Libre knowledge/discussion topics

As with all the learning resources shared here under Libre Knowledge, in addition to engaging educators and learners directly in improving these resources, the hope is that educators and learners consider incorporating variations of these discussions in their own courses elsewhere.

In addition to the topics below, browse the discussion tabs of the Libre knowledge pages and engage.

Libre and Free

 * Is the word "libre" worthy of a Wikipedia page of its own? (discuss)
 * A WikiEducator page "Libre" exists which was originally (15 October 2014) based on a snapshot on archive.org) of the corresponding page on Wikipedia (deleted from Wikipedia on 12 October 2014 and replaced with a disambiguation page).
 * An undeletion request resulted in a draft userfied version currently under discussion.
 * In tandem a new draft of the Libre Knowledge article is also in preparation and may result in some merging.
 * These drafts may evolve into essays on WikiEducator, rather than Wikipedia articles. Pre-essay snapshots on WE: Libre and Libre Knowledge.
 * Discuss the meaning of OER, open knowledge, free / libre cultural works and libre knowledge.
 * Re-discuss this without using the terms "open" and "free" - use libre and gratis as appropriate.
 * How did the conversation change?
 * Related article on use of NC: The Case for Free Use: Reasons Not to Use a Creative Commons -NC License


 * Libre vs Free and saying "libre" when that is what is meant (rather than "open" or "free": Say Libre where applicable).
 * Why do most people in the "open" camp choose not to say "libre"?
 * Perhaps part of the reason might be that they want "open" to mean "libre" (see related: Advocacy of libre knowledge).

Libre knowledge definition

 * Does the definition of libre knowledge specify that libre (knowledge) resources are free of DRM or other restricting devices? Should the definition be modified?
 * Which clauses in the Creative Commons licences/deeds permit/disallow this?

Libre and open

 * Some software is released with the source code available but has dependencies which are non-free (e.g. libraries or modules for which the source code is not available, or the code only runs on specific non-free operating systems). Can this software be regarded as libre?


 * Some knowledge repositories include resources which are freely available, modifiable and shareable but contain components that are in proprietary file formats which cannot be edited easily with libre software (e.g. open educational resources with flash components). Are these resources libre? If not, why not. If so, why so?


 * Are OER typically libre? What proportion of OER are libre?
 * Find some stats or do some research and add links below.


 * Are MOOCs typically libre? Find examples and discuss.
 * Find some stats or do some research and add links below.


 * Document Freedom Day (DFD) 2011 - referred to open document formats and open standards. Is the term "open" sufficient in this context, or should one say "libre"? (or refer to "free document formats"/"free file formats"). If the latter, tell someone.
 * Has this issue resolved in the years since then (especially this year)?

Mis-uses of libre
Words take on generally understood meanings when used in certain contexts. For example, in the context of free software, "free" is understood to mean "libre", the term "proprietary software" is understood to refer to "nonfree" software which lacks at least one of the four core freedoms. In other contexts, the discussants might not have that understanding and assume that "free software" means software gratis - i.e. any software that is available free of charge irrespective of whether its source code is available or whether they have the freedom to modify and share it. When we refer to "free knowledge" in the context of (e.g.) the Free Knowledge Institute or Wikipedia or Hipatia, the libre sense of "free" is understood.

The question becomes, in what contexts may we assume this libre meaning of free and then, to avoid ambiguity, simply say libre?

A real problem arises when the meaning of "libre" is corrupted and its usefulness in disambiguating free is undermined. Typically, this occurs when people conflate the two separate issues of freedom and price.

The discussion topic(s) below focus on this issue and encourages learners to find examples (please add) and think about and discuss them.


 * Uses (and misuses) of the word "libre"
 * Find and discuss uses of the word libre which are at variance with the way libre is commonly defined for libre software, libre knowledge and libre cultural works.
 * Start with this one: "Libre Open Access" in Peter Suber's book "Open Access" (section 3.3).
 * How is the meaning of libre different (i.e. "libre OA" vs libre software, libre knowledge and libre cultural works)?
 * Do the distinctions described in the book make sense, and are they useful?
 * Are there alternative labels that could have been used for the different types of OA which would not involve a departure from the usual meaning of libre?
 * What are the implications?
 * Undermines or detracts from achieving the libre vision?
 * Creates a sub-context "OA" with its own (contradictory) meaning for the word libre
 * Introducing ambiguity? (Open access community, with a different definition of libre, will find communication difficult with related communities: open knowledge, open education, libre knowledge, libre software, etc.)
 * See also:
 * The Libre article on Wikipedia touches on the issue.
 * okfn-discuss Problems of nomenclature (and related discussion).
 * Notes:
 * conflates issues of price and freedom, ....


 * Discuss other words or phrases which may lead to confusion in this context
 * Find Richard Stallman's list (on gnu.org) of words to avoid or use with care such as "intellectual property", ...

Glossaries

 * Discuss and consolidate related glossaries
 * Start here and link to others below.

General: terms to use or avoid

 * Discuss the pros and cons of using words like "restrictive", "permissive", "open", "closed", "libre", "non-libre", "non-free", "gratis", "free", etc. in comparisons of Creative Commons and other licences.

