Having been a loyal and avid user of Internet Explorer for most of computer driven life, using the free software format of Mozilla Firefox was a different experience. Axel Bruns states that 'few users of computer software, few users of the Web are likely to be even remotely aware of the extent to which their experience of computer-mediated communication is made possible by open source software technologies' (2008, 39). A notion that i totally agree with, as i had not realised the scope of open source software and the possibilities that it entails.
The ability to only have one window open but have 6 or 7 different tabs astounded me, it may seem funny to some, but as a new user of the open source software of Firefox it was all new to me and the potential of open source software.
Furthermore, 'the Firefox Web browser, which now commands a small but significant portion of its market (at present, it holds upwards of 15% of the browser market, making a notable impression on the formerly overwhelming market dominance of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer)' (2008, 39); further displaying the fact that more and more people are realising the innovativeness of Firefox.
Spending a week using Firefox instead of my trusty old friend Internet Explorer, I found that Firefox is somewhat more reliable than Internet Explorer. It does have its downfalls, however, when having a numerous amount of tabs open; caution should be taken when closing down individual tabs as I found one day as i accidentally closed down the whole program, for instance, closing down sites that had taken a laborious time to find and would have to find again.
This is probably an amateur mistake or an error a computer illerate person would make. Although, I am neither computer illerate or an amateur at navigating my way through the Net, it provides a refreshing insight into how technology is changing so rapidly in front of our eyes that even the most skillful of Net surfers can be thrown by the ever changing technology of the Internet.
Bruns mentions in Open Source Software Development: Probabilistic Eyeballs that 'open source development...has played a crucial role in ensuring and protecting the unity of the Internet as a global network...' (2008, 39); therefore, new open source softwares are ensuring and protecting the unity of the Internet as a global status, as they provide different ways for users to access the Internet eg. Mozilla Firefox.
References
Bruns, Axel. (2008). Open Source Software Development: Probabilistic Eyeballs in Bruns, Axel, Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage, New York: Peter Lang, pp.37-68.
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3 comments:
The good thing about open software is that so many people are openly working together on a softwares fault. Open software invites everyone to have a look at the problem and see if they can come up with a solution to fix it. And with many people with different experience working on it will in my eyes probably solve the problem faster (and maybe even better) than in a closed company. It will help improving the quality link . Letting the consumers also be able to help developing software will result in continuously feedback which again will get fixed as soon as possible. In a closed company they will also have some sort of feedback of what needs to be done better but it then you have to wait for the next version of the product which could take a while. Or they can even decide they don't wanna make a new version which according to Gonzalez-Barahona is common.
Hi there!
I am also a Firefox convert. I just thought I'd give you a few helpful tips. You mentioned that you accidently closed down the entire browser, thus losing the links to all your sites. If you go to the Tools menu and selection Options, then Tabs, you can tick the box that says "Warn Me When Closing Multiple Tabs". That way you can confirm or deny the action if it happens again. Also, if you accidently close one tab, you can right-click on another tab and select "Undo close tab".
Hope that helps.
Anyone still unconvinced, another great feature of Firefox is that you (or someone else!) can close down your computer when your browser is still open with all your lovely work in it, and when you start up the computer again and open Firefox, it will ask you if you want to start a new blank session or restore the previous one containing all your work.
Go Firefox!
I am really fascinated, that information and knowledge is collaborated by ‘users,’ to form a collective intelligence that is ‘open source software’. It is like the old saying goes, ‘Many hands make light work’ or in this case, ‘many minds make open source’. In my opinion, the ‘open source’ model would be far more beneficial and productive in achieving its objective than the ‘closed company’ counterpart. However, ‘big businesses needs to make money and expressing ‘source software’ to the public, is not in their best interest. Bruns (2008) quotes Thomas Goetz as stating that “Open Source is powerful because it’s an alternative to the status quo, another way to produce things or solve problems.” Goetz goes on to say, ‘open source software’ is indeed a ‘better way’ forward, as opposed to ‘current models’ that simply “are not fast enough, not ambitious enough, or don’t take advantage of our collective creative potential.”
Since the creation of Linux and Firefox, founding examples of ‘open source software,’ Windows has had a run for its money. Where will it go from here?
I would like to refer to an article I read by Kevin Kelly ‘Unto Us the Machine is Born,’ who believes that by 2015 we will witness the death of the internet, as we know it!
Kelly believes that, with the mass pooling of information from participatory culture to form a larger collective consciousness, combined with technological advances, will intact lead to what Kelly is calling a ‘planet-sized computer.’ The race is on for computer scientists to invent the first thinking computer, Danny Hills (computer scientist) forecasts that the first ‘Artificial Intelligence’ will emerge from this ‘global machine.’
Hills’s prediction may or may not come true, but one thing is for sure the internet is most certainly providing a portal for the mass’s to congregate and forge their ideas into a space in virtual reality, whether it be for ‘open source software’ or the creation of a ‘super computer.’
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