Hacking and Open Source Culture Hacking and Open Source Culture READINGS OF THE IDEAS, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, AND PEOPLE WHO SHAPED THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

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ISBN: 978-1-5165-2570-6 (pbk) / 978-1-5165-2571-3 (br) To Deb, the princess of my heart. CONTENTS

Introduction...... ix

Part I. History and Development of the Computer...... 1

Reading 1. The Early History of Software, 1952–1968...... 3 By Paul E. Ceruzzi

Reading 2. The Chip and Its Impact, 1965–1975...... 37 By Paul E. Ceruzzi

Discussion Questions...... 69 For Further Reading...... 69

Part II. History and Development of the Internet...... 71

Reading 3. Workstations, UNIX, and the Net, 1981–1995...... 73 By Paul E. Ceruzzi

Reading 4. The Internet...... 99 By Martin Campbell-Kelly, William Aspray, and Nathan Ensmenger

Discussion Questions...... 134 For Further Reading...... 134

Part III. Hacking and OSS as a Cultural Phenomenon...... 135

Reading 5. Hackers: Loving the Machine for Itself...... 137 By Sherry Turkle

Reading 6. Don’t Get Mad, Get Open...... 177 By Hazel Healy

Reading 7. Essence of Distributed Work: The Case of the Linux Kernel...... 185 By Jae Yun Moon and Lee Sproull

Reading 8. Critical Tensions in the Evolution of Open Source Software...... 207 By Brian Fitzgerald

Reading 9. How Deep Is Your Love? On Open-Source Hardware...... 221 By David Cuartielles

Discussion Questions...... 240 For Further Reading...... 240

vii INTRODUCTION

e study history to learn about who we are and to understand how and W why things come to be as they are. Everything has a history and this is certainly true of the technology that has revolutionized the world we live in today. In many ways, the history of technology is an investigation of humankind as a creative force in the world. The Latin phrase often used to capture this idea is Homo faber—man the maker. There is something about the human spirit that drives all of us to create in one way or another. From buildings and civil engineering to art, literature, books, machines, and even to today’s complicated technological society, humankind is bound up in this creative impulse. Because of this creative human compulsion, technology will always have a social element. The purpose of this volume is to explore the creative, cultural, and social contexts of technology as we know it today. In addition, by exploring the past realities of technological development we will better understand our own cur- rent time and place. Technology did not begin in a vacuum, however, and has a long and rich history. Although one could go back much earlier in time, this book picks up in the middle of the twentieth century and takes us on a journey that will better help us to understand our own contemporary situation. We will explore the hackers, innovators, ideas, and events that created what we have today—the age of information and technology. We must clarify what is meant by hacker because the original meaning often becomes lost or forgotten. This volume defines the term hacker as someone who is innovative and skilled with the use of code and computers (think in terms of all those hackers who show up at those hackathons that are so popular on university and high-tech campuses). In its original and purest form, a hacker is one who is driven by creative experimentation, mastery, and innovation while seeking to share his or her knowledge through collaboration for the purpose of improving the world. This book also makes the connection between the history and development of hardware and software with the development of open source software (OSS). The history of computers and OSS is similar to the maker movement that has recently become popular. These movements provide interesting social and cul- tural insights that center around democratic collaboration, sharing, meritocracy, and what Steven Levy describes in his book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (2010), as “the hacker ethic.” Through these developments and ideas we will learn important insights into the cultural and social implications of what has come to be known as the computer revolution. Not only are there

