Be Libre/Musings

This page is to collect any thoughts and ideas which may be picked up later for deeper consideration. What springs to mind?

Libredom

 * Is it possible to elaborate a way of being, and ethical system with freedom at its core?
 * What do you want to be free of? Or free to do?
 * i.e. what are the issues? (Some appear in the headings below)
 * Freedom - but not the freedom to restrict the freedom of others (copyleft).
 * Development as freedom
 * Freedom Charter
 * Four Freedoms - goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941.

Libre technology
Many are not aware that there is are ethical considerations in one's choice of technology. The aim is to raise awareness and understanding in this respect.

Use, participate in the development of, and share libre technology.


 * 1) Libre software: how to be free with libre software.
 * 2) * refer to Stallman's essays etc. relating to
 * 3) ** Intellectual property (a term to avoid)
 * 4) ** Software patents
 * 5) ** Software as a Service
 * 6) ** Digital restrictions management
 * 7) Libre hardware
 * 8) * OpenMoko
 * 9) * FreedomBox
 * 10) ** learn about it
 * 11) ** and similar projects
 * 12) * Hardware restrictions

Net neutrality

 * 1) See issues raised here (follow links to original docs which have since been updated).
 * 2) etc.

Libre knowledge

 * 1) Relevant discussion topics
 * 2) Live the libre vision
 * 3) * See the Barcelona Charter for Innovation Creativity and Access to Knowledge - Libre Interpretation - Internet freedom to innovate and be creative.
 * 4) Open access
 * 5) Publication review and impact (openness and transparency)
 * 6) * PLoS ONE: Community recognition and citation information.
 * 7) * Transparent pre- and post- publication review processes
 * 8) ** e.g. Guidelines for Notes, Comments, and Corrections
 * 9) ** e.g. PLOS and evaluation of the article itself rather than journal within which it was published (link?)
 * 10) Copyright
 * 11) * Brief History of Copyright
 * 12) * History of copyright law (Wikipedia)
 * 13) * Societal views on intellectual property (Wikipedia)
 * 14) * strategies - "permissive" cc-by and pro[tect]freedom cc-by-sa, ...
 * 15) ** CC "some rights reserved" vs copyleft (freedom [p]reserved) - author focus vs humanity.

Social justice

 * 1) Equality
 * 2) * treatment
 * 3) * opportunity
 * 4) Issues (global, local, ...)
 * 5) Human rights
 * 6) * Equality and freedom
 * 7) * Property and freedom
 * 8) * Law and freedom.

Ethics
What aspects of ethics and which ethical debates might be relevant?


 * 1) Rights
 * 2) * Human rights are mentioned under "Social Justice" above.
 * 3) * Animal rights (and Wikipedia project)
 * 4) ** Warning: shocking/disturbing footage in parts - a documentary about society's treatment of animals: Earthlings
 * 5) * Animal testing
 * 6) The ethics of life
 * 7) * Right to evolve
 * 8) * Taking one (or more lives) to save another (e.g. eating meat)
 * 9) Freedom
 * 10) Transparency
 * 11) Respect
 * 12) Philosophers of Ethics - see List of ethicists on Wikipedia.
 * 13) * Philippa Foot - virtue ethics

Psychology

 * Freeing the mind
 * Healthy body, healthy mind ...

Philosophy and religion

 * The Libre Manifesto article on Wikipedia refers to a variety of philosophical sources: Dadaism, Gilles Deleuze, Heidegger, Marxism, Situationism, Socialist Philosophy, Copyleft, Carl Schmitt, Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri, ... (which aspects of which apply?)
 * Part of the solution to our planetary challenges, in addition to raising awareness of human impacts, is helping people free themselves from the attachments the global economy seems to require of us. This is where philosophy (e.g. Buddhist ideas) and contemplative practices (such as Yoga, Taiji, etc.) can make a difference.
 * link this to celebrating cultural diversity (above)
 * Contemplative practices
 * Taiji, Yoga, ....
 * Secular humanism

Economics and Business Models

 * See this note on "economic growth".
 * In ICT: services-based business models: software development, support, training, ....
 * Not selling licenses to use [non-free] software
 * Analyse the comparative economics and deep sustainability of these different models.
 * e.g. people making a living directly or indirectly on the sale of non-rivalrous resources still consume rivalrous resources (e.g. food), pollute and otherwise have impacts on the environment.
 * In general: exclude models based on selling non-rivalrous resources beyond a reasonable return on investment.
 * Talk about Enabling Technology vs. Business Differentiation.
 * Peer production.
 * Examples:
 * PLoS ONE Business Model
 * Supporting producers of libre resources. Evaluate the various options:
 * Micro-donations
 * Jamendo (business model) - music
 * Jamendo (business model) - music

Sustainability

 * 1) Understanding the concept
 * 2) * developing a new paradigm (Sustainable evolution)
 * 3) Understand who we are
 * 4) * Chris Jordan: Picturing excess
 * 5) * and see 'Earthlings' above
 * 6) * and any source describing human impacts on climate, biodiversity, etc.
 * 7) * Transcend ourselves
 * 8) How do we resign civilization for sustainability?
 * 9) * What aims and aspirations?
 * 10) * What process?
 * 11) * What principles on individual, home, village, community, organisational, national and other levels?
 * 12) ** Would "More than 2 children" or "imports food" be anti-patterns?
 * 1) ** Would "More than 2 children" or "imports food" be anti-patterns?

