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Cited by 727Open Source Software InnovationsIntellectual Property Rights and MediaCopyright and Intellectual Property

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 297 of the 297 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 43 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Two bits: the cultural significance of free software

Open access
Christopher Kelty·2008·Choice Reviews Online
DOI 10.5860/choice.46-2158
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Abstract

Book-length study of the cultural significance of free software, examining the history, practices, and social imaginaries that have transformed software production and beyond.

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Crossref · 10.5860/choice.46-2158

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Show all 34 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 162
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 350
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
383 of 383

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There are tens of millions of people creating Free Software and hundreds of millions more using it.

    “yet there are tens of millions of people creating this software and hundreds of millions more using it.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Conventional publics have been described as 'self-grounding,' as constituted only through discourse in the conventional sense of speech, writing, and assembly.

    “Conventional publics have been described as”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Governments, corporations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other institutions have plenty of reasons—profit, security, control—to seek to fragment the Internet.

    “Governments, corporations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other institutions have plenty of reasonsprofit, security, control-to seek to fragment the Internet.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Free Software emerged around 1998 from a happily subterranean and obscure existence stretching back roughly twenty years.

    “Around 1998 Free Software emerged from a happily subterranean and obscure existence stretching back roughly twenty years.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    A public is expected to be its own sovereign entity, distinct from church, state, or corporation.

    “The significance of this has to do with the fact that a”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Copyright law restricts what readers can do with a traditionally published book, including how they might read it or subsequently circulate it or make derivative use of it.

    “Copyright law will restrict what readers can do with it, including how they might read it or subsequently circulate it or make derivative use of it.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Geeks constitute a coherent group whose practices and narratives can be generalized.

    “Geeks love allegories about the Protestant Reformation; they relish stories of Luther and Calvin, of popery and iconoclasm, of reforma-tion over revolution.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Most scholarly literature holds that the function of a movement is to narrate shared goals and recruit new members.

    “According to most of the scholarly literature, the function of a movement is to narrate the shared goals and to recruit new members.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The circulation of and contribution to UNIX is not well documented.

    “The manner in which the circulation of and contribution to UNIX occurred is not well documented”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The stories of early hackerdom at MIT are not representative.

    “These stories are oft-told usable pasts, but they are not representative.”
10 of 10

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Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Zawinski's resignation is dated to two different days

    Minor

    The account places Zawinski's resignation in April 1999, but its citation dates the resignation letter 31 March 1999.

