Openness

One of the greatest things about the web is that it is open and practically free. I came into the internet when email was a really big thing. Hotmail was everything anyone could ever talk about. “Get a free email account!”. I followed my dad onto the internet through, the then free ISP, Juno. You could get online free and get a free email account along with it. It was a new found revolution. I gave out my email address, and then check my account religiously everyday. It was a very satisfying feeling to get a message instantly.

Soon thereafter I got hooked into Instant Messaging. Once again the name says it all. But I got into the art of pirating, because all the coveted software costed money. Now, I wasn’t a huge pirater, but if my friend had something then we’d share. It got to be unhealthy.

I don’t know what did it, but one day I decided I would try and find Open Source software or Freeware alternatives for all my favorite programs. Quickly did I find out that some of this software was much cleaner, faster, and better! That is one of the best things about the internet for me, that I could find some really cool free stuff. When it comes to information, information is free and widely available at sites like Wikipedia or Dictionary.com. You can freely connect with people easily as shown with MySpace and Facebook. Development wise information is widely available at places like MDC or MSDN.

It’s all of this that has allowed me to embrace the web. More specifically, it has allowed me to embrace Open Source.