The thing I always liked about newspapers was their honesty and independence. They have always stood for freedom and resisted authority and I've always liked their style. Because of this, there is something about the open source movement that reminds me of newspapers - there is that same feisty independence and genetic mistrust of authority that share a common sensibility.

If Microsoft is Britain, and Bill Gates King George, then the open source movement is Tom Paine, printing tracts called Common Sense and handing them out on street corners, undermining an empire with the simple act of sharing ideas.

Newspapers can learn a lot from the open source movement. Much like the software industry, competitive pressures and technological changes are making it increasingly difficult for the independent newspaper to stay in business. It appears that the greatest risk to the few remaining independent newspapers is not government tyranny; it is industry consolidation. Will the result of all of this be that there are only two or three companies deciding what's news for the entire country?

Open source software, and the insistence on the adoption of open standards is the software industry's means of keeping their market free from domination by one or two players. Freedom breeds innovation and innovation is better for everyone. It's the same dynamic that has fed newspapers all of these years - individuals protect themselves from tyranny by sharing information. Open standards is the technological equivalent of due process. Open source is the equivalent of the free press itself. We cannot let patents and proprietary systems silence the free flow of information.

It's also good business. Open source and open standards reduce operating expenses and gives greater choice in vendor selection. We will remain independent by remaining financially sound.