Open source is a cow

Open source and open content are like a prize village cow, as their strength comes from collective ownership, but someone will always want to own them exclusively.

An economist once visited a village during its annual fair where a handsome cow was offered as a prize in a competition of guessing its weight. No one won it, but on examination of the entries, the economist found the average of the weights put forward came close to the true weight of the cow.

The moral is that common wisdom is often closer to the truth than the lonely efforts of an individual and that collective effort can be a great solver of problems.

This story is one the open source and open content communities should appreciate. They have proved that collective effort has helped them produce an operating system that is resilient and adaptable, and that the free distribution of content allows them to reach a far greater audience and brings people closer together.

Proprietary software and content, on the other hand, impose a tax burden in the form of licence and copyright fees, and are not flexible enough to handle changes brought on by an ever faster moving world. They are still mired in the industrial age model of factory-produced goods.

Open source and open content are difficult to manage, not just for organisations, but for ordinary people too. Open systems burden them with either adapting a program for their own use, or trying to make sense of information that may not be totally accurate or reliable.

The lack of documentation and formal training facilities on open source programs, and the fact that the greatest proponents are very tech-savvy people, does not make it easy for a beginner to start.

Proprietary software caters for those, most notably organisations, who like the certainty of planning. They are happy to dole out huge wads of cash to lessen the fears of uncertainty and doubt so they can go to their stakeholders and say: "We bought from a trusted supplier."

Technology in all its forms is a tool of mankind and as humans adapt to ever-changing circumstances, so does technology.

Paul Vecchiatto, Cape Town correspondent

Last week, I had the experience of going directly from the Digital Freedom Exposition, at the University of the Western Cape, to a function hosted by some people from Microsoft, at a swank Cape Town hotel. The difference between the two was like toasted sandwiches to canap'es.

While the first event emphasised the communal efforts of freeing the world from domination by unscrupulous vendors, the second claimed to be creating wealth for partners, clients and the country, as theirs is an economic activity, while, at the same time, developing skills.

Despite the relative merits and demerits of their products and models, both sides seem to agree that some kind of hybrid model would eventually appear, allowing for both to co-exist. However, I don't believe that will be the case.

Technology in all its forms is a tool of mankind and as humans adapt to ever-changing circumstances, so does technology. Every civilisation and every race ever to have trod this planet is proof of that. So technology in the ICT sense will change and adapt too, until an optimum system has been found for current circumstances and then we will move on to the next problem and obstacle.

The "Afrikander" cattle were originally a combination of two species, one from Europe and the other indigenous. The idea was to create cattle that would produce more milk and meat, while being resistant to the diseases and dangers of the African veldt.

We ended up with a new breed of cattle, not a hybrid cow, and this new breed made rich men out of many farmers.

Similarly, we are seeing the evolution of a new post-industrial software production method that has to meet the wealth creation expectations set by its predecessor. Simple acknowledgement of our achievements is sometimes not enough reward. Often the efforts of an individual to spur on the creativity of the collective are necessary.

I have no idea what the new model of software production or wealth generation will look like. However, it will be far different from what is being proposed in the current raging debate, but it will be right and it will allow us to move to the next big thing. And that is just plain old common sense.