NZ Open Source Society president Dave Lane on Open Standards

Dave Lane, president of the NZ Open Source Society, is an articulate and frequent advocate for open-source principles and an outspoken critic of proprietary software.

In line with open-source philosophy, his presentation from this year’s ITX conference is available online. You can view the slides, or press “S” to see both the slides and his speaker notes.

Lane’s presentation is licensed under Creative Commons, meaning you’re free to copy, adapt, and share it as long as you credit him. It’s an excellent resource for anyone seeking a crash course in open source—or even just a refresher.

Lane opens with a clear definition of Open Standards:

“Well-defined technical specs available at no cost online, created via a transparent process, by multiple parties, with no royalties, no discrimination, and extensible via a well-defined process.”

He then addresses a common misconception:

“We don’t want to mandate open source software. That would be counterproductive.”

This is a crucial point. Some countries have tried mandating open-source software in the past, often with mixed results. It’s generally more effective to create an environment where software can thrive organically rather than dictating which tools people should use. Mandating specific software opens the door to lobbying and commercial capture by those with the loudest voices. That doesn't usually help open source.

When proprietary software is the best choice

In some cases, proprietary software is indeed the right tool for the job, and it should be left in place when that’s the case.

More importantly, mandatory open source contradicts the principle of openness. Instead of restricting user choices, it’s better to establish guidelines that allow people to make their own informed decisions. All we need is a level playing field for software—one based on compliance with open standards, as we see in most other marketplaces.

Interestingly, the commercial sector often grasps this concept better than government.

Open-source software will succeed on its merits, as it already has on the web—an area heavily influenced by open standards. It’s also making its mark in mobile technology, cloud computing, supercomputing, and the Internet of Things.