Open Source is Broken
Given at FOSDEM '20.Open Source was supposed to level the playing field for creating and consuming software by reducing the monopolistic power of companies building proprietary software. But we didn’t get the kind of democratized gift economy we were expecting. Instead, we are seeing open source creating opportunities and incentives for the already privileged to create new, and exacerbate existing, injustices. To the extent that we want to use software to create a just world, we should reject the Open Source ideology, and start thinking seriously about what comes next.