Open Source is not something that normal well adjusted people tend to
think about because it’s something you take for granted like clean air.

In our digital lives we mingle with other people on the Internet but our
personal electronic devices, especially our computers, are our homes.

Imagine a world where Microsoft and Apple built houses. You could not buy
a house except one built by Microsoft or Apple. Apple houses are shiny and
comfortable but very expensive and you are only allowed to buy an Apple
house in an Apple neighborhood and your children must go to an Apple school
and don’t even think about trying to park a non-Apple car in your Apple
garage because only Apple cars and Apple garages are specially designed to
fit together. Apple houses used to be locked down so that you could only
bring in furniture which is allowed by apple but with the success of
Microsoft houses, they have been forced to loosen up this rule.

If you don’t like Apple houses, you might live in a Microsoft house.
Microsoft houses are more flexible than Apple, you can add another garage
or select from a few different kitchen options. You can buy a Microsoft
house in in different neighborhood, even an Apple neighborhood if you can
afford the lot. You can also buy furniture which doesn’t fit in an Apple
house but once a week is Update Day. On Update Day, men come around to
change parts of your house for new ones. Microsoft says it’s to keep your
house from catching a virus which could make it unlivable. The update men
walk in on whatever you are doing, let in automatically by your Microsoft
house. Once inside they proceed to replace some walls, doors and windows.
If you’re at home you have to go outside and wait until they are finished
and you can protest but they will not hear you.

Some speculate that the walls in Microsoft and Apple houses may have cameras
in them so the government can watch you. It is impossible to be sure what
are inside of the many locked doors and secret rooms in Apple and Microsoft
houses without the aid of a master carpenter to examine every square inch of
the house in excruciating detail, a process known as reverse engineering
which may be in violation of your Home Owner’s License Agreement. Even if
you were assured of the safety of your house, your assurance only lasts until
next Update Day.
This is probably hard scenario to imagine, you and any other sane person
would probably protest or even revolt, but imagine you never knew anything
different. Imagine Microsoft houses and Apple houses were all you ever knew,
it’s the way things were supposed to be.

Right now is an amazing time in history. Computers give us incredible new
powers which many people don’t even recognize. Microsoft Windows and Apple
OSX take away all of your power and then hand it back to you in dribs and
drabs which they call *features*. Features make you able to do things but
power makes you free.

So next time a hairy person is talking excitedly to you about Ginoo Slash
Linnucks, give him your ear and forgive the smell. He wants you to be
free.

(source: http://cjd.hypebox.net/?p=30)