FOSS
1. Why FOSS Matters in Robotics & Research
At the EcoRobotics Lab, we don’t just build robots; we build on the collective knowledge of a global community. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is the absolute bedrock of modern scientific research. It guarantees reproducibility, fosters global collaboration, and ensures that scientific breakthroughs aren’t locked behind proprietary corporate paywalls.
“I often compare open source to science. Science took this whole notion of developing ideas in the open and improving on other peoples’ ideas… It made science what it is today and made the incredible advances that we have had possible.” — Linus Torvalds, Creator of Linux and Git
“Proprietary software is an injustice. Sharing is good, and with digital technology, sharing is easy.” — Richard Stallman, Founder of the Free Software Foundation
“I think it was Newton who said ‘I stand on the shoulders of giants’, and that’s what free software allows you to do. It allows you to stand on the shoulders of giants.” — Jon “maddog” Hall, Board Chair of the Linux Professional Institute
2. Free Software vs. Open Source vs. FOSS
While these terms are frequently used interchangeably, they stem from different philosophical origins aiming at a similar goal. Here is how they break down:
| Term | Core Philosophy | Key Advocate / Body |
|---|---|---|
| Free Software | Focuses heavily on user freedoms and ethics. “Free” refers to liberty (free speech), not price (free beer). | Richard Stallman / Free Software Foundation |
| Open Source | Focuses on pragmatism and methodology. Open, peer-reviewed collaboration creates higher quality, more secure, and more robust code. | Eric Raymond / Open Source Initiative |
| FOSS / FLOSS | An umbrella term bridging both worlds, respecting both the ethical and practical arguments. | The Global Developer Community |
3. FOSS in the Robotics Ecosystem
Robotics is inherently multidisciplinary, spanning mechanical engineering, electrical hardware, and complex computer science. If every academic lab had to write their own custom driver for a new LiDAR sensor, or build a rigid-body physics simulator from scratch, progress would grind to a halt.
This is exactly where ROS shines. Built largely under permissive FOSS licenses (Apache 2.0, BSD), ROS provides a massive, shared toolkit of drivers, navigation algorithms, and developer tools. Because ROS is FOSS, a small university lab can deploy the same cutting-edge localization stacks used by multi-billion-dollar autonomous vehicle companies.
4. Our Lab: Linux-First & FOSS-First
We are a Linux-first, FOSS-first research group. We don’t just use open source where it’s convenient; we actively prioritize open, community-driven, and privacy-respecting tools across our entire workflow and infrastructure.
4.1. Our Open Software Stack
- ROS / ROS 2: The core middleware enabling our robots to sense, think, and act.
- Ubuntu: The Linux-based OS on our lab workstations and embedded computers.
- Codeberg: Our home for public code repositories, hosted by a non-profit dedicated to software freedom.
- VSCodium: Our primary code editor, a telemetry-free, clean binary of VS Code.
- Inkscape: Our vector graphics editor for publication-quality diagrams and system architectures.
- GIMP & Krita: Our tools for image processing, texture editing, and creative design.
- Firefox: Our standard, privacy-respecting web browser that champions an open and accessible internet.
- Zotero: An open-source reference management tool we use to collect, organize, cite, and share our research papers.
- LibreOffice: A fully community-driven office suite dedicated to document freedom and open standards.
- ONLYOFFICE: An AGPL-licensed office suite we utilize for high-compatibility document editing.
4.2. The Future: Decentralized & Self-Hosted
Open source doesn’t stop at desktop applications. We believe labs should control their own data. We are working toward migrating our core infrastructure to locally hosted, self-hosted FOSS alternatives:
- Vaultwarden: Secure, encrypted, lab-wide password management.
- Mattermost: Open, private, and searchable team communication.
- Nextcloud: Collaborative cloud storage, shared calendars, and document management.
4.3. Reproducible Lab Environments via Ansible
Setting up a robotics workstation with the correct drivers, dependencies, and ROS environment can be a nightmare for new students. Since we are a new lab, we need to do this often. To solve this, we orchestrate all of our lab computers using Ansible automation scripts. We plan to publicly release our Ansible playbooks, which we hope will help others in setting up their computers for research or teaching.
5. References
- Chose a License: https://choosealicense.com/licenses/
- Awesome Self-hosted List: https://awesome-selfhosted.net/
- Is it Really FOSS?: https://isitreallyfoss.com/projects/
- A great conversion abnout Linux and FOSS with MadDog: https://podcast.destinationlinux.org/366