ella’s audiothougts on free/libre/open movement: response to free/open source software discussion. My brief summary: the open movement is in fact very closed - due mainly to technical barriers. A nice take on things from outside the uber-geek circle.
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Yeah, sorry I was so brief, I just had a minute to record before I went out the door. I really appreciated the points you made in comments, & absolutely agree - the gradual opening of the movement is part of what has enabled me to become really excited (and somewhat involved) with it. I do still think that true accessibility will require continued conscious effort. I hope that the current trend of increased access to information and communication continues, but I think we will have to continue the fight for it before it truly becomes the norm - especially with the way that the corporate world is keeping such a desperate stranglehold on so much of the information that’s out there right now.
Comment by Ella — April 4, 2006 @ 1:40 am
well I wonder - after getting slapped by boris - if we should even think of it as a fight? maybe it’s just about realizing what is happening & why, and making sure that our decisions match with what we want & believe in (in light of a different undersatnding). That is, we ought to be aware of what’s happening, & the reasons we think it might be important, and then just choose accordingly.
Comment by hugh — April 4, 2006 @ 10:05 am
I both agree and disagree - I mean, yeah, it’s about working with what’s organically there, absolutely. It doesn’t matter how idealistic you may be if nobody cares. But I do believe that there have been and will be battles to be fought and won (and I think even Boris would agree that fighting to protect what’s already there from the needless depredations of commercial interests may sometimes be valuable). People who are suing Sony for its crippling DRM spyware, or fighting pointless RIAA suits for being on a file sharing network are prime examples of this. If nobody were speaking out (and fighting) against it, these stories wouldn’t be in the news and nobody would care. I think (hope) that the free movement is one that everyone cares about, it’s just that sometimes they have to have it pointed out to them, in the right way.
Comment by Ella — April 5, 2006 @ 3:57 am
actually its the DRM issue that interests me most. I would much prefer see a big movement among techies & musicians to build a separate, sensible internet music distribution system - that encourages podcasting, that encourages sharing, P2P etc, but also encourages payment somehow. that is, my interest is more in building new systems that are more democratic, more friendly to genuine creativity etc, rather than fighting to patch up an already-bad system of art management & distribution.
podcasting for instance means i never complain about radio anymore. radio is crappy in Montreal, but who cares? I have other options.
similarly i’d like to be able to say: Sony & their DRM is crappy, but that;s fine because I can buy other, more interesting art using some other method.
Comment by hugh — April 5, 2006 @ 10:30 am