Closed source software in Open Source environment

I came across this article by Matt Hartley: Closed Source vs. Open Source in Desktop Linux, and it got me thinking.

For the past couple of months, during which I have adopted Linux (Ubuntu) even further and rarely dual boot into Windows, I have faced some challenges in corner cases. For one, I wished Apple would be more open towards open source, in terms of iTunes. Now that I think about it, I do not even want them to open source their iTunes software. As long as they keep it supported for Linux, I don't mind using it.

And further, I was having a chat with one of my friends, and when I mentioned about the game companies not releasing their games in Linux, he said that 'the open source requirement could be a problem for them to do that'. In spite of him knowing that you are not required to open source your software while selling it for Linux environment, that was the first thought that came to his mind. A prejudice where we assume it must be open sourced to be in Linux.

What is wrong with having closed source software?

When posed with a similar question, one of my Twitter buddy, rmdrao said:

Would open source users be in a position to better manufacturers at writing drivers. I doubt that. Codecs is still a shot.

I think, at time, part of us forgets what Open Source software is all about. It is about freedom to choose. When something is a basic necessity, when it is a basic commodity, like operating systems or codecs, it is better for the community to embrace Open Source. But when it comes to integral part of products, especially hardware - like the NVIDIA graphic cards, it is harming to the open source projects when we take a snobbish attitude of asking them to open source their software. They are offering a end product, which we can do without and we are free to choose it or not. Moreover, when they are providing support to Linux, I don't see a reason we should twist their arm to get the source code out.

Same is the case with games, in my opinion. When the product they are giving is not a basic essential, and for most part is a luxury - for the community to thrive it is fine for them to release their games as closed source. Because, games are, for most part art expressed as code.

We should never force someone to open their code. We are free to choose their product or not. They are free to choose for open source or closed source. The most we should ask for is support for Linux on the same level as Windows and MacOS. For that to happen, our aim would be to increase the userbase of Linux.