The #4opens makes many people uncomfortable. Why? Because it cuts through the bullshit. Think about it:
#FOSS already runs most of the world’s information flows..Servers, networks, phones, clouds — all built on open code, open standards, open processes. The world already depends on openness.
Yet, when we bring this into activism, NGOs, or “progressive” tech, people recoil. They prefer managed openness - consultations, workshops, endless talk - while the real decisions stay hidden, careers protected, power intact. That’s not open, that’s control.
The #4opens is dangerous because it removes the masks:
Open Data: no hoarding.
Open Code: no black boxes.
Open Standards: no silos.
Open Process: no backrooms.
It’s common sense. But it kills the comfort of #mainstreaming. The soft power of gatekeepers shrivels under sunlight. That’s why they hate it.
We already live in a world powered by #FOSS. The only question is whether we keep pretending otherwise, or compost the mess and take openness seriously.