Colonising Space/Leaving earth with the right attitude

If mankind colonises space enabled by a programme based upon free and open-source-style collaboration, it would be an iconic example for future generations living away from Earth, in terms of encouraging co-operation and resource sharing. These human-centric principles may help reduce the chances of purely self-serving forms of commercialism being dominant in their culture and might lessen the likelihood of conflicts arising from aggressive, exclusionist groups that might otherwise be more common.

If we do successfully colonise space, it is likely that eventually more of humanity will exist off the Earth than on it, so helping to set the right tone for these future colonies is a significant issue.