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08/28/2004 Archived Entry: "Happy Software Freedom Day!"

I don't often take the BBC to task, but today is an exception. Today is Software Freedom Day, a grassroots effort started months ago by a few individuals and eagerly adopted by open-source advocates around the world. But to read the BBC coverage of the occasion, you'd think it was launched by the UN.

What is it about the media that they think nothing happens without a big wheel? This is a grassroots effort, guys. A few inspired individuals conceived it, and a lot more volunteers signed up to help. (It's amazing what you can accomplish with a web page and few editorials.) Even the UN's International Open Source Network freely admits that they are merely participants, not organizers, in this event.

So don't be fooled by reports that the UN is behind this event. Although lots of organizations and corporations are jumping on the bandwagon, this is individualism at its finest, on a global scale. Happy Software Freedom Day!

brad