Open Sources

       My research started out with a Google search. I’m not afraid to admit it, since I’m sure most of yours did as well. After getting past the initial flood of news articles, I looked into post and links other people in the class had shared. I also looked up some ‘internet celebrities’ such as Randall Munroe, Cory Doctorow, and Richard Stallman, to see who they’d been talking with and about. But again, honestly my research process was more stumbling around a few reputable sources and checking out anything and everything that linked to them. I found some interesting sources that way, but the amount of noise in the results is a big damper on the research.

                As to how these sources relate to our claim, most of them are straight forward. Predictions of the digital future are numerous and varied, but these sources make educated arguments about how openness has developed, the way it has shaped society, and how it may develop in the future based on past examples. Our argument should make use of the evidence they present, and make note of their proposals, though we obviously won’t agree with them all.

• Hasan, Ragib. (History of Linux, https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/rhasan/linux/)
Provides an interesting and entertaining look into the early development of Linux and the open source movement. It’s a good introduction into the open-source movement and there’s some good insight into how an open movement grows over time. [I looked for a few run-throughs of early Linux history, and this is one of the better ones.]
• Doctorow, Cory (Creativity versus Copyright) As an openness activist, Doctorow lays some very good arguments for openness, while at the same time establishing some good boundaries to it. I plan to make use of both the pros and cons he lists in this article. [I found his essays while investigating his other works.]
• Boyle, James. The Public Domain, 2008 Yale University Press– the concept of the public domain is one of the first legal recognitions of openness, and its development over time is an important part of our argument in how openness will shape society. Examples used here about how the public domain has been used positively and negatively can be used to help establish openness guidelines. [I looked at the list of books used in class that I hadn’t read, and this one looked promising.]
• Micheal Tiemann- He’s a board member for the Open Source Initiative, GNOME foundation, and Open Source America. His work with the OSI works to clarify what precisely defines open-source and openness. Also, his blog is a good source of ideas and new implementations of openness in today’s society.
•  Cory Doctorow
– in his own words (from his blog) “Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger -- the co-editor of Boing Boing (boingboing.net) and the author of Tor Teens/HarperCollins UK novels like FOR THE WIN and the bestselling LITTLE BROTHER. He is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in London.” He’s very active in the creative commons movement, and looks a lot into the social and political implications of openness. Some of his articles would be good sources for the discussion of when Openness is and is not appropriate.
• Randall Munroe (xkcd.com) – A NASA roboticist, comic artist, and internet celebrity. He isn’t exactly a leading figure per se in any particular field of openness, but he is definitely an influence among the ‘internet culture’ that makes up the active user-base of most open source movements, and his work has been mentioned in discussion among most, if not all open communities. I also went to school with his brother, so I’m still holding out that he’ll respond in time for the final product.