In light of the current patents scandal between Microsoft and leading open source vendors, I’ve decided to focus this week’s blog on open source: what it is, what it promises, and what the legal and ethical issues are. According to the open source wiki, open source refers to “the source code of software that is made available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent intellectual property restrictions. This allows users to create user-generated software content through incremental individual effort or through collaboration.”
The Open Source Definition points out that in order for software to be categorised as open source, it must comply with the following criteria:
- Free Redistribution: open source is about altruism and the evolution of software, not about making fast cash.
- Source Code: the program must include source code in the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program, or there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code.
- Derived Works are allowed, but the license may insist on the integrity of the author's source code.
- No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups.
- No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor – eg: commercial, or genetic research.
- License Must Not Restrict Other Software.
- License Must Be Technology-Neutral: no provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.
The open source wiki discusses how the open source model also extends into the decision making processes: input from various agenda’s is encouraged, which contrasts with centralized models of development which dominate commercial companies.
For online journalists, open source can be an invaluable tool, both on a material, technical level, and as an inspiration towards more altruistic, “open” journalism (of the citizen journalism style perhaps).
Amongst its major accomplishments are its role in helping to free the human genome, its thwarting of Netscape’s monopoly on the net, and its ability to help people in countries with restricted access (such as China) to get around censorship.
However, in light of the current debates going on about open source and patent violation, there are certain difficult questions pertaining to intellectual property rights and ownership. As a journalist it's important to keep track of any legal and ethical issues related to our media production, so I’ll discuss these issues in depth in next week's blog.
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2 comments:
Interesting, though in relation to journalism in the South one could also discuss the potential benefits (and challenges) of adoption of OSS options, as well as considerations regarding the provision of "open source" journalism content in the form of wikis or some Creative Commons licensing.
Try to link your blog to South African blog aggregator sites like Amatomu or Afrigator. The issues that you discuss here are also widely discussed on such spaces as Creative Commons SA. Cross post your blogs and link to other open source, digital freedom and creative commons blogs to maximise readership and use. Create a Flickr account for example and link in pics to adorn your site.
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