Steal the Web

Written on 2011-06-07 • conversation

The amazing speed at which the web has evolved over the last years really got me thinking. How is it possible that there are so many amazing websites out there? How is it possible that the web keeps on evolving at the steady pace it has been evolving the last couple of years?

Sure, in the light of history, it is a fairly new technology. And at the sunrise of new technologies, things tend to be very dynamic. But I am convinced that at least part of the answer lies in the fact that the Web is inherently Open Source, something that we have unfortunately lost in many other fields (music to name one).

You can navigate to almost any website and view the source code. Then copy it and change it to your needs, learning invaluable lessons in the process. Yet, nobody is complaining about loss of income. The web industry is, all its perks included, inherently the best industry in the world when it comes to openness. Let us keep it that way.

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