The open source movement, from Wordpress to Linux and back again, has a strength that no closed organization or movement has or will ever have.

I’m referring to community.

I recently decided to install Linux on a Sony laptop. Sony’s engineers had locked the machine into it’s Windows centric ways so tightly that getting Linux running wasn’t easy. When I ran into problems I simply asked for help here and a solution was provided by a member of the Linux community.

My recent problem with Trackbacks and Wordpress 2.5 caused me to lose a little more hair than I would have liked in the last week or so. My problems were soon on their way to being solved when I asked for help and the Wordpress community, in particular Adam from wordpressmodder.org, stepped in to offer workable solutions.

Open source software continues to amaze and delight me. An entire blogging business can be run using 100% free software, including the operating system itself. I’ve even seen fully functioning recording studios using modified Linux installations that include the kind of audio software that until recently would have cost thousands to license.

With the increased power and diversity that open source software can offer, coupled with unparalleled free community driven support, a change is coming. In every conceivable way, the future is open source.