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Barcelona Declaration for the Advance of Free Software

1. Historical context

The Internet is free software

Most of the infrastructure of the Internet is based on free software and open protocols. At present, over 60% of web servers use Apache, a large number of mail servers use Sendmail to manage e-mail transmissions and practically all domain name servers (DNS), which are essential to the working of the Web, use the BIND program or derivatives of its source code. The importance that free software has had in the extension and development of the Internet since its beginnings is indisputable and the mutual influence of these two technological spheres is a proven fact. As a result, the success of free software goes far beyond the availability of a vast number of programs with free licences (of which the GNU/Linux operating system, the Internet browser Mozilla and the OpenOffice office suite are notable examples).

History

Although the roots of free software can be found in the 1960s, with the first developments in this type of software, the movement did not begin to take shape as such until the 1980s, when among other events, the following took place:

  • The creation of the project GNU is Not Unix (GNU), headed by Richard Stallman.
  • The establishment of the Free Software Foundation (FSF).
  • The publication of the first version of the GNU Public License (GPL).
  • The development of BSD UNIX by the University of California at Berkeley.
  • The free circulation and exchange of software over the Internet.

Following this, the 1990s was a decade of expansion for the movement. Two factors were key for this. The first was the advent of the first entirely free operating systems, such as 386BSD - which would later evolve into NetBSD and FreeBSD (with the decisive contribution of the University of California at Berkeley) - and GNU/Linux. For the latter, the work of a Finnish student, Linus Torvalds, resulted in the availability of a free kernel for the operating system created by Stallman and the FSF. The other was the increasing availability of Internet access, which multiplied the communication and internationalisation of the communities involved in the development of free software, in addition to making its distribution easier. In this decade, the movement has begun a consolidation process, as shown by the fact that millions of people use free software products throughout the world. Moreover, free software is used officially by many different companies, ranging from SMEs to major multinationals, and by public institutions, and the number of users and developers of free software continues to grow. The valuable contributions of major companies in the computer industry, such as Netscape, Sun Microsystems, IBM, Novell and Red Hat should also be highlighted. It is to be expected that this consolidation will be noticeable in the coming years, but it should also be remembered that there is a series of challenges that free software must successfully overcome if it is to continue to grow.

The decisive contribution of the academic world

The academic world has played a very marked role in the development of the Internet and free software. Some of the technologies on which the world of free software is based, such as BSD-based operating systems, the X-Window graphical system and many others, have been developed and improved by universities. Richard Stallman himself comes from academia, and the recognised father of the Linux kernel, Linus Torvalds, developed the first version of it when he was still a university student.

2. Challenges and new opportunities for free software

The current decade must be defined by the extension and the consolidation of free software. To achieve this aim, various challenges and certain threats must be faced, which we would like to make note of in this document. This group of challenges and opportunities has been classified into seven different areas: academic, technical, strategic, legal, social, voluntary and institutional.

  • Academic area

    Free software has certain characteristics that make it a focus of interest for the university world. From the point of view of research, free software transfers the basic principles of the scientific model of knowledge production (free dissemination, revision by experts, constant search for improvements, the reproducibility of results) to the world of software development, which, moreover, has become an essential tool for research in any field. From an educational point of view, free software has many advantages (independence from the manufacturer, ease of sharing knowledge, flexibility, etc.) that have already been identified by many universities. It therefore seems reasonable that free software should become more and more important to universities and that the main barriers to its use in research and teaching be removed.

    Going even further than this, the model for sharing knowledge driven by free software could be extended to other areas, such as the production of educational materials, something which could represent a revolution in the organisation of teaching. This trend could lead to a new teaching model, thus resulting in a truly open environment for education.

    Many of the reasons why free software adapts so well to the needs of higher education can also be applied to primary and secondary education. As a result, the use of free software at these educational stages should be promoted and encouraged by the institutions that are responsible for these areas, following the example of some successful cases, such as the case of LinEx in Extremadura.

