E. Gabriella Coleman: Coding Freedom (2012, Princeton University Press)
269 pages
English language
Published Aug. 13, 2012 by Princeton University Press.
An anthropological study of Free Software hackers. A free .pdf version of this book is available on the author's website [here][1]
An anthropological study of Free Software hackers. A free .pdf version of this book is available on the author's website [here][1]
That was interesting. It included theory without a “cite-my-new-concept” style; most of the observations resonated with my experiences in FOSS projects while going beyond this.
A USA-based anthropological look at the software hacker subculture of 10-15 years ago. Focussing on F/OSS projects, identifying and documenting social interactions, and challenges like licencing. Talks about the narrow politics (and protests) of such groups, and briefly looks at the effect they have had in the greater culture. The in-depth look at the Debian project was my favourite section.
Although this book is a PhD dissertation and contains some anthropology technical jargon, Coleman's tone is casual, making it surprisingly accessible.
I learned a lot about the F/OSS movement and being surrounded by developers all day (and pretending to be one myself) I think she perfectly captured the culture. Through this book I also learned more about my own political stance, coming to open source from a political background rather than from pure development.
The particular dichotomies she describes (between meritocratism and communal action; and between free speech and intellectual property law) are thought-provoking and spurred me to find out more. Although I had used Ubuntu, I had no experience or knowledge of Debian and began to investigate. To put it another way, this book has influenced how I do my personal computing (eg. being aware of and making more ethical choices, where possible).
I would recommend this book to …
Although this book is a PhD dissertation and contains some anthropology technical jargon, Coleman's tone is casual, making it surprisingly accessible.
I learned a lot about the F/OSS movement and being surrounded by developers all day (and pretending to be one myself) I think she perfectly captured the culture. Through this book I also learned more about my own political stance, coming to open source from a political background rather than from pure development.
The particular dichotomies she describes (between meritocratism and communal action; and between free speech and intellectual property law) are thought-provoking and spurred me to find out more. Although I had used Ubuntu, I had no experience or knowledge of Debian and began to investigate. To put it another way, this book has influenced how I do my personal computing (eg. being aware of and making more ethical choices, where possible).
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the ethics of computing (which should be everyone IMHO) or developers who are not already inside the F/OSS community.
