{"id":10933,"date":"2022-03-29T09:47:39","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T13:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artspond.com\/?p=10933"},"modified":"2022-03-31T04:00:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T08:00:52","slug":"open-source-and-co-creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artspond.com\/fr\/2022\/03\/29\/open-source-and-co-creation\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Voices: Open Source and Co-Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00ab\u00a0Youth Voices\u00a0\u00bb is a blog series as a part of ArtsPond’s commitment to celebrate the thought leadership of the next generation of social changemakers in arts, culture, technology, and more. The following brief on open source software and its applications and benefits for co-creation was prepared by <\/em>Sydney Sheridan<\/a><\/strong>, ArtsPond’s Youth Knowledge Seeker for DigitalASO and Hatch Open in Summer 2021.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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What is Open Source Software?<\/h4>\n

Open Source Software (OSS) is any software that has source codes that users and programmers can inspect, modify, and distribute. Source code is a set of instructions and statements that are fundamental to a computer program. Source codes can be open <\/strong>(as in the case of OSS) or proprietary<\/strong>. Proprietary (or closed) software means that only the original author can inspect and modify the source code.<\/p>\n

With OSS, users can access, copy, modify and redistribute the code at minimal or no cost.<\/strong> Additionally with OSS, programmers may not discriminate against any person(s) by preventing them from using a program nor can a programmer restrict the use of the program for any particular purpose.<\/p>\n

The OSS model depends on a community of users and programmers who make and unmake the software all over the world. For this reason, no single programmer is the \u201cowner\u201d of the code.<\/p>\n

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Open Source Software, Copyright, and Copyleft<\/h4>\n

OSS is protected under copyright law. Open source licenses allow for the use, modification, and re-distribution of the software. These licenses set the terms and conditions for further use and re-distribution and establish an enforceable sharing ethos. A copyleft license<\/a><\/strong> ensures that when a code is copied, modified and re-distributed as a derivative work, the derivative work must be distributed on the same terms as the source code.<\/p>\n

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Open Source Software and Co-Creation<\/h4>\n

OSS is constantly created, edited, improved, changed, and redistributed by any user with access. This practice is unlike traditional and hierarchical systems of software design and management. OSS often inspires communities of users who collectively work to modify and improve a software through an iterative process of continuous evolution<\/strong>. Moreover, OSS communities are built on trust, transparency, and openness where users can learn from others in the community. In that sense, OSS can be thought of in terms of ArtsPond\u2019s iterative co-creation process of learning, creating, and (in)validating<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

OSS has the potential to facilitate community-initiated software development. A Tech for Social Justice<\/em> (T4SJ) Project report, #MoreThanCode<\/a><\/strong>, argues for the importance of a co-design methodology for technology. Co-design methodology is when the communities that technology is meant to serve play an active role throughout the design process. Here, it is the needs of the community that drive the development of technology and its solutions.<\/p>\n

In their report, #MoreThanCode<\/em>, practitioners were asked to define the role of OSS in social justice, social good, and the public interest. Many practitioners responded that the values of OSS are compatible with values of equity<\/strong>, social justice<\/strong>, resource sharing<\/strong>, and technological development<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Open Source and Sustainable Development Goals<\/h4>\n

The fundamental values of OSS can be applied to help further United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals:<\/p>\n