The open source community has come a long way since the term was coined in 1998. We have users and abusers, at home, work, and all those in-between, a community built upon innovation and interest. But how did early thinkers help shape the culture we see today? What audiences have been reached by the FOSS message? Can we do better?

After returning to the University of Washington this past year, I had the opportunity to focus an entire quarter analyzing a piece of rhetoric. I chose Lawrence Lessig's 2002 OSCON keynote and intend to present my findings and thoughts regarding these questions.

William Hale is the Lead Organizer for GSLUG and has been a Linux advocate since 1996. More information can be found here: http://gslug.org/wiki/User:William