Downside of Free Software
Market Failure
Free software isn’t free, and we’ll end up paying.
The downside of Free Software: Because it's free, the market doesn't work in the same way as for most commercial products. Some software, even the essential plumbing of the Internet on which we all depend, becomes an externality, and that makes it a problem.
What's an externality? It's a cost that you bear, or an advantage that you enjoy, that you haven't paid for. If a factory pollutes a river and the fishermen downstream find that their catch declines, that's an example of a negative externality affecting the fishermen.
The Free Software economy abounds with positive externalities, but the one that's got me thinking this month is GnuPG, the encryption software used by everyone and everything. It's fundamental to the Internet, in that Linux distros running 90-odd percent of the world's web servers use it to verify software updates. Without GnuPG, the Internet would need to come up with another way of keeping its servers up to date, which would cost money and effort. The money it saves – the trust it engenders – would be worth billions of dollars if only we could quantify it.
But, we can't count the benefits of GnuPG to the people who use it, and that means that nobody pays. That's forced the GnuPG team to start a crowdfunding campaign to raise enough money to pay for three full-time developers. It's crazy, and (after the Heartbleed SSL exploit, caused partly by underfunding of another crucial security tool) we should be worried.
Some companies, such as Red Hat, are making a massive success of Free Software. But for some projects, the market is failing. This is where a government would step in (in the case of the polluted river, with environmental protection laws). In the absence of such a supranational regulatory body for Free Software, however, it's up to us all to put our hand in our pocket and support GnuPG. Amazon, over to you.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.