Some people are crazy, others are running away, and open source software is both hot and cold

Recently, the topic of open source software has always occupied IT The headlines in the world ,Log4j The startling vulnerability of open source software , It has just appeared ,Fake.js The author of is also surprised to delete the library and run away ,CurL The author of fury against Apple will only open source for nothing but not contribute ,Linux My grandfather Linus And I don't know what to say Github by WINXP Come on Call.

The open source community is also an idiot 、 Madman 、 I don't know 、 The madmen gathered , But it is undeniable that open source has greatly promoted IT Industry development , In particular, it has enabled the new generation of domestic programmers to quickly integrate into the tide of information technology . At the beginning of last year, a foreign programmer released an article entitled 《 China's open source projects are destroying GitHub The list of 》 The blog of , Occupation of Chinese projects GitHub The situation of the trend list made a helpless roast , Such a hot scene is just a silhouette of the vigorous development of China's open source cause . At present, not only the projects from China occupy Github The list of , And more and more young Chinese programmers are starting to join the open source community , Currently in GitHub The global 4000 Million registered users , The number and contribution of developers from China are second , More and more domestic enterprises are playing an important role in the international cooperation of open source projects .

Open source - Western markets 、 The chivalry of the Chinese

Open source software is open source software , So from this point of view, open source software is the product of the development of the information industry to a certain stage , Because in IT When the industry was just founded , The software is provided in the form of source code , It can be said that the software at that time was open source .

And in the last century 70 The software company represented by Microsoft in the s , Only compiled binary executables are provided , Instead of providing the source code , This leads to the concept of closed source , After that, the open source industry in the true sense has been formed relative to the closed source industry .

The formation of open source concept , There is a great challenge to tradition from the beginning 、 The chivalrous spirit of fearing no power , And this is from Richard Stallman Created GNU Start talking about .GNU The official definition of is “GNU is Not Unix”, This is a very rebellious recursive definition , Because people may only see the anti Unix Closed source concept , But never find the original intention ,GNU The goal is to create a set of completely free 、 Open operating system ., To some extent ,Linux Namely GNU The product formed by the continuous promotion of the concept ,

later Richard Stallman Founded the free software foundation （Free Software Foundation ,FSF）, Its main task is to carry out GNU plan . In order to ensure GNU Software can be free “ Use 、 Copy 、 modify 、 Release ”, It's also forbidden for some people to be in GNU Software based on their own modification and release of software to add any restrictions on the free use of others , In this case... Was born GNU License terms for , And then there were others （ Not GNU） License terms , These are collectively referred to as open source license agreements . These open source agreements divide open source projects into different sects , And there are different ways of playing among the factions , So from this point of view, open source is the embodiment of Chinese chivalry .

The analogy between open source and market , From you to IT World legend Eric Raymond An epic work 《 Cathedrals and markets 》（The Cathedral and the Bazaar） Speaking of . The book says that , There are two kinds of architecture in the world ： One is the market , Open every day there , From scratch , From small to large ; And then there's the cathedral , Generations have worked hard , It will take decades to build , Put into use . When you build a new building , You can use the market model , You can also use the cathedral model . Generally speaking , The market is characterized by open construction 、 The cost is low 、 Cycle is short 、 The quality is mediocre ; The cathedral is characterized by its closed construction 、 The high cost 、 Cycle is long 、 Excellent quality .

The reason why open source software is similar to the market mode , The key is that bazaar can let more users participate in the process of software development , Improve the quality of software , To better support your services . This is also why Microsoft is gradually opening up some of its own tools , such as vs code, Microsoft doesn't need to sell vs code The benefits are , Let more people use it for free vs code, The report vs Of bug, Expand vs The function of , It's better for Microsoft's operating system Promotion of , because vs Most of the software generated is in windows Performed on , Microsoft can also use vs To promote some of their own, such as windows Azure Service for . In fact, this statement , It's Chris · Anderson 《 free : The future of business 》 Another interpretation of Google's long tail theory , Its logic kernel is based on the extremely low marginal cost to quickly accumulate users . This also shows that open source is a typical Internet industry .

