A Pillar of Society

EPISODE 10: A PILLAR OF SOCIETY 🏛️

The Internet runs on it. The world relies on it. Even online voting depends on it. Our hero’s name is unknown to most people.

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This episode is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Created by: Mathias Bolt Lesniak
Creative advisor: Jeffrey A. “jam” McGuire

Transcript

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Welcome to episode ten …… of the Open Source Utopia Podcast. Much of our world relies …… on open source software, to the point that I consider it …… a pillar of society. Without it, the modern world would not exist.“What is a pillar of society?” you might ask. In medieval Europe societies were divided …… into so-called “estates” under the monarchy. In France, there were three. Clergy, nobles, and everyone else. It is quite exciting …… when old concepts adapt …… to fit the reality on the ground. It is an ongoing process …… to categorize the world around us. And, so, after a revolution or two, the three estates came to mean …… the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers. One, two, three branches of government. Then, along came journalists and the press. The fourth estate! Recently, the Internet has enabled …… a possible fifth estate to develop. Underground newspapers, blogs, and social media. Certain institutions and constructs in society …… become powers — or pillars — upon which our society is built. The pillars of society. The Internet runs on open source, and would not exist without it. Even governments that deliver public services, communication, and even voting online, are dependent on open source software. Our modern society relies on open source. Perhaps it is relatively unknown or unrecognized, but open source is a true pillar of society. But wait! Is my government's infrastructure …… dependent on a hobby project? Yes! More about that in the next episode.