This past summer marks the 40th Anniversary of one of the most important events in American sociology: the Summer of Love. If you’re too young to remember, or if you skipped American history, or if you don’t listen to classic rock, the Summer of Love saw Hippies, Yippies, and all sorts of disaffected American youth converge on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco to form an alternative society and to experiment with sex, drugs, and new forms of music and art.
It was “far out, man,” but also tumultuous, as counterculture collided with the 1960’s establishment.
In the late ‘60s, many lawmakers, politicians, and police attempted to quash the Hippie movement in Haight-Ashbury and other cities around the country by threatening to and actually throwing large groups of young people in jail.
Four decades later, the “radical” Open Source movement — it’s about free code, man — faces similar struggles against Corporate America. For instance, just this week, Microsoft rattled its saber (once again) and not-so-subtlety threatened Open Source vendors and users with patent violation litigation. Like tear gas, Redmond’s riot squad — counsel — unleashed Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) to quash Open Source adoption at major corporations and in the public sector.
When challenged and libeled, the Hippies chose to increase awareness of their cause through unique demonstrations (such the famous “Be-In” and the spontaneous street anarchy of sub-groups such as the Diggers) and the use of public media. Unfortunately, the media of the late 1960’s was not…
Please log in to view this content.
Not Yet a Member?
Register with LinuxMagazine.com and get free access to the entire archive, including:
