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Story: Open source politics are 'American as apple pie'

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The statement that "open source is a fundamentally American concept" is ridiculous and entirely out of character for Eben Moglen.

For centuries, open source methodologies and politics have prevailed in academia, from the times of the library of Alexandria to the scientific golden age of the Middle East and onwards.

In direct context, the Linux kernel was written by a Finn, not an American, although credit is due to Richard Stallman and his work some years earlier. There's no doubt that Linus' work was pivotal in the acceptance of open source, especially if you choose to label RMS' work primarily as "Free Software" and not "open source".

Look at international figures for the acceptance of open source: Europe has always been ahead of the States in terms of adoption, from home computers to government-wide open source aquirement schemes.

Come on, Eben! This article is a complete slap in the face to everyone outside of America and it marginalises your philosophy in the eyes of the rest of the world.

I imagine that this is the kind of self-important attitude that makes people turn against the US and its people. Totally gratuitous and insulting; the kind of sentiment I would not expect from a leading figure in open source.

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