Open Source

Open source means the freedom to modify and share.

While many aspects of modern life seem to be succumbing to enshittification, we’re also living at a time when open source projects have never been more successful.

Most industry standard computer programs are not only proprietary but moving towards subscription models. Many are even paywalling previously included features into increasingly expensive subscription tiers. You’ve probably noticed companies slowly sneaking ads into streaming services you’re already paying for, home appliances they previously promised not to advertise on and if you’re still a slave to Windows, it’s impossible to not notice the decline of the Windows start menu. Once a company has cornered the market, the only way to grow is to squeeze their existing customers harder by making their product worse.

Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification…
– Cory Doctorow, Wired

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

So much of the world is built on open source projects and a growing number of them are gaining traction day by day.

Most people don’t know or forget that Linux is (technically) the most popular operating system in the world, it’s just usually hidden from view. With Valve’s SteamOS finally manifesting the long prophesied Year of Linux Gaming, people beginning to realize they don’t have to put up with bloat from parasitic spyware. With Valve beginning to adopt siblings for its Steam Deck, Microsoft was defenestrated from its laurels and sent scrambling to cobble together a less garbage version of Windows for handhelds.

While many 3D animation studios are using industry staples like Maya, a growing number of productions are moving to Blender. In 2025, Zilbalodis’ Flow, made completely in Blender, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. With a price of free, and a constant stream of improvements and new features, it will be interesting to see how paid programs will continue to compete in value for money.

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