Related terms

 * Discuss the usefulness of the term "liberated knowledge" what could a term like this mean if not "libre knowledge"?
 * Hint: see List of formerly proprietary software ... spoiler: formerly closed knowledge (unavailable on account of various barriers). The Free Culture Movement have done much to raise awareness and bring about liberation of knowledge resources. Find and link to examples.


 * Discuss the term "liberating knowledge"
 * Liberating as a verb
 * Liberating as an adjective.

Definitions and more
Create sub-pages of Libre with more on:


 * Libre
 * _ knowledge
 * _ software
 * _ community
 * _ resources
 * _ manifesto
 * ­_ protocol
 * Etc.

Pragmatics: Methodology and Productivity
While advocates of the "libre" perspective emphasise the ethics of freedom, the pragmatics emphasised by advocates of "open" source (etc.) mostly also apply.

Discuss the following:


 * While developing libre knowledge resources, what principles of Open-source software development may be applied?
 * Are there differences or other principles which apply?
 * What features of agile software development methodologies also apply in the development of libre knowledge resources?

Copyright law and licensing

 * How would you change copyright law as it stands today? For some ideas see:
 * Brief History of Copyright and Time to update copyright law?
 * Future of Copyright Contest
 * ‘Balanced’ Copyright: Not a Magic Solving Word – Alan Story.
 * Washington Declaration.
 * Creative Commons 4.0 discussions.


 * Discuss the relative merits of cc-by, cc-by-sa and cc-by-nc-sa.

Generalisations
It all started with free software on desktop and server computers, are the principles generalisable to data, information, knowledge and other things?


 * Data
 * Open data
 * Google Data Liberation Front


 * Software as a Service
 * Search for videos and other resources by Richard Stallman on Software as a Service (SaaS). For example,
 * Richard Stallman and Marcelo d'Elia Branco on Free Software, SaaS and Cloud Computing).
 * Who does that server really serve?


 * Free network services
 * autonomo.us (towards free network services)


 * Hardware
 * Libre Hardware - discuss this generalisation.


 * Etc.
 * Barcelona Charter and a libre interpretation of an earlier version.

Licensing

 * Which license is more supportive of freedom to learn for all: cc-by vs cc-by-sa ?
 * Do fewer restrictions always imply more freedom in the long run?
 * What "freedom" does the "sa" restriction in cc-by-sa restrict?
 * To protect and encourage growth of the commons, which of these two licenses would you recommend?
 * What assumptions are you making?
 * Would public domain or cc0 be even better (or worse) in terms of freedom to learn for all in the long term? (explain your answer).
 * Also see the discussion exercise: Protecting the Commons and Inclusivity.

Knowledge
These are loaded questions which philosophers have debated for millennia.


 * What is knowledge? What are knowledge resources?
 * What is culture? What are cultural works?
 * Is there a difference?

What knowledge (if any) should not be libre?

 * What if all explicit knowledge was libre?
 * What types of knowledge should not be freely available?
 * Add links to your discussions ...
 * Thoughts: confidentiality, privacy, safety, some resources by authors etc. making a living through production of the resources (e.g. not already being paid for the work with public funds).

Broader implications of libre knowledge

 * Free software, free society (YouTube: Richard Stallman at TEDxGeneva 2014)
 * Protecting The Commons.
 * Be Libre: what does all this mean in terms of how one could go about one's life?
 * Libre knowledge and sustainability
 * Identify and discuss further aspects of freedom (or "rights") which may need consideration. For example,
 * Tivoisation (see for example, Why Upgrade to GPLv3 by Richard Stallman)
 * Human rights
 * The fourth generation of human rights
 * Universal human rights and Internet freedom

The concept of libre and non-libre knowledge
When might these concepts have first existed before being formalised in (e.g.) copyright law? Were there other ways of controlling the sharing of knowledge previously?


 * Going way back (pre-copyright, ..., pre-writing, ..., pre-human, ...)
 * Is inherited knowledge libre? (e.g. migration routes, or the know-how to navigate them, bees' ability to communicate nectar locations, etc.)
 * It is genetically hardwired and copied from generation to generation (almost) exactly (ND), so No.
 * It changes over evolutionary time, .... Ok, maybe Yes.
 * But is restricted to the species who (apart from humans in the not too distant future) have no control over it (natural selection does)
 * It depends ...
 * Is learned knowledge libre? e.g. tool use by animals such as chimpanzees teaching their young to use tools to catch insects or obtain honey
 * The knowledge is shared freely within the troupe (and possibly some onlookers)
 * Some animals choose not to share certain types of knowledge (making it closed or non-libre). Examples include dogs burying their bones (not for other dogs) and Chimpanzees not revealing a hidden banana to another higher in the hierarchy. For more examples see Deception in animals.
 * What about "esoteric knowledge"?
 * Much of it was unwritten.
 * Only shared within a community of initiates.
 * Links:
 * See About Hipatia - Free knowledge in action for the people of the world and Hypatia on Wikipedia.
 * See About Hipatia - Free knowledge in action for the people of the world and Hypatia on Wikipedia.

Other discussion ideas and venues

 * Libre Knowledge on Wordpress
 * Libre Lens
 * Data Liberation and the Libre Puro Emblem - scope this discussion.
 * Is Copyleft as used in the context of libre software the same as share-alike as used in Creative Commons licences?
 * Related discussions: Wikipedia on share-alike.
 * Permission culture vs Remix culture