The Open Source Movement
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The document discusses the history and philosophy of open source software and the free software movement. It describes how Richard Stallman founded the GNU project in 1984 to develop free software to protect users' freedom. Stallman developed the GNU General Public License (GPL) to ensure software remains free. Linux kernel developer Linus Torvalds combined GNU software with his kernel to create the GNU/Linux operating system. The open development model allowed the community to quickly improve the software through collaboration over the Internet. Unintended consequences of open source include the creation of wikis, blogs, and citizen websites that promote transparency and civic participation.
![And finally.. The question:- How much does technology enslave us? It is not how much [information] technology influences us, but how much we influence [information] technology. ” Do what you can, confess frankly what you are unable to do; neither let your effort be shortened for fear of failure, nor your confession silenced for fear of shame.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/rmsopensource-090323115148-phpapp02/85/The-Open-Source-Movement-28-320.jpg)
The Open Source Movement
- 1. Some advice: ”Do what you can, confess frankly what you are unable to do; neither let your effort be shortened for fear of failure, nor your confession silenced for fear of shame.” John Ruskin
- 2. Connections:
- 4. Ethical: Technological Philosophical ethical
- 5. Legal Technological Philosophical ethical Legal
- 6. Socio-political Technological Philosophical ethical Legal Socio-political
- 7. Open Source Technological Philosophical ethical Legal Socio-political
- 8. The Locus of Control Little control Full control
- 9. The Locus of Control Little control Full control
- 10. The Locus of Control Little control Full control Greater Responsibility Little Responsibility
- 11. The Locus of Control Little control Full control Greater Responsibility Little Responsibility (Freedom)
- 12. Richard M. Stallman Born 1953 New York Harvard BA Physics Real Interest: Computer programming 1974 MIT AI Lab. The Hacker Culture: Code is poetry
- 13. The End of an Era Early '80s New commercial outlook. What do we own? What can we sell? An end to the sharing Hacker culture. Non-disclosure ”agreements”.
- 14. A Stark Moral Choice I could have made money this way and perhaps amused myself writing code. But I knew that at the end of my career, I would look back on years of building walls to divide people and feel that I had spent my life making the world a worse place.
- 15. A Stark Moral Choice ” If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” The decision to start the GNU project was based on a similar spirit. The name GNU was chosen following a hacker tradition, as a recursive acronym ”GNU is Not Unix”.
- 16. Build it and they will come. First make the tools. GNU C Compiler Emacs Then get help. 1984 the Internet was used by academics to communicate through: News Groups Bulletin Boards
- 17. On Freedom Free as in Freedom -Not as in Beer! ” The principal goal of GNU was to be free software, Even if GNU had no technical advantage over UNIX, it would have a social advantage, allowing users to co-operate and an ethical advantage respecting the user's freedom.” But... How can the continued freedom of the software be assured?
- 18. Copyleft: All Rights Reversed Flip over the copyright laws: Instead of a means of privatising the software it becomes a means of keeping software free. You can: Run the program Copy the program Modify the program Distribute modified versions of the program But you cannot: Add any copyright restrictions Subsume the program into restricted software.
- 19. GNU General Public Licence (GPL) In order for software to advance, it must have the four freedoms. Run the program Copy the program Modify the program Distribute modified versions of the program In order to learn improve and extend the program, the source code must be freely available.
- 20. On Openess ”Prose is like hair; the more you comb it, the more it shines.” Gustave Flaubert (1821 – 1880) In proprietory, closed software development, there is a rush to market. Few eyes see the underlying code. The result is ”bug” filled code. If you buy a car you wouldn't expect your first journey to be to the garage to have seat belts fitted! (no, not Flaubert) In open source software development, thousands of eyes can see the code and comb out the bugs. You can become part of the process if you have the desire and the ability.
- 21. A Network of Development By the beginning of the nineties, much of the underlying structure was in place. The central hub or kernel was proving difficult to complete. Linus Torvalds was anxious to fill the gap. His kernel completed the structure that could now be called a integrated operating system. GNU/Linux Linus Torvalds
- 22. The Growth of a Community Contributors were world wide. Communication was via the Internet. Organisation was not heirarchical. ”The Cathedral and the Bazaar” Concurrent Version Systems (CVS). Development was much faster than the closed systems of Microsoft and Apple. GNU/Linux became the operating system of the web.
- 23. The Growth of a Community Who make up ”the community”? Programers Lawyers Graphic designers Document writers Musicians Publicists Linguists Users- just people who like freedom!
- 24. Unintended Consequences Serendipity 1995 Ward Cunningham realised that CVS could be used by non-programmers to communicate and build up bodies of information. The creation of Wikis Wikepedia Wikileaks Wikiworld OpenStreetMap.
- 25. Unintended Consequences Blogging WordPress, Joomla, Moodle FaceBook, Twitter etc. Growth of Citizen sites: MySociety TheyWorkForYou No. 10 Petitions WriteToThem FixMyStreet HearFromYourMP GroupsNearYou
- 26. A spur to co-operation WolvesFreeCycle. WolvesGreenZoneCafe
- 27. Opportunities & Dangers Little control Full control Greater Responsibility Little Responsibility (Freedom) Open Source opportunities Proprietry closed systems (and minds). Security.
- 28. And finally.. The question:- How much does technology enslave us? It is not how much [information] technology influences us, but how much we influence [information] technology. ” Do what you can, confess frankly what you are unable to do; neither let your effort be shortened for fear of failure, nor your confession silenced for fear of shame.”
Editor's Notes
- #2: Ruskin was anti- technology: understandably as he lived during the time of the worst effects of industrialisation. He abhored the decline in creativity and the de-skilling of many traditional crafts. In later years he fostered adult training and guilds to try to retain the qualities of craftmanship and cottage industries in the face of the factory system.