[FC-discuss] Free Software and Free Culture

[Janet Hawtin]

On 5/31/07, Asheesh Laroia <freeculture at asheesh.org> wrote:
> On Thu, 31 May 2007, Seth Johnson wrote:
>
> > How have free software advocates *not* "switched" to free culture?

I am not wholly on foss and I am not wholly using free media.
But I am pushing my own envelope to try new things, both in the tools I use,
the media I look at, and the licences I use for my own work.

We use Linux at home. I use some free software at work. Moodle,
DSpace, Firefox, Inkscape, I promote free software in my own time. I
also support free software and open licences at work where I am able
to. I am interested in access to knowledge and participative values
around information.

When I make things I licence works which I have control of freely.
If I design for a client its often for a free software logo.
'Trademark think' can be a factor on how that is used but I do not
retain control of the shapes. I provide the source svg for my work.

I buy open licensed books and ask in bookshops which books they have
which have open licences. I ask for books about free culture, free
software, copyright policy
Information Feudalism by Drahos is a ripper also online freely:
http://cgkd.anu.edu.au/menus/PDFs/Information%20Feudalism.pdf
http://www.anu.edu.au/fellows/pdrahos/articles/index.php
Cory Doctorow is another.

Often books I buy are free online and also available in paper format
and I buy the paper ones as well as looking at the online ones. I ask
in game shops for games on Linux. They don't have them but asking is
part of the process. Its something I can do. Sometimes I buy books
which are not free/CCSA/GPL. Sometimes I watch TV. When we see a movie
it is often a local culture film festival.

In Adelaide there is cross communication between people who do bike
mashups, wireless community networking, linux and open source
software, linux desktop training, open hardware design and
construction.

Kim and I see common thinking in each of these communities. They are
all 'make' cultures which value participation, need space, get messy
making things, experiment, scrounge and rewrangle trash, talk with
each other about how to do things, share ideas, share stuff, value
local participation and inventiveness.

The other culture is 'shopper' culture which is more about what you
can buy, whether it is bigger, shinier, more expensive. Most people
would be a mix.
We try to be as make as we can, and when we buy we try to support
makers, local people, fair trade, or open content.

I find that the kind of dialogue and underlying sharing which you get
in the 'make' cultures is pretty consistent and really nice to be a
part of. It is possible to connect people doing open telephony
hardware with people who are doing constructivist education and
student centred learning - despite their sector of work they are
already speaking the same language.

http://www.studioincite.com/makingwifi/
http://air-stream.org/
http://tallbikeconvention.blogspot.com/
http://www.linuxsa.org.au/
http://www.bettong.org/web/
http://www.watiwara.com/
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/

Given the bike culture and music that happens at the linux.conf.au I
feel that the same make/participate theme is a pretty consistent value
outside of Adelaide.
Here is the education miniconf from 2007:
http://www.fossed.org/lca07/program.html

The 2008 one is open for miniconference proposals.
If Free Culture AU would like to get stuck in and propose
a miniconf I think it would be very interesting. =).
http://linux.conf.au/

FOSS is not just code. It is a commitment to making in a way which
does not reduce the right to participate for the people who come after
you. It is a community which is working hard to walk the talk,
negotiations around licences are open and challenging, negotiations
around projects similarly. People are making make/shop, source/binary,
future freedom/current convenience choices all the time. Thrashing out
how to do business around services related to the code.
Some are employed to code customised components which are returned
into the mix but also benefit the contributing company, as did the
code it received from others. It is a different kind of economic
ecology.

It may be necessary to develop a different ecology for art, music,
writing, but there is only one way to find that out and thats by
having a go.

I have made this card game to help people explore different ways of publishing.
It is designed for schools. In our schools kids are taught about
copyright. I feel they could be learning more about open and
collaborative publishing. This is something people can use to start to
compare what happens around collaboration. The game is GPL. So you can
do what you want with it, but if you distribute it please do it in a
way which ensures people after you have the same freedoms. Change the
rules, the designs adjust the mix of plot, character, scene, genre,
get more internet stuff into it somehow or just design a custom deck
of cards for it.
http://lucychili.net/sfd/alpha.shtml

Janet