Be Libre/Patterns
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< Be Libre
Be Libre
Exploring freedom: from software to knowledge to life with all its diversity and evolutionary potential.
| Process |
|---|
Developing a pattern language - discuss.
Preliminary ideas:
- A template[1][2][3] for describing patterns: {{Pattern}}
- A pattern relationships diagram[4].
- Can any existing patterns be re-used and adapted?[5]
Contents
Example Patterns
Brief (illustrative) examples (more in the Musings and under Trails) to suggest a possible approach. Each pattern could be elaborated[6] in detail where appropriate and their interrelationships clarified graphically (see Pattern Language below).
| Use free software | |
|---|---|
| Context: | Dominance of non-free software asserting its power through restrictive licensing, digital restrictions management, software patents, creating artificial scarcity and other monopolistic behaviours. |
| Problem: | Users are disempowered in terms of being able to learn about how the software works and being able to adapt it to their needs and to enhance and share it for community benefit. |
| Forces: | Powerful entities in the media and software industries developing and promoting technical and legal means of preventing such collaboration for collective societal benefit in the interests of profit - resisting the change required in copyright and other areas of the law to adapt to change brought about by the Internet/web. |
| Solution: | Use libre software (as far as possible in one's organisational context) and push the boundaries). |
| Consequences: | Society will be able to collaborate and help each other in developing software of benefit to society. The more people that use free software, the greater the community of contributors at various levels (coding, documentation production, bug reporting, feature requests, etc.) and there will be more pressure on non-free software vendors to adapt to change in ways which help everyone. |
| Case: | See for example: Free Software Case Studies/Case Studies |
| Related: | Be an activist (and walk the talk), Use libre knowledge, Use free file formats, ... |
| Be a vegan | |
|---|---|
| Context: | Animal carnage, growing population, habitat destruction, limited natural resources, ... |
| Problem: | More land needed to farm food, same land needed for life to thrive and evolve |
| Forces: | market for meat, consumer demand |
| Solution: | Be a vegan |
| Consequences: | If everyone did this, x billion animals would not need to be slaughtered every year, environmental impacts reduced, less habitat destruction, more space for natural areas, ... |
| Case: | Some vegan society living happily ... |
| Related: | Be an activist (and walk the talk) |
| Celebrate Diversity | |
|---|---|
| Context: | Globalisation, migration, potential for cultural conflict, ... |
| Problem: | Tendency to be suspicious of people who are different, mistrust, ... |
| Forces: | Resistance to change |
| Solution: | Celebrate diversity ... |
| Consequences: | Freedom from prejudice and stereotypes. If everyone did this, people would feel free to be who they are, accept their differences and get along ... |
| Case: | Examples of countries (or cities etc.) with diversity ... |
| Related: | Contemplate |
| Be Libre | |
|---|---|
| Context: | Globalisation, migration, population growth, climate change, economic crises, limited natural resources, fundamentalism, |
| Problem: | Potential for conflict over food, water, ... |
| Forces: | Consumer culture aspired to |
| Solution: | Be libre ... (the top level "super-pattern" which incorporates various combinations of sub-patterns) |
| Consequences: | Global appreciation that our own freedom is maximised by maximising the freedom of others in cognisance of social, economic and environmental interdependencies with the Earth's finite resources as the source of life ... collective wisdom for sustainability. |
| Case: | Life on Earth |
| Related: | All |
Pattern Classification
Themes (colour schemes) may be applied in the {{Pattern}} template. These may be used to indicate some level of pattern classification.
Themes for various:
- aspects of life: e.g. green: biodiversity-related, brown: to do with social justice, red: economic issues addressed, ...; or
- spheres of influence: personal, organisational, national, industry, policy, global, ...; or
- types of patterns: e.g. patterns of thought and action, behavioural patterns, 'ways of being patterns', 'intervention patterns', ...
- contexts: e.g at work, at home, while using WikiEducator (derive patterns from Code of Conduct), during happy times, difficult times, ....
- roles: educator, parent, activist, leader, manager, boss, employee, trainee, student, ...
- etc.
- ... (figure this out later[7] - see discussions page).
Patterns
For now, this is a list of ideas which may suggest or lead to "be libre" patterns.
See also List of pattern ideas under "Be Libre" on the 'Musings' page.
- Semantic patterns (a class of).
- Doing the right thing(s) the right way.
- Ethics over convenience.
- Choosing what is right over what is easy.
- Ethics as a competitive advantage (business).
- Support free culture artists (e.g. pay them via Jamendo).
- Support libre knowledge initiatives (e.g. donate to Wikipedia, ...)
- Instead of criticising (e.g.) Wikipedia on account of a bad page, improves/fixes the page.
Anti-patterns
For now, this is a list of ideas for anti-patterns.
See also List of pattern ideas under "Be Libre" on the 'Musings' page.
- Focus on economic growth
- See this note on "economic growth".
- Semantic
- See for example Richard Stallman's essay on words to avoid[8].
- Using the word "sustainable" (or sustainability) without specifying a time horizon (i.e. almost anything is sustainable for a short time, almost nothing is sustainable for ever) and/or without simultaneous consideration of interdependent social, economic and environmental (biophysical) factors.
- Using words like "idealistic" in a pejorative manner.
- "Them" (the government) and us - culture of blame.
- Accountability is important but strive for an attitude of working with government - they are people like us striving for the same goals.
- Social contracts.
- Over-use of '-ist' and '-ism' to describe people and their views - problems of labelling people, generalisation and stereotypes.
- Fundamentalism (types of).
- Exclusivity.
- Elitism.
- Overly litigious (e.g. patent trolls?).
- Ends justify means.
- Corporate social responsibility (see Criticisms and concerns).
- Politicians "playing politics" when it is time to set aside differences and collaborate towards doing the right things in the right ways for the benefit of all.
- Celebrating 7 billion[9] (World population).
Rationale
Pattern Language
Guided by the pattern classifications above.
References
- ↑ The template was originally based on work in software design. See for example Alur et al 2nd edition pp 129-130 for a description of a pattern template (which is in turn based on the work of Gamma et al (1995) inspired by the work of Christopher Alexander (1977)
- ↑ Gamma, Erich; Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides (1995). Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-63361-2.
- ↑ Alexander, Christopher; Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Shlomo Angel (1977). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195019193
- ↑ See for example Core J2EE Patterns, Alur et al, Fig 6.2 p 141 in 1st edition, Fig 5.2 p132 in 2nd ed).
- ↑ See for example the Liberating Voices pattern language.
- ↑ E.g. discuss the level of the pattern. "Use free software" might be better formulated at a more general level - not just use but also participate in its development at some level.
- ↑ Recall Martin Fowler's books Analysis Patterns, Patterns of Enterprise Applications Architecture, Enterprise Integration Patterns, Refactoring Patterns, xUnit Test Patterns, etc.
- ↑ Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing. Published in [http://shop.fsf.org/product/free-software-free-society-2/ Free Software, Free Society: The Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman.
- ↑ World Population Prospects, the 2008 Revision Frequently Asked Questions Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, updated 10 November 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
