The notion of sharing is a thought that comes to mind when thinking about Open Source software and the development of software through collaborative measures. It is a simply concept “to share”, but as in kindergarten, it is still a tricky skill to manage.
Whilst researching this topic I came across a fantastic video, Elephants Dream, made entirely on Blender, apparently it is the first ever. Firstly, I love that this type of content can come from someone’s brain and secondly I am in awe that this can be done at home on your PC. I went to Blender to see how this type of content is created and had little luck. It seems that whilst this software is now available to everyone, you still have to have a certain level of skill to use it. Eventually I found a good overview on Wikipedia (which is an example of open source collaboration itself).
So check out this video:
In past years, this type of content was not even available in the cinema yet. On the Elephants Dream website admirers and other creative minds have lefts comments suggesting that the makers of Elephants Dream use their music and have left links to their proposed songs.
This is a remix of Elephants Dream using a song written for it (an example of open source collaboration within itself):
The reading by Axel Bruns states that...
“while the project originator, by virtue of that role, necessarily is an initial leader of the project, they also need to be able to step away from that role enough to enable others to provide leadership in areas of project development where their skills are most effectively utilized: “the next best thing to having good ideas is recognizing good ideas from your users. Sometimes the latter is better.””
This is where the notion of sharing comes in. I think that it is a skill to be able to produce something and then allow it to be added to and changed, sometimes completely by the end, from what you intended it to be. In the creative industries, where the cultural capital is very important, it is essential to remember that it is the thought that it worth the most, and that the finished product would not have been developed at all if it wasn’t for your initial contribution.
Bruns also points out ...
“project are evaluated by the community at large— such communal evaluation will highlight those elements which should be included in the overall development project, and will point out those elements to be excluded as not meeting sufficient standards.”
Wikipedia is the most obvious example of this type of evaluated community sites. Entries can be added to, then the information that has been added will be analysed by other readers and flagged if it is incorrect or not substantial enough. Entries are also flagged if they need to be updated or if there is not sufficient information in it.
These are just two of the major concepts in open source software development. The fact that word-class projects such as Elephants Dream can be produced at home on your PC though free software I find amazing. I am of the generation who’s parents did not have computers, so it is just phenomenal that all of this has occurred in the last 15 years. The other most important issue surrounding open source software is the fact that so many people contribute in order to develop a product that is specific to their own taste. the cultural capital of such projects is huge and generally priceless (I assume it would cost a lot for companies to try to monopolise all of these ideas and pay each contributor).
I have never really looked into internet “sharing” before, but I am glad I did.
Reference:
AB. "Open Source Software Development: Probabilistic Eyeballs." Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage, ch. 3. (CMD)
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