Richard Stallman on Free Software
–youtube video
1) Stallman discuses how if users
do not have control over the software they use this creates an imbalance of
power, but if user’s have control over ever software program they use how what
would the effect on the overall Internet be? Wouldn’t this create a whole different type of imbalance of
power, being the computer savvy people would have the knowledge to change these
program and the people with limited computer skills would be put a disadvantage
instead?
2) If developers could no longer
restrict the use of the software they created through copyright law, would this
slow innovation because people would have less incentive to create new software
because they can’t protect it from others infringing on their ideas?
3) What are some current examples
of programs that use ‘copyleft’ and have they been successful? If copyright
laws did not protect educational material, how would the author and publisher
make money on their work? Wouldn’t
this put authors, innovators, and creators at a disadvantage?
What is Open Source? – Computer Floss
What is Open Source? – Computer Floss
1) Even if all software was made
to be open source and all the source code was available, wouldn’t only a small
number of the population be able to understand the source code to make changes
or fix problems?
2) Since companies currently
consider source code to be a trade secret, what would be the effect on their competitive
advantage if all this information were made public?
3) What was the effect of the GNU
project to develop free software?
Was it successful, why or why not?
4) Is there a program to convert
the machine code back to source code? A program that undoes what the ‘compiler’
did, which was discussed in the video.
"Open Source vs Proprietary Software"
1) How is proprietary software designed
to meet the needs of the user more than Open Source? What are the advantages that come from the fact that Open
Source does not have censorship and monitoring?
2) The article states that open
source is great for ‘DIY project’, what is a DIY project?
3) One of the arguments against Open
Source is that the quality is questionable and I think this relates to the
other argument that there is no responsibility. Is there a way to add accountability to increase quality,
without connecting it to a single company?
“Life on the Electric Frontier: An
Interview with Howard Rheingold”
1) Are there more dangers now in
making the transition from an online to a face-to-face community? How can these
dangers we prevented or overcome in our current society?
2) When The Well became part of
the Internet and ‘went global’, do you think the types of relationships and
communities formed using this platform changed?
3) What do you believe is the best
way to overcome the isolation that technology has the potential to create? Do you believe it depends on the
individuals to use this advancing technology as a tool for increased personal community
or further isolation?
“Howard Rheingold’s Virtual
Community”
1) When discussing Japan, and why
the Net does not automatically result in Internet, the article states that
“people are waiting until the Net has acquired a more visual character…” What does the author mean by a ‘visual
character’? And how can this be
accomplished?
2) In relation to relationships
and forming communities, what are your expectations for the Internet in the
future? What are your predictions
about how it will progress?
3) Do you believe there is a
solution for ‘disinformocracy’? Why do you believe this is such a big problem?
Re: the first #1 - That imbalance already exists in a big way. You can even see this in class between the computer science students and the rest of the class -- in our social system there is a general "Aristocracy of Technology" which positions certain in people in power based on their knowledge of techno-social systems. (The producers vs the users!) SO, the question becomes, what, if anything, to do about it. It's clear that few people think about this in the busy-ness of juggling life and our techno-toys, but it is also clear that 'users' have chosen to exert little control over both the details and the big picture. The producers prefer this.
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