---
title: >-
  World's Smallest Open Source Violin
date: 2011-05-10 16:47
modified: 2011-05-10 16:47
lang: en
authors: rysiek
tags:
 - ancient
 - decentralization
status: published
pinned: false
---

[This is exactly](http://xkcd.com/743/) I would like to tell millions of Skype users today, when [Microsoft bought it](http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/05/10/1244253/Microsoft-Buying-Skype-for-85B). This is a **perfect example** why **giving away control over entire communication in a given area to a single entity is not a good idea**.

So, what could happen now? Let's see:
 - Skype client for Linux development might halt;
 - same goes for the Mac client.

But, because of all the contacts that Skype users **only have accessible via Skype**, it'll be [hard for them to move](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in) to any other solution. In other words, damned if you do, damned if you don't... Suddenly it turns out that a situation where all three elements -- the [protocol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_protocol), [client](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client_software) and [server](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_%28computing%29) software -- are in one hands is a very bad one.


## How it could have been

A perfect example of a better world, or how it could and **should** have been, is e-mail. Because the protocol is an [open standard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard), because anybody can set-up their own server -- the situation is much, much better:
 - there are **multiple** providers;
 - there are **multiple** clients to choose from.

That means that regardless of the luck or ideas of a single provider or vendor of a single client, **we can always go elsewhere**. We can choose the client software, regardless of the service provider we use; we can change the service provider without changing the familiar client software we have grown accustomed to. We have a choice.

Had we all been using a standardized, open VoIP protocol, like [SIP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol) or [Jingle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_%28protocol%29), we would simply change the provider -- without losing our contacts, having to learn new client software nor wondering whether our friends and family chooses the same new solution we will.

## Who's next?
Facebook, of course. [Had I been using it](http://www.fsf.org/facebook), I would seriously start considering [Diaspora](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_%28software%29). It's *alpha*, a lot of to-do's still down the road. But it works and is attracting more and more users. And most important of it all it works according to those few simple rules:
 - standardized, open protocol;
 - anybody can [set-up a server](http://podupti.me/);
 - anybody can use any client they choose to.