Recently, the popular design community Behance (owned by Adobe) has blocked all accounts of its Mainland Chinese users, causing an uproar in China’s design community and raising serious concerns about using copyrighted, closed-source software.
Software Giants Block User Access in U.S.-Sanctioned Countries
Following the footsteps of Figma and GitHub, Behance’s decision has gravely impacted millions of users—and by extension, related IT and design industries—in U.S.-sanctioned countries. There has been worrying speculation that Adobe’s popular suite of design software will be next to cut off services to Mainland users.
Products by U.S. software giants are used throughout the world and often monopolize software markets in multiple countries. It is thus not difficult to imagine the huge blow account bans have on affected IT and media industries, where these software are used in daily operations.
Although Hong Kong users are not currently affected, Mainland China’s account bans have served as a wake-up call for us to start looking for software alternatives. Currently, 96.4% of Hong Kong companies use Microsoft suite software for daily operations, and the Adobe suite is also used in almost all media-related industries. Our heavy dependence on closed-source software indicates that without a backup plan, our digital assets would be in danger should our access be denied.
This backup plan can be Open Source Software. Open-source technology is becoming more mature by the day, and several highly competitive open-source products already exist in the market. Currently, many large overseas enterprises have already begun the shift—Hong Kong might as well follow suit.
Closed Source VS Open Source Software: The Strengths of Open Source
Closed-source software refers to software whose source code is only privately accessible by the producing company. Users usually pay a fee to gain access, and access can be revoked by the company at any time.
Open-source software is the opposite. The source code is open to the general public, meaning anyone can access and edit the software for free. This brings forth a number of benefits:
1. Flexibility and Agility
One of the most obvious benefits is agility. From a company perspective, as anyone can access the source code and contribute changes, companies can develop their own competitive products without worrying about access permissions.
From a user perspective, there are numerous alternatives. For example, GIMP and Krita are both open-source alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. If Adobe ever becomes unavailable, designers can continue projects on these platforms instead of losing all their work.
2. Cost
Free access is a major draw. This is especially crucial in Hong Kong, where the majority of companies are small or medium-sized (SMEs) and IT budgets are tight. Statistics show that 24.1% of medium-sized enterprises and 9.8% of small businesses in Hong Kong are reluctant to go digital due to expensive software costs. Open-source software can solve this problem while potentially increasing productivity.
3. Security
Security is often a concern regarding open source, but it is a needless worry if you choose established products. Open-source projects developed or supported by large companies—such as Google’s Android operating system and Automattic’s WordPress—are trustworthy, secure, and widely used worldwide.
4. Quality
Popular open-source software often matches the quality of paid counterparts thanks to community contributions. A prime example is Android vs. iOS. While many tech giants like Samsung and Huawei use Android, they make modifications for their products and contribute "Quality of Life" (QOL) improvements back to the system. Google periodically includes these popular updates into the general Android system, continuously improving its quality.
The Open Source Era
While traditional closed-source software is still prevalent today, the rising popularity of open-source products is difficult to ignore. These incidents of U.S.-sanctioned account bans are important warnings that Hong Kong must heed to stay competitive. If we do not begin the switch to open-source software now, who knows if we will be the next to suffer?
Krystal Institute specializes in promoting digital skills and educating the public about open-source software. For more information, visit our Facebook and Instagram, or contact us directly.
