Week 12-Topic 12-Open Source

Lecture:
The discussion at this week’s lecture was about Open Sourcing. I was unable to attend the lecture. The power point that was found on the Learning @ Griffith website goes to describe free software and the aspects in which relate with the topic. The free software was created by Richard Stallman in 1985 and it started the MIT “Hacker”. The goal of this program was to create a completely free unix-like operating system made from free software which is called GNU. There are freedoms in which are linked to this idea with the programs that are created, how they work, the improvements to be made upon release of the program. There is a difference of the Open source and the proprietary (closed source) and how they make their money. Open Source can benefit society in the idea which brings together the ideas of everyone in society, benefiting those in communities to the software that is presented to them. While the idea of open sourcing is good, it has its flaws along with everything and everyone, but it is software that can be modified for each individual in society.

Reading:
There were three readings this week discussing Open Sourcing.

Why software should not have owners?
The first reading discussed the legal issues behind open sourcing and along with how the creators of the software don’t make any money as the software is free to the consumer. The creators rely on donations and funding from outside sources to get by. The idea of free software creates more problems than it does solutions in societies as the usage of the technology is unclear. The software has “owners” and the copyrighting are technicalities of the free software.

Is Flossing good for you?
The novel on is Flossing is good breaks down the idea of Open sourcing by stating that it is “free/libre/open source software”. The difference between the user and the creator are different but the user is able to consume, copy, improve, examine or distribute the information at no cost or no price. The creator makes the software and it is able to be passed around to others after making it their own. It is defined free as in freedom, the software is there to be modified and passed on. Linux and “Digital Commons” are introduced and the idea of Wikipedia where information is collaborated with others to create one article. The ideas of shared networks or collective ideas are the idea of ownership in society.

Cory Doctorow: Creative Commons
The article that is written goes on to describe the idea of copyrights and how they have developed over time and are constantly changing. Technology is always changing, expanding and developing and the idea of cyberspace and the internet and is introduced. While the copyrights are always adapting there is still the idea of “some rights reserved” and they will last forever. Copyrights will always be there and have been there for years, they are not going anywhere.

Tutorial:
I was not present at this week’s tutorial, I was shopping in Melbourne. But I created a video to put on YouTube, but couldn’t put it on YouTube. It was confusing on how to save it and didn’t really explain on how to do it. I really enjoyed putting the video together with photos and music. It was basic and simple but fun, I did a course in high school where we created videos. It was fun and found it easy, I have just never put anything on YouTube.