T175 Links 07/21/2009

• Open Source and Social Media: Community, Collaboration, Freedom

  To most people, the term “open source” immediately conjures an image of two geeks sitting in a dark room (probably a basement) — curtains drawn, McDonald’s remains strewn across the desk, and 42 oz sodas within arms’ reach — coding away at their computers, listening to Linkin Park or a game soundtrack. People automatically associate it with endless lines of code, back-end technology, server rooms, computer science labs, and experimental (read: unsafe and buggy) technology.

  In reality, open-source software provides stable solutions, created by people and for people and used by companies of all sizes. Use Firefox? That’s open-source software. Google Chrome? It too is based on an open-source code. Ever look up a term on Wikipedia? The site is completely built on user-generated code and content. “In fact,” says Allison Randal, Program Chair of OSCON, “chances are you’re using a lot more open-source software than you know: on your computer or powering you favorite websites.”

  With the Open Source Convention (OSCON) set to take over San Jose tomorrow, we’ll provide a glimpse here of open source in layman’s terms and the potential intersection of open source and social media.

  tags: OpenSource, socialmedia, article, ReadWriteWeb, online, technology, T175

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