Chapter 2. Why Blogs Are Free

The explosion in blog popularity is due to freedom, which blogs provide in two different ways. If you can access the Internet (at school, the library, your neighbor's wireless network), you can create a blog at no cost, and (this is the important part) you are free to say whatever you want. In essence, blogs are "free" and blogs are "free". Have you heard the phrase "free as in freedom" or maybe "free as in beer"? These two concepts really have more to do with software than blogs, but the messages they imply speak volumes about the world of web logs.

Blogs are currently free in that they enable everyone to communicate with no restrictions (as in "freedom"). They also are free as in no-cost soapbox evangelism (like "free beer"). Both freedoms have shaken media to the core within the last five years by changing the rules on how people around the world receive their news.

Do you have something on your mind you need to tell the world? Have you witnessed or been subjected to an injustice that needs exposure? Today's web logs are currently the most "free" communication medium available to the world's Internet audience. And if you can access a computer, they're also free of cost!

This chapter explains how blogs can shape or reshape politics, public thought, your government, and even the competition (otherwise known as the media). If you have any doubts about how blogs really can make a difference or are skeptical of their reach, read on, and you'll soon see blogs' capabilities.

The Origin of "Free"

The word free has unusual complexity in the software world. In the early 1980s, the statement "free as in beer" originated in a document written by Richard Stallman. In this work, the author explains the purpose of free software, which can be free (as in free beer) or free (as in free speech and freedom) or both. You may have heard of opensource software, which is a derivative of Stallman's original ideas.

Free as in freedom software argues against copyright protection, explaining that software should be open and free to change, not necessarily free as in no cost, but rather the purchaser or owner should be allowed to modify software to his or her liking. Of course this assumes that we (the free people) know how to modify software, but that's another story. You can read more about the free software movement at this address:

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FreeAsInBeer