Arduino

This Wired article (10/20/08) talks about Arduino and their open source approach to hardware. 

 

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/16-11/ff_openmanufacturing?currentPage=1

 

Early Science

The idea that scientists have to work together in an open-source format existed before the WWII. One of the reasons the open format of science disappeared was the US government and its fear of treason.  Leo Szilard who created the first atomic chain reactions and later worked on the Manhattan project was one of the few scientists to oppose the idea of the US government to divide the scientists, and to make the research top secret therefore illegal to discus. His argument was that if the scientists shared their ideas the research would go faster. The movie “The Atomic Café” shows in part the destruction of the open physics research.

 

Principles of Scientific Management

Scientific management ( is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes work flow processes, improving labor productivity. The core ideas of the theory were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s.   -Wikipedia

Certainly any kind of open source system needs some organizing set of principals for it to run smoothly. According to Taylor the (somewhat obvious) way to do  this is to structure a system by which benefits the worker when the end result benefits the company. For example, he argued that paying workers by the hour provided no incentive for them to work efficiently and managed several companies where he was able to pay the workers considerably more than they had been earning while still increasing his profits.

Seemingly, the Linux mode of production has achieved a way to reward its workers, who don’t even get paid at all. By working on what directly benifits you first, then sharing the results, all benifit.

Brakin: Brazzaville–Kinshasa

Open source city-planning though complete lack of “top down” control

I would argue that an “open source” methodology takes place in the cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa. They are separated by a the Congo river and are national capitals of their countries, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo.  Although the Congo river is a national border there is virtually no barrier between the countries. Individuals travel between the cities and carve out their own space as they see fit.  This is certainly not a trophy case of open source planning, but an interesting on nonetheless. A group of Jan van Eyck researchers studied the city and complied their work in a book called “Brakin” a mashup of the two cities names. The book includes several photo-essays and writings breaking down the city using unconventional methods that are often more telling what a census or other “standard” system could. But a census is out of the question because the city/cities are in constant flux many places have no official roads and hence no addresses. The majority of the population lives in “in between” spaces they appropriate on either a temporary or permanent basis.

For open sourcing to work on any scale, that of the city or that of the computer program, there must be some driving logic that solidifies the common goal.

http://www.janvaneyck.nl/0_4_3_publications_info/brakin.html

topic: Open Source

For next class period please read the following texts, as noted below “the Cathedral and the Bazaar” is the more ideological text, written by Eric Raymond one of the Open Source movements key propagandists.  This is a must read!  The second text “the political economy of open source” is a draft of a paper that eventually became Steven Weber’s important book, The Success of Open Source, this is probably the most clearly written and relatively comprehensive explanation of how Open Source works and what the key conditions that enable its success are.  The third link We-Think, points to a text and author who takes the idea of open source and applies it to the world at large including design and generally to creativity at large, it is provocative and lays some interesting groundwork for a good conversation to be had in architecture school.  Of all of the reading and discussion components of the semester I consider this to be the significant.  Please take the time to read all of the first, atleast the first part of the second, and surf through the third before class next week.  We will spend the first part of class with a short presenation and larger class discussion of which you should be able to intelligently participate.

1. the cathedral and the bazaar, Eric Raymond (conceptual, propaganda)
2. The political economy of open source, Steven Weber (best early academic background)
3. we-think,Charles Leadbeater (Open source goes main-stream)

These readings should also be great fodder for extended research and heavy blogging!