Open Source and the Digital Commons
How open-source software, Creative Commons, and the digital commons movement challenge proprietary control of knowledge.
Reclaiming the Commons
The digital commons refers to information resources that are collectively created and shared: open-source software, Wikipedia, Creative Commons-licensed content, open-access scientific research, and open data. The concept draws on the idea of the commons, shared resources available to all, applied to the digital world. Where proprietary models treat information as private property to be controlled and sold, the commons model treats it as a public good to be shared and built upon.
Open-source software is the most successful example. Linux powers the vast majority of servers, Android phones, and supercomputers. Apache and Nginx serve most of the web. Firefox, VLC, WordPress, and thousands of other open-source projects provide alternatives to proprietary software. The model works because collaboration and sharing can produce better results than proprietary development, especially when the community of contributors is large and diverse.