analyzed the effects and significance of free software as a force that flattens our world. Now, I would like to analyze free software as a program that is potentially harmful to a specific market.

To start the comparison, I will analyze the perfect example of a copyright-infringing program: BitTorrent. BitTorrent is used by many to quickly download hundreds of song and videos at a time. Loved by the consumers of illegally downloaded files, BitTorrent is hated by the creators of said files. Those whose work is subject to illegal downloading go after the downloading community, typically using one main arguments: that people downloading their work causes a drop in their profits.

And that is where I draw my comparison between the free software movement and piracy/copyright infringement. Before free software, there was the software created by windows and mac (mostly windows when it comes to office programs). These two companies enjoyed large profits from selling their software. Then, free software, like Linux and Ubuntu, was created. It could very easily be said that the creation of free software was an action specifically against the software created by Mac and Windows, whereas the same cannot be said of BitTorrent. After all, the general population that downloads music still loves the music industry itself. Some people even pay for their music just to support the artists they like, even while knowing that they could get it for free. People who use Linux or Ubuntu certainly do not care whether or not Windows and Mac software remains on the market.

I do not want anyone to think that I believe free software should be illegal. In fact, I am trying to compare the piracy/copyright-infringement issue to something that is not illegal. The only difference between the two is that piracy/copyright-infringement has been deemed steeling, although the term should probably be redefined for our modern world.