OpenSource Everything
Welcome to a new age of Information Sovereignty
The support and response to this has been overwhelming! Thank you to all who responded and restacked! I did my best to respond to questions in that thread and give thanks to those who are already doing the work. My apologies if I missed your comment.
I will now address some of the most common questions with a detailed introduction post to the OpenSource Everything initiative, and outline where we are going from here.
The note resonated with a huge audience, so first we need to lay some foundations.
“What is OpenSource?”
A quick search will mostly bring up results related to Software. Understandably so, as Software has a very prominent role in the OpenSource ecosystem. You use OpenSource software all the time, whether you know it or not. Recent estimates put us well over 90% of all software relying on OpenSource foundations.
In fact, the proprietary and extortive software created by the Tech Oligarchy is built ON TOP OF free and open foundations. They are using decades of work by millions of OpenSource engineers from all over the world, slapping a few shiny features on top, and making you pay for it (paywalls, badges, advertisements, and/or using or selling your data) so they can buy a yacht. All the while, OpenSource engineers often work for free, or on a limited budget.
However, OpenSource is not limited to Software. Any time you find a free recipe or set of DIY instructions, you can consider that OpenSource too. Several of my favorite OpenSource organizations are geared toward creating solutions beyond software.
One Community Global (Building Physical Communities)
Open Source Ecology (Village Construction Set)
So to put it simply, “Open Source” means free, open, editable, and shareable instructions. It means built by community for community. It means Information Sovereignty.
If you want to read more, this article from opensource.com is great. I have also previously written about OpenSource and its potential applications:
“What is the Tech Oligarchy?”
When I use that term, I am referring to the giant Tech Corporations that control so many aspects of our modern digital life. The companies listed at the top of the post are some examples, but it doesn’t stop there. I could have also included Microsoft, TikTok, Netflix… Any sufficiently large Corporation that builds on top of OpenSource foundations, but adds a proprietary layer of secrecy and control to monetize us, our time, our attention, and our data.
I also heard a new term “Appistocracy” — which seeks to replace the word “Oligarchy” and its connotations with something more specific. I’m still trying it on. Maybe it’ll stick?
"How?”
Great question. How in the world can we OpenSource EVERYTHING? Well, to clarify a little — we aren’t OpenSourcing “EVERYTHING” — just everything that is truly valuable to people and planet.
So no, we aren’t making “FaceBook” OpenSource. Though it would be pretty cool if this movement gained enough traction that it forced them to. Then we could clean up their ads and algorithms and let people stay there. I wouldn’t hold my breath for that, though.
Instead, we are highlighting existing OpenSource alternatives and then finding and filling the gaps.
This is a complicated problem, so it will have a multi-faceted solution. Here are the solutions we are contributing to.
There are already so many great OpenSource alternatives out there. We need to help raise awareness and adoption. The more people hop into these alternatives, the more resources they have to compete with the big commercial players.
This blog is shifting focus to documenting existing OpenSource alternatives that don’t require a technical background.
A few friends and I are forming the “OpenSource Everything Guild” — a DAO that will collect and distribute funds to steward projects that help fill gaps in existing OpenSource alternatives.
I am a Senior Software Engineer with over a decade of experience. I am winding down my contract work to give that experience exclusively to the OpenSource world, trusting in natural abundance and reciprocity to support my family.
What’s next?
The next article we publish will be a review of the FairPhone 4 with Murena and e/OS — along with links to other alternatives for re-claiming sovereignty over your SmartPhone. I just made the switch myself, so it is fresh on my mind.
After that, we are crowd-sourceing which alternatives you want us to explore next. We can either approach this by “Replacing [Tech Giant]” or “OpenSource [Tool].” Cast your votes! (Substack limits to 5 options, so I went with the most popular from the post. Once one is done, we’ll add another to the list and keep moving forward.)
Gratitude
Many thanks to
, our latest paid subscriber! Your support means we can devote less time to contract work, and more time to exploring, documenting, sharing, and building OpenSource solutions for all!With this recent surge of subscribers, the potential to be completely supported by this blog is a real possibility.
We’ve been working to reduce our living expenses and build towards our dreams.
We are going to continue documenting our journey here. All of our content will always be free. This is our life calling, so we’ll do it with or without support. But if you believe in the world we’re building, your support will get it built faster.
In service to God, the Regenerative Rennaisance, and the OpenSource Revolution.
I’m creating an open access video library for health (starting with physical and structural) that includes tons of assessments, exercises, treatment protocols etc. A cool thing with open source and open access is that the user needs more skills and that skill building can be (like for health) an important part of realizing whatever goal. Outsourcing health in expensive, inefficient and impersonal
Great article. I don't know how "open source" this is, but being an Instructional Designer who supports small business in course creation. (think healers, bodyworkers, herbalists, spiritual teachers, coaches) SO MANY have been convinced that Meta is the place to do course content and the subsequent "community" aspects of it, including CRM. It isn't. In fact from a Learning Management System standpoint, it is garbage, from a CRM standpoint it is even bigger garbage. So many people have zero customer data other than FB/IG followers and if that goes away tomorrow they are left with no way to run their business. So I am helping people understand there are much better alternatives out there. I have researched and used several LMS systems (designed for this type of user, not enterprise). One I found recently is Sutra and I really like the vision, what I can see about the founders, and while not quite "open" they have a free community tier, and support pay what you can options (and the ability for those with more to pay more so those with less can take the course for a low or no fee) for courses people create. Their mission is "The heart of Sutra is awareness in action
Our mission is to create a global ecosystem of relational learning spaces that invite humanity, meaningful connection, and shared understanding. We do this by providing educators with tools and resources to create powerful group experiences. We believe there has never been a greater need for presence and our aspiration is to build software that fosters mutual support and empathy through dialogue, co-creation, and learning."
Back to you and your knowledge it would be wonderful to dive into the fact that people who have businesses DO NOT need Meta to be successful.