Revision as of 14:05, 13 July 2008

Openness, in the context of peer production, governance and property, refers generally to the availibility of the raw material for the social cooperation to occur. If such material is indeed "open", then it means that individuals and communities are "free" to use and modify it.

The open/free paradigm is part of the three processes that are necessary for the social reproduction of peer to peer processes, see the Circulation of the Common. We have attempted a defintion of a Open Movement which links those three aspects: open/free, participatory, and Commons oriented.

Definition

From the Open Everything project at http://openeverything.wik.is :

"The essence of open (what makes something 'open'?)

In the world of software, we have concrete definitions of what makes something free or open. However, as we use these concepts more widely, it gets fuzzier. One of the things we want to map through Open Everything is the ways that people are using 'open'. List your ideas on the essence of open below by filling in the blanks on the following sentences:

Something qualifies as 'open' when it is ...

1. Transparent. Meaning that you can see inside it, study it or understand it. E.g. open source software or an open government (not that we have great examples on this second one :)).

2. Participatory. People can become involved in a substantive way. They can contribute to and shape the open thing in question. Eg. wikipedia or Jane's Walk.

3. Flexible, malleable, editable. The people involved can change, evolve or improve whatever it is they are gathered around. E.g. an open space meeting agenda.

Some other things I notice about 'open' projects and orgs is that they ...

1. Tend to combine extreme levels of idealism and practicality, which are things that don't usually go hand in hand. E.g. Firefox is a very useful tool, but its makers say they make this tool 'to keep the web open'.

2. Taken from some work in the social innovation/enterprise area, this seem to have some relevance:

1. Provide spaces for people as they are and as they want to become
2. Embrace the richness and wisdom in differences
3. Act with a light spirit, sense of fun, creativity and a perspective of opportunity
4. Practical and productive application of techniques and approaches from non-traditional domains
5. Distribute increasing control, earnings, and assets into the communities they serve

We will refine this list at our events, and then share it with the world to evolve further." (http://openeverything.wik.is/Mapping_Open)

Other Definitions

Mark Surman discusses openness here at http://commonspace.typepad.com/commonspace/2008/02/open-vs-open-vs.html and has added a chart at http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dfpvr6w7_11g98b73dh

List of Open Concepts and Practices

Open

Open Source

Free

More Information

See the defintion of Open Knowledge, at http://www.opendefinition.org/1.0
And also: Free Software Principles, and the Free Content Definition

Openness: Difference between revisions