We can learn more from each other when information is open. A free exchange of ideas is critical to creating an environment where people are allowed to learn and use existing information toward creating new ideas.
Participation and collaboration is a fundamental key to being about to live in a community orientated fair world. Open Source software applies these principles to the development and sharing of new kinds of alternative digital platforms.
Ben Pfaff states in his article, “Society and open source: Why open source software is better for society than proprietary closed source software” that
…The most natural relationship between users and programmers is directly reciprocal. Programmers write software for users; users report bugs and suggest features to programmers. This relationship is enhanced when programmers are also users, since then programmers better understand their users’ needs.
So many tech companies are becoming toxic. Ruthlessly exploiting people and situations in the merciless pursuit of money. Reading Ben Farrells blog about working and quiting Apple,
I am no longer part of the collective iCult machine whose dirty, worn-out, greasy and naive internal mechanisms of bullying, harassment and mind-games push out shiny and polished iPhones every year. I AM FREE. It is ironic that one of the world’s largest companies and one that prides itself on innovation, creativity and ‘breaking the mould’, operates on such soul limiting entrenched dogma.
The current scrutiny of the ethical use of Big Data is enough to make you squirm. That’s another post in itself.
Needless to say, I am a fan of Open Source! There are many websites with lists of Open Source software, but as part of my research, into Open Source software, I am curating my own list, of software, websites and other digital media that I use on a regular basis. I will be updating this list continually over the next year, adding notes, links and other worthy commentary.
I am compiling this list in Google Docs here. If you know of Open Source software that you find invaluable, please let me know, and I will add it to my list.
When using any software, fonts or images, make sure to check the Creative Commons Licence!
So, what do you think ?