Luckily in the 21st Century, with increased inter-communication and the internet at our disposal, we have more options, even in regards to our theatre now. So think about it. Microsoft or Linux? “Fringe

Infringement festival – the LINUX of theatre

By Stan Kristiansen

Linux is a free computer operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around the world. Developed under the GNU General Public License, the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone. By using Linux you can say goodbye to hefty software costs, hidden pop-ups, and corporate tracking systems; all hallmarks of the much more common Microsoft system. The choice? 1) Pay tons of money to use a junk system that is designed to exploit you (to pad the wallet of Bill Gates); or 2) Pay nothing for a good system that you can even design yourself.

Unfortunately, most computer-users opt for option #1, even though it is clearly not in their best interest. They are basically paying good money to essentially restrict themselves creatively in terms of computer navigation and design (it is designed for them), while exposing themselves to a constant barrage of spyware, pop-ups, licensing, viruses, and advertising.

The basic difference is this: in the corporate model you pay to be held hostage as a spectator to an endless meta-commercial, in the human model you are free to express, inter-connect, and create, sans cost or interference from the corporate powers-that-be.

Admittedly it is a bit harder to learn a new system, but the payoffs are very rewarding. Instead of the corporate help desk, there are millions of networked programmers. Instead of paying twice (once in licensing and once in being clobbered with advertising), there is no cost. Instead of inhabiting restrictive corporate environments online, you can create your own spaces free from corporate-influence, and visit other grass-roots areas designed and run by real people.

The Linux principle is being applied in many areas: free school instead of corporate universities, co-ops instead of multinationals, social housing instead of condos, etc. As people reclaim their communities, they develop better critical facilities, enjoy a sense of human solidarity, and ultimately gain a better standard of living. Instead of being spectators sitting alone in the dark watching some endless commercial play, empowered, they play in an exciting critical and interactive environment. Their actions are good for humanity, because they inspire others to reject the oppressive systems that are responsible for the inequalities, wars, terrorism, environmental destruction, and monoculture spreading about our planet.

Unfortunately, even the arts, the supposed bastion of free expression and critical thought, is suffering from the corporate bombardments. In Joost Smiers’ book Arts Under Pressure (“the NO LOGO of cultural research