Subversive Software

Software which in some manner offers a subversive effect on, or subverts the underlying foundation of, some existing system, organization, or practice of business or society. An example of a subversive licensing system for software is the GnuGeneralPublicLicense. At the surface appearning to do an obvious thing, a deeper examination reveals less obvious, but more profound secondary effects and consequences, which are not always dramatized or are played down, or ignored, by the source.

As an example, software copyrighted and licensed under the GnuGeneralPublicLicense is copyrighted, but the effect is in general quite the opposite of the normal operation of software copyrights- you can change the software, incorperate parts of it into other software, even heavily edit it and change it into a new thing, and release it to the public. In these properties, it is something of a challenge to the conventional software copyrighting/patenting/licensing scheme of operation in use today by most corperations. The most current text of the GnuGeneralPublicLicense can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html.

Other software is subversive in that it operates to empower the common man in such a way as to prove annoying, or worse, to the ruling powers that be, in effect greatly amplifying the 'democrataric' dynamic of society, which of course is very inconvient when you are trying to rule by controlling access to information or propaganda. A wiki is an example of such software.

Thank you, Mister Cunningham, from all of us; you had a wonderful idea; which I gleefully ripped off and turned into a wiki in PythonLanguage. Were the idea PATENTED, I would now be a criminal. As it is, I am merely inspired by your shining example.

 - KirkBailey Sept/4/2003