technology/7-heated-debates-free-and-open-source-software-history

Christopher Tozzi, Contributing Editor

October 21, 2017

7 Slides
Channel Futures logo in a gray background | Channel Futures

To say that the free and open source software community has faced its share of controversy is a huge understatement. Indeed, fierce debate among hackers — about both technical issues and philosophical ones — has played a pivotal role in shaping free and open source software communities over the years.

Here’s a look at some of the biggest controversies to affect projects like Unix, GNU, Linux and more.

For more on the history of free and open source software, check out Christopher Tozzi’s new book, For Fun and Profit: A History of the Free and Open Source Software Revolution.

Read more about:

AgentsMSPsVARs/SIs

About the Author

Christopher Tozzi

Christopher Tozzi

Contributing Editor

Christopher Tozzi started covering the channel for The VAR Guy on a freelance basis in 2008, with an emphasis on open source, Linux, virtualization, SDN, containers, data storage and related topics. He also teaches history at a major university in Washington, D.C. He occasionally combines these interests by writing about the history of software. His book on this topic, “For Fun and Profit: A History of the Free and Open Source Software Revolution,” is forthcoming with MIT Press.

See more from Christopher Tozzi
Free Newsletters for the Channel
Register for Your Free Newsletter Now
Subscribe

You May Also Like

Galleries
See all
Mar 24 - Mar 27, 2025
The Channel Partners Conference & Expo, co-located with MSP Summit, is the gathering place for the technology services community. Agents, VARs, MSPs, integrators and service providers will converge to share ideas and drive discussion on the topics shaping our industry.
REGISTER NOW