"Open Source" is a familiar term among computer cognoscenti. It's what brought us the Linux operating system, the GNU tool suite, the Firefox browser and all manner of other handy tools free for the downloading. "The Register," a sharp-tongued UK-based online computer magazine, has a feature" calling the AK-47 "the open-source weapon that took the world by storm." Bearing in mind that the authors aren't primarily gunnies, it's a decent overview of the history and development of the AK-47 and its family, even linking to an article explaining the origins of the "assault rifle" with the Nazi Sturmgewehr 44.
Cheers to the Reg for running the story, but I especially like seeing a story that teases the "geek" crowd with firearms knowledge. Anything that de-mystifies firearms technology, especially to technologists, is useful. There's always been a fair amount of overlap between gun buffs and computer nerds, and they tend to think in terms of what's possible, not what is allowed. Tell a real geek that he can't have something and he'll figure out how to prove you wrong. Read up a bit on the fuss over digital music or about the history of an encryption program called PGP for "Pretty Good Privacy."
It's just nice to see some tiny part of the tide turn toward freedom.