Free and Open Source Software

Topic Owners: dulles,Ayelet

Back to syllabus.

Precis

Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) does not obey the usual rules of market based economies. Those who contribute to the codebase of large F/OSS projects, for example, are often unpaid amateurs working in their free time. We propose that F/OSS is better understood using the mechanics of "gift economies" rather than market economies. These are economies which value reputation over profit, where value is had in the giving, not in the taking, and where the wealthiest are those who have given away the most. Yet Linux distributors such as RedHat operate in the market economy even though their products are free, depending on a services based business model.

In our class we will try to track the economies and motivations that move F/OSS forward, from an insider and an outsider perspective. We will focus of three questions regarding the economies of F/OSS: 1. Inside motivations: what makes programmers take part in creating open software without being payed? 2. The connection between F/OSS and money: how do Linux distributions effect motivations? what happens to F/OSS when it comes a part of a hybrid of market and gift economied? 3. What should we do about it - how does the general market economy and law promote or undermine the F/OSS project by influencing these motivations? how the IP regime limits, or doesn't, the commons-based development of software?

We will note that although the creative potential of the intellectual commons isn't limited to software, in regards to software, the Internet and computer technology generally enable commons-based creativity in a way never before possible and triggers the question whether F/OSS offers a better model for creating software than proprietary mechanisms ("with enough eyes, all bugs are shallow"). We would like to speculate as to why Linux has succeeded as a commons-based development and why art hasn't.

Fundemental Question

How is F/OSS created and how should law be reformed to promote is?

Guest Wish-list

• Yochai Benkler (maybe unavailable)
• Mako - as an insider from the F/OSS movement.
• somebody more familiar with F/OSS and the law

Readings

• The Gift, by Lewis Hyde. Chapter TDB, probably introduction.
• The Gift Economy and Free Software, by Jem Matzan.
• Remix, by Lawrence Lessig. Ch. 9, 10.
• TBD by Yochai Benkler.

a cool tech thing

maybe using Katlura to create a joint class mashup? - used by Miriam and Joseph's group.

• possible alternative: each picking a favorite SourceForge project / Linux-installing party?