Open Source Undefined: Overview of the Digital Bazaar | Project proposal

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What is « open source »? This question is in fact complex, and a right answer may be that we still don't know.

There are conventions, there are implicit, there are popular usages, there are different interpretations, there are disagreements, there are misuses, there are grey areas... a ubiquitous phenomenon with digital technologies surrounded everywhere by confusion.

However, a stronger understanding of this concept of « open source » should help to benefit more fully from the digital revolution.

Building a Knowledge Base

What if « open source » still remain undefined? This project proposal « Open Source Undefined: Overview of the Digital Bazaar » is to produce a knowledge base to provide a global overview on various aspects surrounding this notion of « open source » within digital technologies.

Knowledge base website: https://open-source-undefined.org/
Knowledge base repository: https://github.com/Open-Models/Open-Source-Undefined

A knowledge base to fuel a debate on the meaning of open source. Knowledge for research purposes to try to grasp its sense more precisely, knowledge for education to learn on open source. A project at the intersection of open science and open education (for open source).

The idea is to explore some meaningful components behind the term « open source »: the multidimensional aspects of the notion, its history, its use in different domain, its relation with copyright, the public domain and licences, the various interpretation of openness, words used...

More broadly, questioning something around « the source of digital resource ».

A project to produce a knowledge tool for the growing number of people facing the need to apprehend and explain this particular phenomenon, a place to gather knowledge and discussions which can help to bring clarity on this concept.

Open Source was adopted in reaction to the free software confusion factor, let's react to the open source confusion factor.

Open Source Confusion Factors

Explaining open source remains complicated because of a number of confusing factors. The interpretation will differ from one person to another, depending on their knowledge of the issues but also on a certain philosophy in the approach to open source, with also a meaning that seems to be evolving with the democratisation of digital technologies.

Main identified « open source » confusion factors:

• Meaning outside of software: Usually associated to software, it's gradually used in other openness dynamics where a question around « sources » seems common to enable modifications. The scope is vague, difficult to know when term use is appropriate and meaningful.
• Multiple dimensions embedded: We often use the word "open source" to refer to multiple elements together, from this access to source [code?] to collaboration, the licenses, the ecosystems, the governance or mechanisms that surround it. The point is to try to distinguish between these dimensions.
• Openness and limitations: Different practices take shape around commercial, modification and usage rights, with a blurred boundary of "open" which may be at the root of disagreements.
• Various questions: We can observe a word proliferation which represents overlapping ideas with subtle distinctions perhaps not always that meaningful, there are contradictions between popular or conventional usages, etc.

Certainly not an exhaustive list, but it's to show that the confusion surrounding the term open source may have different origins and takes different forms depending on social contexts.

The interest will be in questioning these confusions to try to grasp the meaning of « open source ».

Perspectives

If this debate is meaningful, having a reasonably clear and comprehensive explanation of « open source » could be significant for the digital world. The way we think about open source may influence the way we act with digital technologies.

The aim is not to eliminate the confusion inherent in words, but at least to reduce it to have a more shared and considered language. A support to discuss potential definitionS to capture the essence of the notion.

The initial aim of the « Brick of Knowledge on Open Models » is to support education on « open models » [open education, open science, open (source) software, open hardware...], and therefore in « open source » whatever it means. In regard to these confusion factors, open source is hard to explain, even more in the light of these other dynamics of openness. This project would be a support to create open source content for this brick of knowledge.

By observing the growing importance of « open source », these confusions and the lack of educational and scientific resources to explain/define it more globally, this initiative is part of this educational and exploratory work that can be useful by several actors confronted to open source.

The intention is to bring together different communities to elevate this debate beyond software (and licenses!), which can lead to a wider awareness of these other "open models" and increase the importance given to « sources of digital resources » in science, education and so on.

Supporting the definition of open source may be a useful open source contribution. Let's talk about the meaning of open source?

To support the « science of Open Source [development] » and to bring some clarity to the bazaar.