Open Source Solutions to centralisation. Part 2

ldl (36)in #opensource • 7 years ago (edited)

This is part 2 to why i love Open source solutions to resolving complex and central control systems.

To follow up from part one. Open source solutions allows the original source code to be made freely available and may be redistributed and modified by anybody who deems it fit to so so. This gives us the opportunity to improve existing applications for the better and can actually promote freedom and empowerment because of the concept of "Marketplace of ideas".

Farmers around the world are becoming extremely wary of the corporate power grab taking place by companies looking to take over the food supply. Monsanto springs to mind, which controls 80% of US corn and 93% of soy production within the country. Tesco has also recently put forth a plan to purchase the largest UK whole seller causing damaging affects on the industry as a whole for years to come. Fighting back against this trend an Open Source platform called Osseed. Seeds are now more freely available to use by new breeders and if you look upon the website, it explains about their goal in more depth but to give a snippet.......

The Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) is dedicated to maintaining fair and open access to plant genetic resources worldwide in order to ensure the availability of germplasm to farmers, gardeners, breeders, and communities of this and future generations.

Journalism is another way open source solutions are helping to change this industry forever. Steemit, is a platform for users to use, exchange ideas and to read fascinating new facts and information about topics that are not within the mainstream sphere. To give an example is a fascinating post about one of the oldest civilisation to have existed in Bulgaria several thousand years ago. @nakedchef89 was he author of the article. Almost anybody can now become an open source journalist because there is no central authority to report, nor is there hidden agenda's from shareholders etc when writing. You're only mission is to provide new information that the audience themselves would appreciate helping with their betterment or to argue a opposing opinion. (note that it is not you that controls the influence of ideas but the audience through up and down-voting mechanism.)

Last but not least is one of my favourites. Open Culture is a open source website providing education and culture related information. Upon the site, millions of different pieces of art work, from various museums around the world now stuck in one place. There are also other resources located upon the site as well, free courses, audiobooks, language courses, movies. K-12 educational courses and many other resources to help you hone your skills and to empower the individual, with the use of resources located in one place reducing the time needed to scour the "Wild Web" for numerous sites.

The affects are very wide reaching when it comes to open source. Owing to the fact that nobody can essentially "own" the information and it cannot be censored as easily as a central control system. Therefore the only way to win would be through the exchange if ideas. If any idea is good enough then surely by itself it can withstand criticism and stand tall in a world full of falsehood. I believe the great Winston Churchill phrased it best......