"The institutional foundations that define open source today thus rest
on a rapid and arbitrary process — inherited from a document [Debian
Free Software Guidelines] that predated the concept and was designed to
serve an entirely different purpose. In fact, the concept of open source
has never been rigorously defined."
Hello Bryan,
Thanks for providing me the opportunity to debate with a traditional
OSI/OSD supporter ! To be honest, I read a LOT
<https://www.zotero.org/groups/5352918/open_source_undefined/library>
about the meaning of « open source » so I know perfectly this conception
of the notion with which I fundamentally disagree. I know this view well
enough to anticipate this speech. The potentially painful truth is that,
especially after decades of holding these views, can you conceive of
being wrong? You’re clearly taking a defensive stance, and in my view
the support behind the OSD is more about conservatism behind a dogma.
Regarding software, saying that the Open Source Definition defines
clearly open source is a biased view as this vision is disputed and the
debate remains open within software communities. It's factually wrong to
say that everyone agrees on the definition of open source, there are
conflicting interpretations with a dominant viewpoint and its
minorities. It’s not as well established as you might pretend.
Beyond software, perhaps a new terminology could emerge to describe
this, and time and its debates might shed some light on the matter. At
the moment, I have no idea what it could be and talking about « open
source », about « open source resources » is what seems most natural for
me. It is common to talk about « source files » to refer to these
editable elements, I don't really witness any other vocabulary for now.
And the fact is in these other openness movements (e.g. open science,
open education) the notion of « open source » has started to be used and
theorized to designate the availability of these source files. It’s not
just me talking about « open source resources », it's really an emerging
question. (e.g.: Open Source Educational Resources
<https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.14330>, open source educational materials
<https://jose.theoj.org/about> in the Journal of Open Source Education,
open source article
<https://social.sciences.re/@[email protected]/113519894415959934> for
open science)
I shared this on the Open Education Global forum; the idea of
open-source resources is well received within the community with people
telling me about the challenges they face regarding sources files:
https://connect.oeglobal.org/t/preprint-publication-request-for-review-open-source-2-0-from-open-source-software-to-open-source-resources/9001
Is there a need for different terminology, or are we witnessing a
conceptual shift? For now I bet on an evolution of the notion in the
coming years; it addresses a real need.
To be fair, in my view I don’t think these shifts in the understanding
of open source will take place within the traditional open source
[software] community, via the Open Source Initiative which supposedly
defines « open source », but because new usages will emerge elsewhere.
They have become so blinded by their beliefs that they are no longer
willing to face reality, and realising that they were wrong for so long
is going to take time and will be painful. What they are protecting will
probably collapse. The foundations on which the OSD is built are far too
weak to stand the test of time, there is an emotional attachment. There
isn't really any real rationale behind the liberal vision championed by
the OSI and its community, it's just a social game and they are fighting
against the natural functioning of language.
Good luck with the OSD defence, but honestly, I think you have already
lost. It’s a hot topic and I’m jumping right into the fire ❤️🔥 It’s
not always the wisest thing to do, but sorry for trying to be honest
about what I think...
"This citizen research makes no pretence of an illusory neutrality to
embed a political stance, it is intended as a kiss of death against some
beliefs."
Simon
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