What is Open-Source?

From Wiki.a-wa-re.com

Open-source development is revolutionary model for the development of software that challenges the conventional, closed, capital-intensive, competitive model. Instead of hiring a large team to work on a secretive, tightly controlled project that aims to produce a immutable, opaque product, open-source projects are often initiated by individuals or small teams that will donate the the resulting product for free public use.

The term "open-source" refers to the free availability of the product source code i.e. the set of instructions that comprise the product. The implication of this availability is that the internal workings of the product are visible to the public and the product can therefore be improved or used as a basis for a secondary product. There is usually an invitation for such improvements to be absorbed into the original product which therefore evolves through these public contributions. A community develops around the product which consists of similarly-aligned individuals that, in addressing their own needs, often also address those of others.

Although this open-source culture has existed since the late 1970's, having its roots in the Free Software Movement, the size of open-source projects has remained small until the rapid growth of the Internet in the mid-1990's. The best known current examples of open-source developments, such as Linux (the free operating system), Mozilla Firefox (the free web-browser) and Open Office (the free office productivity suite), are at least comparable to the commercial equivalents and are developed by thousands of individual contributors.

Wikipedia is built on an open-source product called MediaWiki and uses the open-source model for content authoring i.e. original content is donated by an individual and is corrected, updated and enhanced by the on-line community. The open-source model has also been used in various non-software applications including the media arts, drug-development and architecture. In 2002, Creative Commons was established to provide legal mechanisms to facilitate the use of the model in virtually any endeavour producing creative content.

Contents

Copyleft

Copyleft refers to the philosophies and set of legal mechanisms relating to the distribution of free and open-source products.

While copyright ensures that everyone involved in a chain of production is entitled to a share of profits, in its strongest forms. copyleft ensures that the artefact of production is always free. For example, if a photographer releases an image under a copyleft license, the work can be incorporated a secondary work (e.g. a book or pamphlet) only if the secondary work is free. Typically, the license propagates down the chain and so, the book or pamphlet would be released under a similar license. Whilst copyright is vigilant about the interest of individuals, copyleft is vigilant about the interests of the public; the former restricts distribution while the latter promotes it.

Weaker forms of copyleft may permit commercial use, limiting only the distribution of the primary artefact. In the example above, the book can be sold but the photograph, in its original form, may not. Both forms are supported by Creative Commons licenses.

Philosophy and Social Implications

The success of open-source projects are rich with social, political and philosophical implications as they dissolve the singular authority of the dominant corporate, capitalist, competitive assumptions:

  • The value of a product is in its use - open-source projects promote distribution above profit
  • Artifacts are free - the economic discriminators are reduced
  • Built using community contributions - direction is chartered both by the original project team as well as the user community
  • Transparency and wide usage results in a better product for everyone
  • Individuals are not held to ransom by products (to the same degree) since they are able to change it
  • No trade secrets - knowledge should be free

Links and Resources

General Background

Seminal Texts

Intellectual Property

Open-Source Outside Software

Open-Source and Art

Open-Source Architecture

Open-Source Education

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