Doc is supposed to be speaking about the future of Linux, but he damn sure had a better time last night than I did. After all, he’s a former marketer and readily acknowledges he can’t turn down a marketing opportunity. That won’t make any sense unless you’re at Gnomedex or Doc makes his presentation available.
Embedded Linux is everywhere — sprinkler systems, cash registers — everywhere. Everyone uses Linux without really knowing it. If you use Google, you’re using Linux. “Big hardware companies say they have a ‘Linux Strategy’ for a reason they’d rather not talk about,” says Searls. “Too many of their technologists have already adopted it.”
Doc Searls speaking on infrastructure as the future of Linux
Doc insists that the future of Linux is infrastructure, and it’s already nearly ubiquitous. To demonstrate his point he uses the example of his trip to London and his search for free WiFi access and the warchalking phenomenon.
What Doc is talking about is infrastructure — and that is the future of Linux. “The software industry is maturing into something very much like the construction industry,” Doc says. Carrying out the metaphor, Doc says “Linux is trees and business is Paul Bunyan.” The problem is that we’re still looking for applications. The construction industry doesn’t look for lumber applications, it just uses the building material.
Certain commercial interests want to govern infrastructure. Geeks want it to govern itself. This is not a battle between people but, rather, a battle between metaphors. Right now this battle of the metaphors is between the entertainment industry and its customers. Because the entertainment industry only understands fashion and distribution, it doesn’t have a clue about infrastructure or how to use it to support business.
The smartest companies will depoliticize the open-source vs. commercial software holy war by making all their infrastructure work open and all of their commercial work closed. One of the biggest problems is that the politicians are working very hard to keep the issue politicized through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA), Digital Rights Management (DRM), and all the other acronyms designed specifically to keep us consuming content.