0:00
12:11
12:11

The Story of Open Source

Tech

Thank you to PostHog for sponsoring this video. Check them out at https://codesource.io/PostHog This is the Untold Story of Open Source, In the early 1980s at MIT, excitement filled the air. A new laser printer had just arrived—a sleek machine that promised faster, better printing. But soon, frustration took over. The printer kept jamming, halting work and wasting time. One of the programmers, Richard Stallman, decided enough was enough. He wanted the printer to send an alert when it jammed—a simple fix for a persistent problem. When he tried to access the printer's software, he hit a wall. The company had locked the code away. He couldn't get to it. This wasn't just about a faulty printer. For Stallman, it was a sign that the culture of sharing and collaboration was under threat. The tools he needed were being kept from him, and the open exchange of ideas was being stifled. 00:00 Prologue 01:03 Chapter 1: Origins of Open Source 03:31 Sponsor: Sponsor Ad 04:04 Chapter 1: Origins of Open Source 06:00 Chapter 2: Ownership and Open Source 06:30 Chapter 3: The Battle for Control 08:09 Chapter 4: Dark Truth: The Open-Source Dilemma 09:45 Chapter 5: The Challenge of Half-Baked Open-Source Software 11:07 Chapter 6: The Legacy and the Future

ADVERTISEMENT

Comments 44

Sign in to join the conversation

Sign in
M
marie_austin 4 months ago

The issue with open source is the same problem with nearly everything else at this point. Capitalists coming in, exploiting it as much as possible in order to extract profit (that they don't deserve), and then destroying it the process. On its own, OSS is an objectively great thing. It makes the critiques and "exposés" I've been frequently encpuntering online as of late, pretty annoying. I've regularly seen people assert that OSS itself is inherently problematic on its own. That the very idea of making software free and open for anyone to do with what they want is not at all viable. People will blame everything and everyone *except* those who are actually responsible for the problems we're seeing.

J
joe_hammond 4 months, 2 weeks ago

As a layman, not in the coding field, i respect you guys, I watched this video because I heard that Anki (flashcard app) won't be open source anymore or something, I wanted an idea about its implications going forward. Didn't expect how open source just means free but with extra steps. I used the app by using the web version, it has a sync feature which I greatly use up till today to pass my university courses, I always took this free but essential feature for granted, and I guess with the app not being open source anymore, the sync won't be free. Thanks for the video.

W
wandamyst1 5 months, 2 weeks ago

I once shared my source code and they stole my whole project. So yeah it's cool to share but now days who you share with.

diego_almeida
diego_almeida 6 months, 3 weeks ago

in my humble opinion the linux world should unit there efforts around less number of projects - maybe 30 to 50 and produce mature products that could and should be sold for low prices (20 to 30 euros / dollars) to pay those that work full time as software developers ... besides that, an insignificant low price per year could be paid (5 euros/dollars), to support the permanent maintenance / improvement of the software I understand that some work on cutting hedge projects and different directions of exploration are also needed, but if linux wants to thrive, there is the need for maturity, stable, easy to install and easy to use options that can serve a huge community of people that would like to use linux there only system and use the related applications ... as a testimonial, I can say that I could find a distro that provides a good OS and good tools for a office / business use + entertainment us, even without known much about linux ... but to go mainstream linux must focus more on providing a fully working offers without technical problems and terminal work - just an opinion obviously !!!

L
luce.antoine 7 months ago

Very important topic in my opinion 👍 I find Emily Omier and her customers in the podcast "The business of open source" seem to have a good attempt approaching the topic. The more small and medium businesses enter the field with some healthy idealism and enthusiasm, the more alternatives we have to many big players which use and participate in open source in a (on many layers) questionable way.

sarah_wallace
sarah_wallace 9 months ago

Can you please make a video on FreeBSD based operating systems! It will be greatly useful for everyone who's trying to learn the complexities of Unix and Linux!

A
ayushman.chaudry 11 months ago

ESR > RMS IYKYK

F
frédérique_weiss 11 months ago

DJI is another example, they built their business on the back of ardupilot

kristen_brooks
kristen_brooks 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Richard stallman was right, mit license just allows companies to steal free work and knowledge

J
john.jensen 11 months, 2 weeks ago

9:38 Basically OpenAI

C
cynthia_garcia 1 year, 1 month ago

I feel that Open Source has a very strong future.

M
meghana_bobal 1 year, 2 months ago

The art of shitty click baits.

R
reecehopkins473 1 year, 5 months ago

It's not General Public License, it's Gnu General Public License. Most people just call it the GPL. I think it's up to version 3 now, but some people including Linus Torvalds don't like version 3. The Linux Kernel is still licensed under version 2.

R
ross.craig 1 year, 6 months ago

Imagine whether the printer maker was more open minded... No GNU, no GPL, no Linux...

M
michelle.ortega 1 year, 6 months ago

Your AI generated hands have too many fingers. Shame that cheap AI generated content ruined an otherwise good video.

D
dalton_gentry 1 year, 6 months ago

Interesting

gerolfechoing17
gerolfechoing17 1 year, 7 months ago

Instead of licencing and patent. The usa government should invest and finance immediate manufacturing of profitable invention make it faster and rescue the country

C
colleen_woodard 1 year, 7 months ago

"Locked the source code", that's the dumbest shi I've heard in years as a dev.

micheal.turner
micheal.turner 1 year, 7 months ago

wat’s amazing is how it has helped shape the modern tech world. 2day, open source is a cornerstone of much of the internet’s infrastructure and has empowered countless developers, startups, and even large corporations to build on top of the work of others.

maanaszachariah60
maanaszachariah60 1 year, 7 months ago

future only open source 🎉