Open Source
Open Source is a buzzword anyone who uses computers beyond a casual extent would’ve heard about. Its the term we use to describe software whose source code is available . You can see how your software works. If required (and if permitted by the author), you can use the code as a part of something of your own. Open source primarily represents the hacker mindset of “No problem solved twice”, when someone makes his project code open source ,he’s telling you that,“There was a problem, this is how I’ve solved it, Like the solution, use it , dont like it improve it”
Open Source is useful because it supports the incremental nature of innovation. You take one step forward, someone takes another, together we all move forward . Open source is about getting as well as giving, it is community driven and its fruits arent motivated by profit but by the good that comes out of helping eachother.
Open source started off as something about sharing code but has gone way beyond. Today even cars and datacentres are being designed collaboratively.
However
There is a very fundamental thing to realize when thinking about open source; that it is centered around the creator not the consumer. When talking about software, this creator is the developer while in the case of say a car, it is the engineer who designs the car. For most systems, there are far more people who enjoy its benefits than those involved in its creation or maintenance. We interact with most of the things in our lives as Consumers rather than creators. And in an increasingly digitized world, more and more of our previously physical interactions are entering the digital domain. As this happens, these interactions are becoming easier to store and monitor Each one of us is creating an electronic footprint that is getting larger and larger . What we’re essentially doing is creating information about ourselves, data sets that are unique to us and are our own property. Well, if it is information you created and that too about you, then you should be able to completely control how it is used and be able do whatever you want with it . This sadly is not true in many of the web applications,mostly notably Facebook. This information about yourself that you create could be used in tailoring services or creating deals that are highly specific and customised to give you exactly what you need . Such kind of deal tailoring already takes place; anyone who’s visited shopping sites will soon be bombarded with ad banners about the items he searched for . In this case the information was taken from you mostly without your permission, how about a time when you decide who gets such information.
Open Data
What we need then is a set of standards that define the data healthiness of a an online service. Just like labels on food products show us how much fat we’re putting into ourselves, we need to know how our data is being used,who has access to it, how easily can it be moved/exported . The third point about ease of exporting data is according to me very crucial to growth of new online services. Just as developers build over an open source product and build something better with it, so also do users need the ability to try newer services and allow these service to access their data and create something better with it . This would prevent users being locked into a service because their data is stuck there. We could call this movement about putting you in control of your data , ‘Open Data’, a direct analogue to Open Source but with a more far reaching impact as it affects us as consumers, the role we play most of the time.
Current Scenario
Google has done a fantastic job with regards to Open Data by allowing Google+ users to export all their data. This is in start contrast to the approach of Facebook which requires tricks for extracting the contacts of your own friends!
Hopefully many others will follow in Google’s footsteps.
