Traditionally, the transition to a technological era in the development of the economy and society is associated with the tendency to describe and comprehend the world through the term "network". The traditional ways of organizing social relations based on the hierarchical/vertical principle are being replaced by the network principle, which carries the horizontal logic of building different types of relations, which implements the democratic values of equal access to resources and the distribution of benefits. The study makes sense of the transition to a digital economy through the process of creating a programming language (Altair Basic) / code and a Linux program, as a key event that changed the world. Initially, the programming language was not for sale and did not belong to anyone. The creation of the code was the beginning for the network as a principle of organizing the structure of society and the economy, which was originally built on the logic of open access to information, cooperation and equality.