Mike Gerwitz

I’d just like to comment on some irony I’ve seen while attending the O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON). I’m fully aware that this conference makes no attempt to represent purely free software. However, it is still an “open source” conference. Why, then, do the vast majority of attendees bring in laptops running proprietary operating systems such as Windows and OSX, as well as use proprietary devices such as the iPhone, iPad, Blackberries, etc? There’s some slight irony in that.

During the keynotes this morning, one of the presenters (who is a part of the GNOME foundation) stated how, in the past, she would bring a laptop running Microsoft Windows into work. It would boot up and make that distinctive noise and everyone would turn to her. They would ask why she was running a proprietary OS, and she would make excuses for it. But not everyone made such excuses. She stated that it is because of those who decided to make such sacrifices – to spend hours getting things to work using free software – that free software is where it is today. She encouraged attendees to use free software themselves. Yet, they sit there typing notes in Microsoft Word. Do the attendees not understand the values of free software? Do they even understand the values of open source? I know some of them do – there are some there that have GNU stickers on their laptops, run GNU/Linux operating systems, etc. But not enough. It is astonishing and shameful.

The conference does little to encourage free software either. Yes, there are some presenters that make the distinction between free software and open source. However, there are also sessions that are essentially advertisements for proprietary solutions! For example, a vendor may have an “open source” or “community” version of their product, which they advertise as a trial. One such phrase I heard in one of the sessions was “we encourage you to at least try the community version”, or to try the community version “first”. They would then go through a list of anti-features in the “open source” version that essentially make it useless in any performance-intensive or enterprise settings, forcing users to upgrade to their “enterprise” versions. This is an excellent example of the distinction between the free software philosophy and simply making your product “open source”. In this instance, it appears to be a sales pitch. The vendor then went on to state that they have patents pending for their software. Let’s not even get me started on that. Why would you have such a session at an open source conference?!

Clearly, while many of the attendees and presenters do recognize software freedom and understand concepts that give the meaning behind the term “open”, there are many that do not. OSCON also meets the needs of business owners. I am willing to bet that the vast majority of those using proprietary devices were there for their companies. Hell, I’m there because my employer funded it – it’s an expensive conference. However, this is also a conference I would love to go to on my own. I understand the core principles behind free software. I understand the open source movement. But if your employer simply sees open source as a benefit to business and sends you there, and you are just an employee…well, of course you’re not going to care. You’re just there to see what new and exciting technologies exist to help your employer or your own business.

I wish during the tutorial sessions the first two days that I took the time to count the number of laptops and devices in each of the areas I entered in order to give an actual figure. Now that the tutorial days are over, there are much less devices. Even still, out of a handful of 20 or so laptops, I’m lucky to see a single one running a free operating system. Even the majority of the presenters used Macs. However, some of those presenters had no idea what they were doing on a Mac, leading me to believe that OSCON supplied them! That is even worse! It left a very bad impression. For those attendees that I did see at OSCON that understood and embodied the spirit of the open source movement (or even better, the free software movement), I was very pleased. For everyone else – very disappointed. I hope that they are able to take something away from those speakers that do mention free software and do explain the values of open source.

This also brings up another thought. Lack of presence from members of the Free Software Foundation. The most I saw of them was a single booth in the Expo hall. Where are the speakers? Where are the sessions? (In their defense, I understand that there were hundreds of session proposals that were unable to make it into the conference. Maybe someone tried. I’ll ask FSF directly.) There are little tags you can put on your badges, such as “Git”, “Desperate Perl Hacker”, etc. Why is there no “Free Software” one? Why isn’t Richard Stallman himself helping to spread the word of free software at such a large conference? Now, don’t get me wrong – I completely understand him not being there. If I were Stallman I’d probably have a heart attack from what I saw there (metaphorically speaking – I almost did). But that is not the point. The point is that there are plenty of people there who have been introduced to this concept – may even be new to the concept – of “open source”. They may not understand what free software is, or why it is important. But they may be interested in it. How often do you see such a large group of software enthusiasts and developers in a single location for a conference focusing on openness in software? This would have been an excellent opportunity for the Free Software Foundation to spread its values. If anything, help combat the vendors that are lacing their “open source” products with proprietary bits. Give out CDs containing free GNU/Linux distributions. Explain our core values. Ask people to join. I was very disappointed by FSF’s presence at that conference. I’ll bring that up in the appropriate channels – I just wanted to mention it publically as well.

Overall, OSCON has been an interesting experience thus far. I’m not trying to recognize it as a free software conference – it clearly isn’t, and I never expected it to be. However, it is an excellent learning experience and there are many free software projects represented there.

Oh, and a last note that just puts the icing on the cake: After the conference, I went on a walking tour of Portland. The tour guide saw an iPhone and stated, “Isn’t this an open source conference? Aren’t iPhones kind of anti-open source?” (I quoted him to the best degree I possibly could, though those may not have been his exact words.) Yeah, that’s just great. A tour guide was able to recognize that. Yet the group of OSCON attendees that were asked that question remained silent. Swell.

Tagged: Free Software, open source