  • Technical area

    From the technical point of view, free software must have certain technologies to allow the simplification of the development of free programs and to improve the integration between different systems (such as Mono or DotGNU). The evolution of desktop technologies must also continue in order to make the use of current systems (KDE, GNOME, Mozilla, OpenOffice) easier. Moreover, work is needed to consolidate standards (such as OASIS) in the world of free software in order to guarantee the interoperability of all free applications.

    The integration of software into all types of electronic devices, beyond desktop PC’s (for example mobile devices, DVD readers, music players, etc.) opens a new path for expansion, into which free software must be introduced as the leading technology, giving independence from the provider.

    From the technical point of view, one opportunity for the advance of free software would be to develop a free application that became a point of reference in its field. For example, the field of security and privacy constitutes ground where it would be possible to create an application that became the standard.
    Strategic area

    The release of the source code of programs, as happens with free software, is a decisive motor for competitiveness and enables the quality of applications from the point of view of the user to be improved through cooperation.

    Free software must work hard to combat the techniques of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) that are used against it. To do this, information is the best tool. In-depth studies must also be carried out on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and cases of the successful implementation of free software must be documented.

  • Social area

    In the social area, work must be done to generalise the use of free software by others besides specialists and expert users. Work must be done to present free software as an alternative in the business world.

    The information society must be based on the free circulation of information, but this process requires the mastering of the underlying technology in order to participate actively in it. Free software is a necessary tool to avoid a division between the countries that lead the process and those who simply participate in it as mere consumers of proprietary technologies.

    The methodologies used in free software can also be used as a formula for dealing with specific social problems. The open model of the test and improvement processes of solutions could be applied to areas such as healthcare. This concept, known as social web, is currently being developed at the Berkeley Center for the Information Society.

  • Legal area

    Initiatives to extend the scope of what can be patented in terms of software are a major threat to the software industry in general and to free software in particular. This problem is more relevant at present in Europe, where software patents are still under debate and discussions are being held on the enactment of a directive in this respect.

    Another aspect that should be considered is the validity of the different licences as a tool for the protection of free software, above all when these are applied in different jurisdictions. Finally, it would be advisable to take measures to guarantee the intellectual property of free software, so that situations of legal uncertainty such as those that have arisen due to legal actions take by SCO can be avoided.

  • Voluntary area

    It is necessary to continue to find ways of maintaining and promoting voluntary collaboration with and contributions to free software. The spirit of voluntary collaboration (such as in the case of the Debian project) must be preserved, along with the significant role that this plays in the commitment of companies and institutions. Voluntary work plays a fundamental role in guaranteeing the quality of developments and also enables the movement’s spirit and philosophy to be maintained.
    Institutional area

    Stimulating the use and the development of free and open-source platforms within the public administrations guarantees better interoperability of information systems, the possibility of audits of program source codes in order to protect data security and confidentiality, the independence of distributors to stimulate competitiveness and the reduction of software licence costs.

    Moreover, free software contributes to the development of a software industry in the region, replacing the transfer of royalties to outside the region in the form of licence payments with service contracts based on the new business model brought about by free software. This fact is an incentive for the setting up of new businesses and for the creation of new skilled jobs, making the most of the local knowledge that is available.

    For this reason, among others, different governments on all of the continents are developing public policies in this area. However, we must be inspired by the logic behind the main reason for the success of the free software community and we must stimulate cooperation between the different administrations, with the aim of reducing development costs and sharing our experiences.

    To this end, we propose the creation of a network of international cooperation between public administrations, establishing institutional relations with third sector organisations (including NGOs), communities of free software developers, universities, United Nations agencies and the private sector, in order to attain these objectives.

    • Barcelona, 18th May 2004

    Copyright (c) 2004 Manuel Castells, Vinton Cerf, Marcelo D'Elia Branco, Juantomás García, Jesús M. González Barahona, Pekka Himanen, Miguel de Icaza, Rafael Macau, Jordi Mas, David Megías, Òscar del Pozo, Pam Samuelson. Permission is guaranteed for the copying and distribution of this document in full in any medium, provided this is done literally and this note is maintained

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