Open source should not be used in vain - Reflection of the industry

Last year, a Chinese e-book manufacturer refused to open source its e-book based on Linux The source code of kernel modification , This is a clear violation of GPL The practice of open source agreement , This has triggered a great discussion on the rules of open source use at home and abroad . Of course, the emaciated open source people are not unique to China , As mentioned above Fake.js、Linux、CurL And other well-known open source software , They have also made great contributions to the cause of open source , however “ A bucket of rice is en , A liter of rice is the enemy ”, Selfless dedication is often rewarded not with praise but with abuse and criticism ,

As a result, many successful open source software founders have been frustrated and “ Heart tired ” after , They tend to become autistic , The trend is Github You can see the clue from the , As the largest open source community website in the world , stay 2020 In, users in some areas were restricted , There are different voices about the use of open source software , For example, Associate Professor Liu Li from Tsinghua University said publicly that “ China's dependence on foreign open source basic software , So that some countries can at any time by hiding the latest technology or copyright , Limit or even hinder the development of science and technology in China .”

But in reality , I don't quite agree with Mr. Liu Li , Blind plagiarism is certainly harmful , But learn from the ideas and ideas of open source software , For our country and for the whole IT Industry is very important . In the present IT Technological development changes with each passing day , Embrace open source 、 Interoperability and sharing has gradually become the consensus of the industry , under these circumstances , Get support from the open source technology community , It's very important to us , But this support is interactive , It also requires us to use open source , Respect open source rules .

Contract spirit - Sustainable development of open source

Speaking of open source protocols , I have to say GNU. Its official definition is a “GNU is Not Unix”, This is the official definition of recursion , I'll never find the meaning , We can think of it as a free software engineering project or a plan , By Richard Stallman stay 1983 year 9 month 27 Publicly initiated , Its goal is to create a complete set of freedoms 、 Open operating system .1985 year 10 month Richard Stallman Founded the free software foundation （Free Software Foundation ,FSF）, Its main task is to carry out GNU plan . In order to ensure GNU Software can be free “ Use 、 Copy 、 modify 、 Release ”, It's also forbidden for some people to be in GNU Software based on their own modification and release of software to add any restrictions on the free use of others , In this case... Was born GNU License terms for , And then there were others （ Not GNU） License terms , Collectively referred to as the open source license agreement .

Here are some of the most common open source protocols ：

GPL （GNU General Public License） ：GNU General public license agreement

LGPL （GNU Lesser General Public License） ：GNU Broad general public license agreement

BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) : Berkeley software distribution license agreement

MIT （Massachusetts Institute of Technology）：MIT The name of the license agreement comes from MIT , also called “X license agreement ” or “X11 license agreement ”

Apache （Apache License） ：Apache license agreement

MPL （Mozilla Public License） ：Mozilla Public License Agreement

If you classify the decision points for specific uses of open source protocols , Then the map is as follows ：

Here I will tell you , China's science and technology companies do not pay enough attention to intellectual property , Especially for open source rules 、 The importance of open source protocols is not enough , This really deserves our reflection .

For example, the earliest open source operating system project in China MiniGUI Also released a list of exceptions ,https://www.fmsoft.cn/exception-list For some non-compliance GPL The company of the agreement made an exception . Although these have not yet upgraded to our country IT The conflict between the world and the open source community , But I still want to appeal to the industry , In the use of open source software, we must pay attention to abide by the relevant rules .

Speaking of a healthy open source model , Among domestic manufacturers RT-Thread Is one of the best , Their model is that the code is completely open source , Ruisaide, established by the founder, provides technical support behind the scenes , And charge for technical services , Last year, RSD released a hybrid microkernel and supported MMU The Internet of things operating system -RT Smart, Due to the operating conditions of Internet of things terminals , Its operating system requires high performance , But the volume should not be too large, generally no more than 10M, It can be said that the volume requirement is almost Windows、 Android and other current mainstream operating systems are excluded , So from this point of view , This will be a major opportunity for our independent Internet of things operating system ; On the other hand, the function of the Internet of things operating system cannot be too simple , This is another challenge for the autonomous IOT operating system , and RT Smart In performance 、 It is a model of perfect balance in volume and function ,RT Smart The key release of also proves that the code is open source , The mode of service charge is the healthy development mode of open source .

If you want to ask what was China's largest cultural output two years ago , Then this may be Liu's science fiction , It may also be Mo Yan's novel ; And if you want to ask this question now , The answer is open source . Ten years ago, it spread in the industry “ The code is engulfing the world ” Point of view , Now? IT It is generally accepted that “ Everything in the Internet world comes from open source ”, Here I appeal to the industry again , Follow the open source rules , Make good use of open source software .