Our business (Found Line) is an end user and benefits from software such as Linux, Apache, PHP, Zend Framework and MySQL all of which are free/open source software (FOSS). We’re a tiny (four person) service-based business and don’t contribute to FOSS nearly as much as we’d like to but try to contribute where and when we can. We recognize the importance of FOSS in both our ability to do what we do and its role in sustaining future innovations. Any software we develop for our clients we license to them under the New BSD license giving them the four essential freedoms:
- The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
- The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
- The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
We also care a great deal about open standards and the network effects that are possible when leveraging open standards. Between using a FOSS license and using open standards, we put a great deal of effort into helping our clients avoid vendor lock-in, including not being locked-in to us. We want our clients to keep coming to us because the want to, not because they have to.
That’s our Open in Vermont story. Do you have a story to tell about free/open source software, open standards, or open content licensing (Creative Commons) in Vermont? Send an email about writing a guest blog post here to info@openinvermont.com.