Expand open source reach

One of the most exciting thing in life - in my opinion - is to learn everyday. I asked a few times Philippe about the origins of the Open Source and what drawn him towards it and I was startled by his answer.

He explained to me that Open Source is about Open Knowledge. Years ago, to deal with a server, you needed to be certified in using UNIX. UNIX stations where expensive and rare to find. The documentation was expensive as well: in short knowledge was shared only by a few priviledged people. Then Linux came up and other open source projects, allowing anybody willing to learn about how to use a computer, a server and be programming to do so. Knowledge was finally easily accessible in the programming world.

I heard about another initiave yesterday while meeting with my former teacher in Operation management and learnt about another great initiative to democratize knowledge. The MIT is making available its courses online for free. For French not to be jealous, there is also access to audio record of university courses on the web. Now, those who are curious enough to learn and grow, are no longer blocked by entrance exam they pass or fail, their national origin, or their ability to fund their education: all they need is an access to the web and loads of curiosity.

We are witnessing that knowledge is shared by more and more people. Knowledge becomes accessible to whoever has the desire to learn. That's quite an exciting perspective that knowledge is no longer the priviledge of a few, isn't it?