Science

 * Asymptotic freedom (physics)
 * Systolic freedom (mathematics)
 * Degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry)

"Progress" has some interesting implications in terms of freedom and equality.


 * Genetic engineering
 * Transhumanism

Be Libre
This is the crux of the document. Suggesting patterns of being/doing which may be regarded as "libre" - extending one's personal freedom to self while minimising restriction of the freedom of others.

Every way of being/doing is optional. These are aspirations. Do what works for you and interpret it as you see fit.

Thoughts
Thoughts on patterns, anti-patterns, aspects, classification, ...

(free association)

Conceptual

 * Are the concepts valid?
 * Sustainable - nothing is indefinitely sustainable (always specify a time horizon)
 * Freedom - there are always degrees of freedom in relation to other entities ...
 * Knowledge - does knowledge have to be true to be "knowledge"?
 * E = mc2
 * We are exploring just one line (or branch) of thought.

Freedom

 * Freedom from?
 * regulation (e.g. "Free Schools" in the UK)
 * Restrict freedom X to enable freedom Y
 * e.g. restrict the freedom of a dangerous criminal so that others may walk around freely (and safely)
 * Restrictions we sign up to
 * Choices we can opt out of - e.g. restrict my freedom to socialise to study ... to free up more (desired) employment options ...
 * If opting out affects other people, do so with due process, timeously, transparently and compassionately.
 * Tragedy of the commons ... tragedy of enclosures.

Sustainability

 * In terms of sustainability, we are also talking about the freedom of future generations.
 * Freedom and responsibility
 * "mindfulness" and an understanding of interdependence (social, economic and biophysical) - by considering the freedom of others, including future generations (cf Amartya Sen's sources of unfreedom in Development as Freedom but without assuming unlimited abundance). Our own freedom depends on the freedom of others. We have collective responsibility.
 * Recall that "ethically in'defence'able discussion: cc-by vs cc-by-sa.

Biophysical/Ecological

 * Wildlife corridors and migration (freedom to evolve).

Evolution

 * Humans are opting out of (natural) evolution. Opt back in now before it is too late.
 * Anti-pattern: controlling evolution.

Social/Psychological

 * Gross national happiness
 * Contemplate
 * become aware of inter-connections (internalise and behave accordingly)
 * free of being controlled by unconscious processes, ....
 * "Be water my friend" (Bruce Lee)
 * Practice non-violence.
 * Social contracts
 * Self acceptance (free to be one's self)
 * Social confidence (as others afford that freedom)
 * Technology lends new meaning to "mindfulness" (e.g. access to knowledge, Sensor web, ...).

Activism

 * Be an educator (if not an activist/evangelist too).

Conduct

 * Play the ball and not the person
 * Code of Conduct (and associated resources)

Economy

 * Money does grow on trees ... ultimately all resources come from the earth.
 * Economics - quality of life (businessman and fisherman story)
 * From "Corporate Social Responsibility" to ethical business and pervasive responsibility.

Science

 * Fields with something of interest
 * Physics
 * Cosmology
 * M-theory
 * Mathematics
 * Chaos theory

Software

 * Pattern (broader than software): a questioning mindset, curious, inquiring mind, ..., explore alternatives, ....
 * Anti-pattern: referring to "Powerpoints" in stead of "presentations". A broader issue: e.g. "hoover", "intellectual property" and other words to avoid, etc. An unquestioning mindset.

Etc.

 * DIY - e.g. make own clothes, shoes, ... rather than pay 80% for brand.
 * PropertyLeft - explore:
 * PropertyLeft (ShareWiki)
 * PropertyLeft (CommunityWiki)
 * IOTA
 * User Owned
 * Burn ring funding model
 * Social Sufficiency Coalition.

Semantics

 * Free, libre, open, gratis ...
 * non-free/non-libre = proprietary
 * what "property rights" are left in cc-by and cc-by-sa?
 * vers libre - used in English ... became 'free verse'.
 * Debian Social Contract and (GNU) freedom (differences?)
 * Words to avoid, ...
 * content - how about using "information"?
 * tricky replacing CMS with IMS.
 * materials - rivalrous mindset