Open Thoughts

How many peers does it take to change a light bulb?

#PeerProduction #FreeSoftware #OpenHardware #OpenInnovation #OpenKnowledge

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Knowledge should be free

Posted on 20/05/2015 by Open Thoughts — No Comments ↓

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By Katherine Maher, Chief Communications Officer, Wikimedia Foundation.

Knowledge should be free, open, and collaborative. This is the idea at the heart of Wikipedia. It is what has made Wikipedia the largest collaborative free knowledge resource in human history, and one of the most popular websites in the world.

The Wikipedia vision is a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. For us to realize this world, collaboration is critical. At the Wikimedia Foundation we believe that we won’t reach the sum of all knowledge without the contributions of all people, so we are committed to expanding opportunities for people from around the globe to contribute to, and learn from, the Wikimedia projects.

Tagged with: accuracy, Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, collaboration, community, editors, Encyclopædia Britannica, knowledge, neutrality, notability, verifiability, volunteers, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia
Posted in Open Thoughts 2014

A ten-step guide to approach the light bulb challenge

Posted on 05/02/2015 by Open Thoughts — No Comments ↓

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By David Cuartielles, Arduino co-founder and teacher at Malmö University.

Step one: take a close look at the problem.

Step two: walk in circles for half an hour thinking about what could possibly go wrong, put the boiler in action, you’re gonna need some tea.

Step three: do you have all of the tools you need? Who knows anyway how to solve this task!

Tagged with: collaboration, community, forum, light bulb, open source, platform, sharing experiences, survey
Posted in Open Thoughts 2014

How many peers does it take to change a light bulb?

Systems like Linux and websites like Wikipedia are paradigmatic of a particular way of open collaboration known as peer production. Peer producers choose their tasks freely and coordinate their work using open digital platforms. They share the fruits of their labour as part of a global commons, and everyone works according to their abilities and benefits according to their needs.

Is this an emerging form of communism? Or the future of liberal capitalism? Or is it simply a new mode of production? In this blog we want to explore both the benefits and the downsides of such way of working.