Our Linux Values

Computerworld - So Linux is making its mark around the globe. But is it really making a difference? Well, Microsoft has had to offer a stripped-down, lower-priced version of Windows to compete with Linux. Many governments are putting Linux (and open-source software in general) on their short list for IT acquisitions. And Linux is being customized for local needs by local companies, giving them a stake in the IT business. But there's something more going on -- something that goes beyond simple measures of business advantage. Linux is exporting our values around the world. And we need that. What values? Competition. Cooperation. And opportunity. And who are we exporting those values to? Everyone involved with Linux. But especially those who have the most technical smarts and the greatest business vision. In other words, the people who can make the biggest difference in the years to come -- wherever they may be. Does that sound too good to be true? It's not. Linux is all about competition -- competition of brain power, technical skills and experience. Got lots of money? High social status? A pretty face? None of that helps. To compete for a place in the Linux world, you need a PC, an Internet connection and a brain. Your fellow propeller-heads will judge you on your ideas, your code and your other contributions. Anyone can play. Knowing English helps. But knowing C++ or Python helps a lot more. Fractured English is forgivable as long as the code is good. It's good code that competes to be part of the Linux kernel. Good utilities that compete to be part of each Linux distribution. And good distributions that compete for users. True, Linux isn't the only thing spreading the values of competition around the globe. Soccer does that, too. But soccer is about teams competing against each other. Linux is about individual competition.
And in Linux, that competition is bound up with cooperation with every other competitor. It's not just we-all-follow-the-same-rules cooperation, either. Each competitor gets the full benefit of what every other competitor does. Nobody gets to hoard the good stuff. Everybody shares the intellectual wealth. Which feeds more competition. Which results in a better Linux. But that's not the only result of Linux's share-the-wealth approach. It also offers an opportunity for anyone clever enough to build a business around Linux. The raw material, Linux itself, is free. Finding unmet customer needs, shaping products and services to meet those needs, making it all into a business -- that's the hard part. Specialized features? Localizations? Custom applications built on top of Linux? Specialized services built around Linux? The kind of business to create depends on what customers need. But everyone in the Linux game knows the opportunities are there. Competition. Cooperation. Opportunity. They're quintessentially American business values (even though some American businessmen think they don't have any use for cooperation). But they're also cultural values -- values that can cut across nations and ethnic groups, politics and economics. It's one thing to sell the rest of the world products and services. But to really do business, we want them to share our ideas of what business is supposed to be. And we want them to have skin in the game, so they're as committed to a successful deal as we are. Those are the values carried around the globe with Linux. The values that prime the rest of the world to do business with us. Linux has no monopoly on competition, cooperation and opportunity. But it's nice to know Linux is helping spread them around. Oh, and it's an operating system, too.
Frank Hayes, Computerworld's senior news columnist, has covered IT for more than 20 years. Contact him at frank_hayes@computerworld.com.