OPEN SOURCE
Give the gift of learning.
Exotic pieces with varying shapes and colors only came in certain kits, and I could always find a use for them. Lego was (and still is) an awesome toy, because it provides a medium for problem-solving, three-dimensional thinking, and creativity. However, if I were a kid today, there’s a good chance I’d be putting a Raspberry Pi or Arduino on my Christmas wish list instead.
A Raspberry Pi can exercise many of those same brain muscles with the right project. However, there’s an additional skill that is taught: computing. While I consider myself a digital native, it’s largely because I took on computers as a hobby when I was young. I came of age in the time of Napster and AOL, which meant that playing games with friends or logging on to an IRC server required some degree of technical skill. Nowadays, children play with iPads that are more powerful than the 386 I once had in my bedroom. But there’s something missing here in the shiny, gadgetry of retail electronics; there’s no “aha!” moment of discovery when you finally work through a problem.
If there’s one thing that I’ve gained from free and open-source software, it has been the opportunity to learn how the software on my computer works. Whether it’s learning how to manipulate the USB
Nowadays, children play with iPads that are more powerful than the 386 I once had in my bedroom.
ports or GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi using Python, or installing Arch Linux to create very my own customized Linux installation, open source has provided me with an amazing array of hands-on learning experiences. It’s not much different from that feeling I got from playing with Lego.
In the spirit of giving, consider dropping $35 on a Raspberry Pi for your kid niece or nephew. It’s small enough to be a stocking stuffer, and yet it has the potential to inspire a young mind. If you’re a little more cash-strapped this season, you could always hand out a copy of your favorite Linux distribution for the cost of a USB drive. (You can find 4GB USB 2.0 drives for under $5 nowadays.) You could even decorate the USB sticks, and make them a little more festive.
The holidays are also a popular time to give to charities and nonprofits. It’s the season of giving, and it’s also the end of the tax year. While nearly any project you can think of would graciously accept and make use of even small donations, it should be noted that only a few free and open-source software organizations (such as Mozilla and GNOME foundations) enjoy 501(c)(3) status from the IRS. If you choose to do any of these things, you can give the gift of software freedom in a way that will make Ol’ Saint Stallman gleeful with joy. (Well, so long as you say “GNU slash Linux.”)
Freedom arguments aside, giving away tools to create useful, interesting, and fun things is what the free software movement is really all about. After all, free software is a real-world example of the expression, “’Tis better to give than to receive.” I think many can agree the world needs more of that.
Alex Campbell is a Linux geek who enjoys learning about computer security.