Quoting Jim Herrmann kclug@itdepends.com:
I agree with the statement below, and is why I have a hard time understanding the appeal to the conservative person, which typically believes in hierarchy and authority. I really want to hear from Hal and Bill on what about OSS that appeals to their values. I'm listening. Trying to understand. Help me out here guys.
Going OT here, sorry. Conservative pundits in politics and media seem to talk out of both sides of their mouths. From one side of their mouths they say they are against big government, that government should stay out of people's lives, etc. While out of the other side of their mouths they are attempting to pass legislation that will outlaw abortions, gay marraige or even domestic partnerships. They support the drug war, putting hundreds of thousands of peaceable citizens behind bars for committing crimes that affect only themselves.
If they are really for smaller government and really want to stay out of people's lives, then why do they continuously foster such a privacy violating agenda?
As for your original question, I love using Free software because having the source code available makes using and supporting systems easier. In the last decade that I've been using GNU/Linux, I've had several instances where I have been able to tweak a line of code to fix a bug or find an undocumented argument that would solve a problem with quirky hardware, etc.
Due to my upbringing (most likely) and my life experiences, I also believe strongly in helping other people out. The Open Source community seems to hold this as a core value. I have turned to this group and others like it for help more times than I care to remember and most times I have actually come away with a solution.
The hacker spirit that came out of MIT and the early days of computing where ideas were openly shared among peers led to the rise of the internet as we know it. Imagine where we'd be if those early pioneers had clung tightly to their ideas and weren't working cooperatively for the common good?
We'd all be using CompuServe or AOHell.
-- Dave Hull http://insipid.com