A Parable
A Parable:
A man, after working hard for years, finally buys his own piece of land. Because some others let him live and work for free on their land before this, he decides to open his to whomever wants to build upon it, provided that they do not lock the fence to his land nor build buildings with locks (as that would deny others access to the land beneath it). New people grow farms and others thrive off the open-air market that they built and this pleases all.
One day, a man in a business suit approaches the land-owner. "I want to use your land," he says.
"Certainly," the land-owner says, "We only ask that you abide by these rules."
"Good," the business-suited man replies as he takes ten padlocks out of his suitcase, "The people I buy from just need me to make sure that certain others can't get into what I'll build, that's all."
This perplexes the land-owner who says, with a tilt of his head, "I can't allow that, as those who work and live here might include those 'certain others'." He gasps, "That might even include me, and who would keep me out of my own land?"
The business-suited man takes five of the ten padlocks and throws them away. "There, we can compromise."
The land-owner shakes his head. "That would still leave the land locked up."
"Are you sure," asks the business-suited man, "Do you not want more people on your land?" He throws away all but one of the locks. "This is all I ask," he says.
The land-owner shakes his head again. "That is still one more lock than I can permit. Allowing you onto this land like this would mean less people on my land."
"And here you claim that your land is free. Is it or is it not?" says the business-suited man.
"It is only free until you lock it up," the land-owner replies, "I worked to buy this land and the others here worked to make it better. If you lock us out of this land, you might as well be stealing from all of us." He points past the business-suited man. "Now I'll have to ask you to leave, at least until you learn to share."
And so the business-suited man left.
I just wrote and posted this in response to this article on Ars Technica: Can we advance open source by sacrificing software freedom? It's under the discussion section. Comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.
A man, after working hard for years, finally buys his own piece of land. Because some others let him live and work for free on their land before this, he decides to open his to whomever wants to build upon it, provided that they do not lock the fence to his land nor build buildings with locks (as that would deny others access to the land beneath it). New people grow farms and others thrive off the open-air market that they built and this pleases all.
One day, a man in a business suit approaches the land-owner. "I want to use your land," he says.
"Certainly," the land-owner says, "We only ask that you abide by these rules."
"Good," the business-suited man replies as he takes ten padlocks out of his suitcase, "The people I buy from just need me to make sure that certain others can't get into what I'll build, that's all."
This perplexes the land-owner who says, with a tilt of his head, "I can't allow that, as those who work and live here might include those 'certain others'." He gasps, "That might even include me, and who would keep me out of my own land?"
The business-suited man takes five of the ten padlocks and throws them away. "There, we can compromise."
The land-owner shakes his head. "That would still leave the land locked up."
"Are you sure," asks the business-suited man, "Do you not want more people on your land?" He throws away all but one of the locks. "This is all I ask," he says.
The land-owner shakes his head again. "That is still one more lock than I can permit. Allowing you onto this land like this would mean less people on my land."
"And here you claim that your land is free. Is it or is it not?" says the business-suited man.
"It is only free until you lock it up," the land-owner replies, "I worked to buy this land and the others here worked to make it better. If you lock us out of this land, you might as well be stealing from all of us." He points past the business-suited man. "Now I'll have to ask you to leave, at least until you learn to share."
And so the business-suited man left.
I just wrote and posted this in response to this article on Ars Technica: Can we advance open source by sacrificing software freedom? It's under the discussion section. Comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.