Free, Open Source Software Advocacy as a Social Justice Movement: The Expansion of F/OSS Movement Discourse in the 21st Century

This article argues that the rhetorical discourse found among free, open source software (F/OSS) movements is being expanded beyond the traditional constituency of software hackers to encompass a larger group of non-expert users and other advocacy organizations. In so doing, the initial goals of free software advocates are being dramatically expanded to include broader aims of digital freedom and social justice. Utilizing the concept of social movements from political sociology, this article first outlines the key aims and discourses surrounding the free software movement by discussing the emergence and development of F/OSS efforts such as the GNU/Linux operating system and the GNU Public License (GPL). Second, I provide examples of how the free software discourses have been adopted, altered, and expanded by a number of organized groups over the past decade. These groups, such as the Creative Commons, digital privacy advocates, and global development agencies, have adopted some of the core concepts of free software, while greatly expanding their meaning and purpose to suit their own advocacy aims. Finally, I argue that the adoption of free software discourse among these newer groups is also having a recursive effect upon the free software movement by encouraging free software advocates to conceptualize F/OSS as part of a broader movement of digital rights and social justice. In the conclusion, the prospects for the emergence of a larger technological and cultural freedom movement in the future are assessed.