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

[Yvonne Lam]

Probably not directly useful, but might be helpful as deep background:

* Evan Czaplicki on the hard parts of open source:
https://twitter.com/czaplic/status/1050406384628584455
* He pulled his citations into a separate gist:
https://gist.github.com/evancz/b29d1ce4166a557d03474278b2b44514
(Fred Turner's book, which I think someone else already recommended, is
great.)
* I have found Charles Mills on ideal theory a useful way to look at
various attempts at an ethics of open source:
http://www.nsdupdate.com/assets/2017/02/Ideal-theory-as-ideology.pdf
* Tara McPherson's "Unix Operating Systems at Midcentury" (paywalled) and
"Why are the digital humanities so white?" (
https://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/read/untitled-88c11800-9446-469b-a3be-3fdb36bfbd1e/section/20df8acd-9ab9-4f35-8a5d-e91aa5f4a0ea
)

Yvonne

On Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 8:40 AM Don Goodman-Wilson <don at maintainerati.org>
wrote:

> 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
> twitter: @DEGoodmanWilson <https://twitter.com/DEGoodmanWilson>
> cal: calendly.com/degoodmanwilson/
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