[Themaintainers] The historical (and ethical) context of the Open Source movement

[Jaime Taylor]

Related, you may have seen Mandy Henk’s post covering the some of the same ground last week:

https://medium.com/@beewithablog/open-is-cancelled-da7dd6f2aaaf

Jaime Taylor
Discovery & Resource Management Systems Coordinator
W.E.B. Du Bois Library
University of Massachusetts
154 Hicks Way
Amherst, MA 01003
jaimetaylor at umass.edu<mailto:jaimetaylor at umass.edu>
413-577-3401

Proud member of the Massachusetts Society of Professors (MSP/MTA/NEA), the union representing faculty and librarians at UMass Amherst, and supporting public education and labor movements everywhere: umassmsp.org<http://umassmsp.org/>

From: themaintainers-bounces at lists.stevens.edu <themaintainers-bounces at lists.stevens.edu> On Behalf Of Don Goodman-Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 11:40 AM
To: themaintainers at lists.stevens.edu
Subject: [Themaintainers] The historical (and ethical) context of the Open Source movement

Howdy everyone!

As some of you may know, for the last year or so I've been undertaking a critical look at the Open Source software movement. For those at MIII's software track or recap, you'll be familiar with many of the issues that maintainers face—insufficient resources, feeling taken advantage of, burnout—and the infrastructural problems that come with unpaid labor under these conditions.

I've recently argued that there are larger, more fundamental problems with Open Source as an institution (https://don.goodman-wilson.com/posts/open-source-is-broken/ — warning, this essay really wants a lot of heavy-handed editing; more streamlined version that I presented at a recent conference should be online soon, and I can share that here when it's on YouTube).

One of the most common responses I've received is that I am attempting to "inject politics" into OSS, an inherently apolitical endeavour. I've responded by saying that my understanding is that OSS was, at least at the beginning, part of a larger movement that saw the emancipatory potential of technology, and believed that universal access to technology would liberate and empower all humans. OSS's goals of maximizing distribution was a tool used to achieve that aim, not the goal in and of itself.

I've started digging into this history, some of which I knew from living through it, and some of which is very new to me. I believe there is an important story to be told about the origins of Open Source that my peers and colleagues are largely unaware of, and that understanding this context can help unlock the answers to questions I'm asking about the path forward. I want to tell this story.

I could use your help! I'm looking for your opinions, your lived experience, and your insight. (This is also my first time undertaking an intellectual project of this scale (which isn't _huge_, but it's not small either) since my dissertation, so advice and support is also very welcome :D)

Don GOODMAN-WILSON
Maintainerati Board

mail: don at maintainerati.org<mailto:don at maintainerati.org>
twitter: @DEGoodmanWilson<https://twitter.com/DEGoodmanWilson>
cal: calendly.com/degoodmanwilson/<https://calendly.com/degoodmanwilson/>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.stevens.edu/pipermail/themaintainers/attachments/20200121/015cd5c0/attachment.html>