Who are computer hackers? What is free software? And what does the emergence of a community dedicated to the production of free and open source software — and to hacking as a technical, aesthetic, and moral project — reveal about the values of contemporary liberalism? Exploring the rise and political significance of the free and open source software (F/OSS) movement in the United States and Europe, Coding Freedom details the ethics behind hackers’ devotion to F/OSS, the social codes that guide its production, and the political struggles through which hackers question the scope and direction of copyright and patent law. In telling the story of the F/OSS movement, the book unfolds a broader narrative involving computing, the politics of access, and intellectual property. E. Gabriella Coleman tracks the ways in which hackers collaborate and examines passionate manifestos, hacker humor, free software project governance, and festive hacker conferences. Looking at the ways that hackers sustain their productive freedom, Coleman shows that these activists, driven by a commitment to their work, reformulate key ideals including free speech, transparency, and meritocracy, and refuse restrictive intellectual protections. Coleman demonstrates how hacking, so often marginalized or misunderstood, sheds light on the continuing relevance of liberalism in online collaboration.
Author(s): E. Gabriella Coleman
Edition: 1
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Year: 2013
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF | Full TOC
Pages: 269
Tags: Computer Hackers; Computer Programmers; Computer Programming: Moral And Ethical Aspects; Computer Programming: Social Aspects; Intellectual Freedom
Cover
Half title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction | A Tale of Two Worlds
A Liberal Critique Within Liberalism
Fieldwork Among Hackers
The Aesthetics Of Hacking
On Representing Hacker Ethics
Omissions And Chapter Overview
A Liberal Critique Within Liberalism
Fieldwork Among Hackers
On Representing Hacker Ethics
Omissions And Chapter Overview
Part I | Histories
1 | The Life of a Free Software Hacker
The Basic "Specs" Of A Lifeworld
The Thousand-Mile Journey Stars With A Personal Computer
Meeting Other Hackers On BBSs
The Internet
Free Software
Unix As "Our Gilgamesh Epic"
"Someone Must Brew The Beer"
Free Software In The Workplace
Free Software Spreads
The Hacker Con As Lifeworld
The Social Metabolism Of A Typical Developer Con
Conclusion
2 | A Tale of Two Legal Regimes
A Politics Of Hope
1970–1984: The Commodification Of Software
1984–1991: Hacking And Its Discontents
1991–1998: Silent Revolutions
1998–2004: Triumph Of Open Source And Ominous DMCA
Conclusion
Part II | Codes of Value
3 | The Craft and Craftiness of Hacking
Hacker Pragmatics
Hacker Cleverness
Communal Populism And Individual Elitism
Just Freedom
Conclusion
4 | Two Ethical Moments in Debian
Debian And Its Social Organization
Social Charters Amd Governance
Two Moments Of Ethical Cultivation
Building Trust Through The NMP
Crisis And Ethical Renewal
Portrait Of A Crisis
Part III | The Politics of avowal ad disavowal
5 | Code Is Speech
The Ethics Of Legal Contrast
"Living Out Legal Meaning"
Poetic Protest
Free Dmitry!
Conclusion
Conclusion | The Cultural Critique of Intellectual Property Law
The Political Agnosticism Of F/OSS
Three Moments Of Translation
Ope-Source Circulation Within Capital: IBM
Alternatives To Capitalism: IMCs
Liberal Commons And Limits To Capital
The Politics Of Defamiliarization
Epilogue | How to Proliferate Distinctions, Not Destroy Them
Notes
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Conclusion
Epilogue
References
Index
