Linus and Open Source

I just finished reading a couple really good articles in the new issue of Wired about open source software, specifically the Linux OS and how it came into to being.

To demonstrate my ignorance and grossly over-simplify, the idea behind open source is that someone puts an idea or a problem, or even a product, out "there" and allows anyone to use it, free of charge. This is done in the hope that anyone "out there" that uses that idea (or whatever the example is) can alter that thing but then must share with anyone else whatever improvements they have made on the initial kernel. The result of this is mass innovation that rests on a meritocracy of sorts. It makes people into contributors instead of consumers.

In the second article, Open Source Everywhere, the tag-line by Thomas Goetz begins, "Open source is doing for mass innovation what the assembly line did for mass production. Get ready for the era when collaboration replaces the corporation."

So in the instance of the Linux OS, Linus Torvalds places the kernel of a nascent operating system out on the web to be used and asks that people make suggestions. As a result, this OS has developed into a force that is threatening the proprietary behemoth, Microsoft.

I've been reading a lot over the last couple of years about complexity theory, nodes, issues of connectivity, and such. Open source seems to be one more touch point in a developing metaphor(s) for life in our world. I am curious about how we already live these realities out in our lives and how we can interact with them as they develop. I think this is especially crucial in the arena of faith communities. I have begun to see this in the context of our communities discussion boards.

Thoughts?