| Latest revision |
Your text |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| ''This talk was initially given at [[given at::Knight News Conference]]'' on [[delivered on::June 18, 2009]]. The talk was [[length::45]] in length.''
| | <pre> |
| | History |
|
| |
|
| This talk tries to give a comprehensive overview of free and open source software. The talk is framed in terms of a historical narrative but the focus, in terms of content, tries to focus on the concepts, principles, projects, and people at the heart of free and open source software.
| | I. Early History |
|
| |
|
| My background is in work on free software projects over 17 years(!) in a variety of projects:
| | - printer / AI lab |
| | - software sharing commune |
| | - reclaiming movement for freedom |
|
| |
|
| * [http://www.debian.org Debian]
| | II. Early Structure |
| * [http://www.spi-inc.org Software in the Public Interest]
| |
| * [http://www.ubuntu.com Ubuntu]
| |
| * [http://www.fsf.org FSF]
| |
|
| |
|
| === Early History ===
| | - Free Software Definition |
| | - Free Software Doundation |
| | - Copyleft |
| | - GPL |
| | - Strong orientation as social movement |
| | - GNU Project and Replacement for UNIX |
|
| |
|
| * RMS Printer story / MIT AI Lab (familiar to many people)
| | III. Moving Beyond GNU |
| * [http://www.novalis.org/history-of-fsm/slide-24.html Emacs Software Sharing Commune]
| |
| * Free software was a ''reclaimist'' movement for freedom
| |
|
| |
|
| === Early Structure ===
| | - BSDs, Minix, and the HURD |
| | - X Windows and struggles with commericialization and openness |
| | - Linux Torvalds and Linux |
| | - Distributions |
| | - Apache Web Server |
|
| |
|
| * [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html Free Software Definition]
| | IV. Open Source |
| * [http://www.fsf.org Free Software Foundation]
| |
| * [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/ Copyleft]
| |
| * [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GPL]
| |
| * Strong orientation as social movement
| |
| ** Free software people are not always great at conveying this, but free software can be understand as a powerful call for user control over their own technology
| |
| * [http://www.gnu.org GNU Project] and the creation of a replacement for UNIX
| |
|
| |
|
| === Moving Beyond GNU ===
| | - frusteration with free software personality and posturing with |
| | business interests and the late 90s tech bubble and dotcom boom |
| | - Eric Raymond and CatB, Bruce Perens |
| | - OSD Creation |
| | - Motivations epmhasizing the pragmatic beneifts of ree software |
| | - Opposite of a schism |
|
| |
|
| * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD BSDs], [http://www.minix3.org/ Minix], and the [http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html GNU HURD]
| | V. Going Mainstream (ups and downs) |
| * [http://www.x.org X] and early struggles with commercialization and openness: permissive versus copyleft licensing
| |
| * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds Linus Torvalds] and Linux
| |
| * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution Distributions]
| |
| * [http://www.apache.org/ Apache] web server
| |
|
| |
|
| === Open Source ===
| | - Breakthrough was with Netscape Navigator releasing code to their |
| | browswer |
| | - Many other companies ended up getting carried away in the boom |
| | - Dotcom bust |
| | - Remergence of people who care about liberty and freedom |
| | - Social movements again |
| | - Governments in Europe/S. America/etc. |
|
| |
|
| * Open Source is born of frustration with free software personality and its posture with business interests and the late 90s tech bubble and the DotCom boom
| | VI. Adapting FOSS Principles |
| * [http://opensource.org/ Open Source Initiative] started by [http://catb.org/esr/ Eric Raymond] (author of [http://catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ Cathedral and the Bazaar]), [http://perens.com/ Bruce Perens] and others
| |
| * [http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php Open Source Definition]
| |
| * Motivations emphasizing the pragmatic benefits of fee software
| |
| ** OS can be seen as a development methodology
| |
| ** "A inherently better way to produce better software"
| |
| * "Opposite of a schism"
| |
|
| |
|
| === Going Mainstream (ups and downs) ===
| | - Many groups have been explicity inspired and have created lots of |
| | other "open source ___" (medicine, invention, literature, music, |
| | etc). |
|
| |
|
| * Perhaps the major breakthrough was with Netscape releasing code to their browser in 1998
| | - Often inspired by ideas of: |
| * Many other companies ended up getting carried away in the boom (VA Linux (LNUX has single biggest IPO) (Krantz and Henry, 1999)
| | - massively parallel production |
| * Dotcom Bust
| | - large volunteer communities |
| * Reemergence of people who care about liberty and freedom (or institutional independence and autonomy)
| | - high levels of "user innovation" and lead user |
| ** Social movements again
| |
| ** Governments in Europe/S. America/etc.
| |
|
| |
|
| === Adapting FOSS Principles ===
| | - buildings most frequently on licenses of FOSS |
| | - copyleft and gpl style legal mechanisms |
| | - in some cases, making mroe normatively sort of descriptions and |
| | calls for free things |
|
| |
|
| * Many groups have been explicitly inspired and have created lots of other "open source ''blanks''" (e.g., medicine, invention, literature, music, etc).
| | VII. What does FOSS production means? |
| * Most groups take inspiration from:
| | |
| ** Massively parallel production
| | - A social movement? |
| ** Large volunteer communities
| | - An adherence to some conception of openness |
| ** High levels of "user innovation" and lead users
| | - An attempt to harness certain types of work |
| * Most buildings on ''licenses'' (esp. copyleft) of FOSS but it's important to realize that these are instrumental in some cases, making mroe normatively sort of descriptions and calls for free things
| | - An attempt to challenge/change the nature of production in a |
| | depper/more general way |
|
| |
|
| === New Developments ===
| | </pre> |
| | |
| * Network services produce a number of important challenges related to data and deep problems associated with shared ownership of a shared resources (free software is actually deeply troubled)
| |
| ** [http://autonomo.us Autonomo.us]
| |
| ** [http://autonomo.us/2008/07/franklin-street-statement/ Franklin Street Statement]
| |
| * Software Patenting
| |
| ** [http://endsoftwarepatents.org End Software Patents]
| |
| * New business models
| |
| ** MySQL, dual mode system
| |
| | |
| [[Category:Talks]]
| |
