Hblog

Rishab Gosh on why free "software" matters for development

I’m at the second Idlelo conference on the digital commons in Nairobi, Kenya this week. I was lucky to hear a short presentation by Rishab Gosh who is on the advisory board for the OpenBusiness project. Gosh spoke about why free software matters for development.

A recent study was done on 1 million lines of code which found that 11-12% of free software development is done by companies – the rest by individuals. The most popular reason that people gave for joining free software projects was ‘to learn and develop new skills’. The greatest beneficial role of free and open source software development is therefore in learning – learning by doing – the best kind J

Rishab also spoke about broadening our views about what free software includes. The first “free software” practitioners, he said, were the professional musicians, authors and creators who would go to a website, click ‘view source’ and use the source to create their own websites.

The need to see active participation by creators and innovators as the key goal of organisations like FOSSFA is what I’m going to be pushing for here. Free software activists and free content, open access and open science communities need to work together. We need one another – free software needs open content to display successful applications of their products; open content needs free software to help develop the tools for them to continue the creation and advancement of creative industries, scientific advancement and in reducing the costs of quality education.

Again and again, I am hearing people speak about the need to collaborate more effectively.

He closed with a story.

‘After hearing about free software at a conference, someone asked me: “But isn’t “black box” (proprietary software) better than free software? Isn’t that why we have to use proprietary solutions?”

My answer was that even if free software isn’t as good (and in many cases it is) we should still use free software because “black box” software will never allow us to learn about software – and it will mean that we will keep using “black box” software forever.’

Trade vs Aid

What an inspiring day! We met with two incredible people at the DV Fellowship yesterday.

Paul Rice, CEO of TransfairUSA, talked about the Fair Trade movement in the US and his ideas about development after living in Nicaragua for 11 years, working with coffee farmers in the region to help them get the best deal for their coffee in international markets. He said that development was fundamentally flawed because it didn't focus on building local capacity for people to solve their own problems. He has come to believe in 'Trade vs Aid' by giving farmers access to international markets and, by allowing them some control over prices of their products, ensuring that the people make their own decisions about community development. He said that Fair Trade farmers were using the money that they gained from exports ($1.25/pound vs the usual 25c/pound) to build schools, hospitals and their own production facilities, so that they are not dependent on others for basic support.

Apart from his incredible ideas about empowerment, Paul really made me realise how important it is to a) develop a brand associated with fair practice and b) to develop a market for local people by taking advantage of, rather than rejecting, the forces of globalisation. TransfairUSA has done this really well, by developing a certification system for fair trade produce and giving its clients the tools to actively promote the Fair Trade brand. Makes me think that Creative Commons South Africa should prioritise brand awareness, and focus on building a label for artists to promote their work and find new markets overseas.

Greg Steltenpohl, founder of the Odwalla Juice Company is developing an incredibly exciting new project called Interra. The system will allow people to link their credit cards to the Interra network, partnering with local businesses, non-profits and community networks in a reward program that stimulates the local economy. People can direct money or points from shopping at stores that are recognised by the community as ethical, thus stimulating a new local economy that also drives community development.

This is a revolutionary idea. If it is successful it will change how value is traditionally distributed in urban vs rural, developed vs developing and commercial vs non-commercial settings. Greg said that he is interested in using the Creative Commons model to license stories that people can store on the network about where they live, so that a host of pictures, text and audio can be linked to a particular address in a city - further reinforcing the sense of community identity that makes life in our modern society more grounding.

See the pics from Adam Tow's blog here.