With last winter’s release of the Firefox browser for Windows, open-source software moved into mainstream computing. In fact, the concept of open source has proven to be so beneficial to both creators and users that it’s being adopted by many other sectors as a viable technique for creating a wide range of everyday goods and services.

Normally, the inner architecture of a software program, called the source code, is a closely guarded secret. But the source code of open-source software is freely available, so that anyone can improve upon it, with the proviso that changes be made available to all other users. No one “owns” the software. The computer programmers contribute their skills and talents largely in return for the satisfaction of being involved in a worthwhile intellectual endeavour.

Well that, and maybe the satisfaction of sticking it to the man. Firefox is quickly chipping away at Microsoft Internet Explorer’s near monopoly of the Windows Web browser market. Firefox has Microsoft worried, which is a good thing, since a worried Microsoft is a creative Microsoft. After crushing its last Web browser foe, Netscape Navigator, Microsoft stopped improving its browser. The next version of Internet Explorer was planned for 2006. But when tens of millions of users switched to Firefox, an alarmed Bill Gates quickly announced that Internet Explorer would receive a major upgrade this summer – a year ahead of schedule.

For the anything-but-Microsoft crowd, using Firefox is an easy gesture of rebellion. But even for ordinary users, installing Firefox simply makes good sense because it is a much better browser. Not only is it less prone to being infected by spyware and adware but it also has new features such as “tabbed” browsing and plug-ins that make browsing easier. It sounds like everyone’s dream Web browser – and it is because it contains all the best features resulting from the combined brainpower and collaborative efforts of hundreds of passionate programmers.

Even though both browsers are free, and Firefox did not have corporate backing, the marketplace has spoken. And there will be more open-source software success stories. Volunteer programmers – I call them digital Rotarians – around the world are working on open-source applications to handle e-mail, word processing, photo editing and dozens of other applications (not to mention the granddaddy of open source, the operating system Linux).

A motto of the open-source software community is “give a little, get a lot.” If each programmer contributes a little time and intellectual energy, the end product can benefit everyone. In this sense, open source is no different than all the residents in a small rural town coming together to build a community hall: Everybody contributes a little elbow grease and then everybody gets to use a great facility.

A large-scale non-computing example of open-source philosophy is the 13-year Human Genome Project that was completed in 2003. Scientists from around the world collaborated to identify all of the approximately 20,000 to 25,000 human genes, and this knowledge is now freely available to medical researchers everywhere.

In a lighter vein, Canadian shoe designer John Fluevog runs an Open Source Footwear Website. Shoe enthusiasts submit their own designs, comment on others’ designs and vote for which shoes he should manufacture.

I’m involved with an innovative Canadian project called Classroom Connections Exchange that is essentially an open-source educational network. There is a wealth of creative ideas in our classrooms, while imaginative educational programs flourish in some regions. But there are no tools for sharing these promising ideas and practices with other schools. A teacher in New Brunswick has no way of knowing about the work being done by another teacher in British Columbia and so can’t borrow and improve upon existing materials or ideas. Always starting from square one means that scarce resources and tax dollars are squandered. This lack of exchange also means that innovative programs are available only to a select subset of Canadian students in certain regions, while other children do without programs that could have a positive impact in their lives, their schools and their communities.

The concept of open-source sharing gives us the power to make real systemic change in education. As part of Classroom Connections Exchange, we’re looking at a host of tools, such as on-line forums, that would allow teachers and schools to collaborate and give us a much bigger bang for our educational dollar.

I hear of new open-source projects being proposed every week. Some may never get off the drawing board, as is the case with any volunteer project. But if open-source programs like Firefox can beat Bill Gates and his programmers, MBAs, consultants, analysts, strategists, and marketing whizzes, it means that the future is wide open.

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Don Tapscott is a leading international consultant, author and speaker on information technology in society and business and the CEO of strategy company New Paradigm. Visit www.nplc.com or write to him at dtapscott@enroutemag.net.