1 of 1

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  64. [380]380. Arendt, Hannah, 22, 78 Arpanet (network), 120, 138- 141, 167-174, 181, 207, 215, 223, 333n9, 354n. See also Networks Artificial Intelligence, 86-88 Index index Artificial Intelligence Lab (AI Lab), at MIT, 184-188, 206-208 Assemblage, 313n9 AT&T, 119-120, 126-131, 160, 165, 192, 201, 216, 307; Bell Labora- tories, 126-131, 230, 238; dives- titure in 1984, 154, 201; version of EMACS, 194, 196; version of UNIX, 138, 153 Attribution: copyright licenses and, 265, 283-284, 286; disavowal of, 295-296 Authorship, 75, 195, 274, 282-293, copyright vs., 244n4; moral rights of, 257; order of, 346n14; ownership vs., 205, 284 Availability: open systems and, 152, 166-167, 175-176; reorientation of power and knowledge and, 10-13, 308-310, 313n8 Bangalore, 43-46
  65. [394]394. See also coordination Commité Consultative de Information, Technologie et Télécommunications (CCITT), 169, 175 Commons, ix, xi, 16-17, 33, 246, 313n11 Communities, 214, 252, 281; norms and 281, 285-293 comp.os.minix, 217; "Linux Is Obsolete" debate on, 218-219 Computer Corporation of America (CCA), 190-199, 201-202, 333n14, 336n47 Concurrent Versioning System (cvs), 106, 212, 229; history of, 231; Linux and 232 Connexions project, 3,11, 17, 244-246; connection to Creative Commons, 258-259, 262-263; as "factory of knowledge, 249-251; as Free Software project, 254-255; history and genesis of, 247-258; line between content and software, 279; meaning of publication in, 275-286; model of learning in, 249, 253-254; modules in, 249-251; Open CourseWare, 252, 263; relationship to education, 251; relationship to hypertext, 266; roles in, 282-293, 345nn 12-13; stages of producing a document in, 275-277; textbooks and, 248-249, 274-282 "Content," 255-265 Control, relationship to power, 70,73 CONTU report, 202 Cooperation. See Collaboration Coordination (component of Free Software), 15, 105-107, 213-215, 224-240; individual virtuosity vs. hierarchical planning, 211-212, 220-221, 223, 227-229, 237, 340n32; of Linux vs. Minix, 216-218; modulations of, 233-236, 246, 253, 257, 281, 285-288; of technology and people, 210-211 Copyleft licenses (component of Free Software), 49, 103-105, 140, 178, 179-209, 309; commercial use and, 265; Creative Commons version, 294-300; derivative uses and 265, 286, 291, 294; disavowal clause in, 295; early attempts, 334n21; forking and, 287-288; as hack of copyright law, 182-183; modulations of, 234-236, 253, 256-257, 259, 285 See also Copyright; General Public License; Intellectual property Copyright, 2, 74-76, 182, 189; changes in 1976, 134, 187, 199-206; changes in 1980, 183, 187, 199-206; infringement and software, 189-209; legal definition of software and, 189-209; requirement to register, 200, 260; rights granted by, 183; software and copyrightability, 189, 199, 335n41; specificity of media and, 278-279; transfer of, 205; works for hire, 282. See also Copyleft licenses; Copyright infringement; Intellectual property Copyright infringement, 199, 335nn46-47; EMACS controversy and, 193, 196-200; infringement on own invention, 198; legal threats and, 195, 205-206; permissions and, 194-206; redistribution of software as, 204 Copyright licenses. See Copyleft licenses; Copyright
  66. [416]416. Huxley, Julian, 87 Hypertext Transfer Mark-up Language (HTML), 223, 276 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http), 73, 177, 223 Ideology, 40-41, 317n13 Implementation of software, 119; distinguished from standards and protocols, 330n28 Informatics (corporation), 124 Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO). See Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information society, 7, 22. See also Internet Society Infrastructure, 34, 62, 76, 143-144, 166, 208, 212, 215, 308; of publishing, 255-256, 274; scientific and technical, 315n20. See also Open Systems Institute of Electrical and Electron- ics Engineers (IEEE), 157-158, 165 Institutional economics, 266 Intel (corporation), 145-146, 164-165 Intellectual property, 66, 75-76, 99, 102, 103, 109, 119, 133-134, 140, 144, 150, 179-201, 203-209, 307; strategy and, 195-199, 202, 294-299. See also Copyleft licenses; Copyright; Trademark law; Trade secret law Interface definition. See Standards International Business Machines (IBM), 70, 119, 147, 158 International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 171, 306 International Telecommunications Union (ITU), 169-171 Internet, 4-8, 21-22, 27-29, 57-62; early development, 169-170, 213-214; folklore and, 55; geeks and, 33-36; idea of order and, 38; India and, 43-46; public spheres and, 46-54; relation to Free Software, 4, 213-214; singularity of, 9, 51, 306-309. See also TCP/IP Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), 57-61, 176, 332n51 Internet protocols. See TCP/IP Internet Society (ISOC), 59, 176, 332n51 Interoperability, 144-151, 158, 166, 170-175 Intervention, technology as, 66, 81-94, 266, 280
  67. [447]447. O'Reilly, Tim, 108 O'Reilly Press, 108, 110
  68. [451]451. Porting. See Sharing source code POSIX (standard) 155, 157-58, 328n5 Power, relationship to control, 70, 73. See also Reorientation of power and knowledge. Practices, x, 12, 113-116, 180, 302; five components of Free Software, 3, 97-98, 181, 210-211, 245, 253, 302; norms vs., 290-292; op- posed to legal changes, 199-200; stories as, 114 Pragmatism, 85 Prentice Hall, 216-217 Printing press, 273, 279 Programming, 58-59, 80, 120-123 Programming languages, 68, 119-126, 324n5 Progress, 64-65, 77, 88, 92 Proliferation of software, 120, 123, 141-142, 155, 185, 208, 308, 323n1. See also Forking; Sharing source code Property. See Intellectual property Proprietary systems: closed, 32; open vs., 126, 143; lock-in and, 145 Protestant Reformation, 65-76, 94, 114, 149; as usable past, 54 Protocols: distinguished from standards and implementation, 330n28; Open Systems Intercon- nection (OSI), 144, 166-177; TCP/IP, 55, 60, 120, 138-141, 144, 166-177, 319n32 Public, x, 3-7, 38-43, 302; autotelic and independent, 48-49, 50, 53, 61-63, 76, 290, 312n3; private vs., 312n5; self-grounding of, 47-48. See also Recursive public Publication, 49-50, 54; as notional event, 275; transformation by Internet, 271-286 Public domain, 103, 119, 261-262, 335n33; commons vs., 313n11; contrasted with free, 191-193, 334n16; Creative Commons licenses and, 283; environmental- ism and, 267; literary texts in, 285; meaning in EMACS con- troversy, 190-199. See also Commons Public Library of Science (PLoS), 342n10 Public sphere: recursive public vs., 305; theories of, 4, 8, 22-23, 38-43, 211, 311n3. See also Pub- lic; Recursive public python (programming language), 334n21 QED (text editor), 184

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Authors
Kelty, C.
Corresponding author
Christopher Kelty
ORCID
Christopher Kelty
Venue
Choice Reviews Online
Publisher
American Library Association
Published
2008-12-01
Volume
46
Issue
04
Pages
46-2158-46-2158
ISSN
  • 0009-4978 (ISSN-L)
  • 1523-8253
DOI
10.5860/choice.46-2158
OpenAlex
W602224805
Semantic Scholar
f69ef0bf200317185e45eddc87c449fa3bc25594
Cited by
709
References
286
Citations by year
2025: 6 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 73 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 74 · 2015: 50 · 2014: 52 · 2013: 51 · 2012: 54
Type
book review
Language
en
Open access
Licence
public-domain
Locations
  • Choice Reviews Online (publishedVersion)
  • eVols (University of Hawaii) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Open Source Software Innovations
  • Social Sciences › Law › Intellectual Property Rights and Media
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Copyright and Intellectual Property
Keywords
free software, open source software, copyright law, collaborative software development, source code, public sphere, social imaginary, power relations, knowledge production, software culture, cinema

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