ix x | Hacking and Open Source Culture important cultural connections between hacking and open source culture, but there are also important insights to be gained in the areas of public policy in the forms of open access and open licensing of intellectual property. The book is divided into three parts. The first two readings lay a foundation and starting point for our exploration. These readings focus on the develop- ment of computers proper, and help us to understand the relationship between hardware and software. If you have questions about the differences between hardware, firmware, and software, these readings will provide a solid frame of reference. In The Early History of Software, 1952–1968 we discover the signif- icance of FORTRAN (one of the earliest computer languages used to transfer mathematical formulations into code), and the important role it played for general- purpose computing. We’ll discover that the development of general-purpose software is rarely an individual accomplishment, but rather rests in the hard work of many programmers. The age of information can also be called the age of collaboration. The next reading, The Chip and Its Impact, 1965–1975 provides a good discussion of the development of the transistor, integrated circuit, and microprocessor, arguably the most significant inventions of the twentieth cen- tury. One cannot fully comprehend the transition from analogue to our digital society without understanding the significance of the transistor and its impact on hardware. The second two readings bring our attention to the people and events that led to the development of the internet. The internet was made possible through an amazing amalgamation of cultural events, economic conditions, and tech- nological advances. The people behind these developments bring to life this story. The internet as we know it today is an economic and commercial force that began around 1991. Nonetheless, there were pockets of academics and researchers around the country using ARPANET, an early form of networking, that laid the structure and basic concepts for what became the internet. Even earlier, the military developed its own redundant and fault-tolerant computer networking system that found its way into civilian and commercial applications. The reading, Workstations, UNIX, and the Net, 1981–1995, helps us understand how the convergence of cheap processors and workstations, and the popularity of the UNIX operating system, combined to help form the essential structure of the internet. By the 1980s and early 1990s the cost of microprocessors and gen- eral-purpose workstations became so inexpensive that hobbyists and engineers alike could collaborate, connect, share ideas and software, and form companies to support this growing industry. In our reading, The Internet, we learn how the internet developed, how knowledge is organized and accessed, and even discover how the ideas of early computer scientists, such as Charles Babbage and Vannevar Bush, have come to fruition. INTRODUCTION | xi

Finally, the rest of our readings focus on hacking and open-source culture as a social phenomenon. We begin with Sherry Turkle, who is internationally renowned as one of the most important critics of technology. It is important to remember, however, that a critic of technology is not someone who is necessar- ily against technology, just as a literary or movie critic is not against books or movies. Rather, social and technological critics help us understand the nature of technology, the effects of technology on society, and the role of technology in our individual lives. In Hackers: Loving the Machine for Itself, Turkle pres- ents a study she conducted with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student hackers. She explores a common cultural stereotype of the hacker as compelled by a deep aesthetic found only in the mechanical and mathemati- cal world they immerse themselves in, and wonders, “How does one integrate these concepts and ideas into the everyday flow of relationships and people?” Hackers don’t only live with computers, however, and Turkle provides insights into the controversies, passions, and virtuosities that drive those who have an innate talent with computers and code. Any discussion of open source software (OSS) must highlight the importance of Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds. This volume discusses the significance of each figure. Stallman was a brilliant hacker who worked at the MIT in the 1980s. Two things led to Stallman’s success: first, his development of the General Public License, and second, his work on the GNU operating system (GNU is a recursive acronym for GNU’s not UNIX). While at MIT, Stallman grew increas- ingly dissatisfied with proprietary software because the code was essentially closed to the public. This violated the very hacker ethos Stallman was com- mitted to. As a result, Stallman created the GNU General Public License (GPL) and founded the Free Software Foundation. The GPL is essentially an end-run around typical intellectual property copyright law. As a license, it legally requires whoever distributes that code to make their modifications or improvements avail- able. Stallman calls this property of his license copyleft, because although it is still a legal license, it allows freedom to study, enhance, and modify the source code on the user end. Unlike traditional copyright law, no permission from the author or creator is needed to make changes or improvements, as long as the stipulations of the GPL are maintained. As a result, GPL licensed software is very popular among computer enthusiasts. In many ways, Richard Stallman laid the intellectual groundwork that allowed for the success of OSS. Furthermore, in 1985, Stallman began work on a UNIX-like operating system called GNU. Stallman wanted a freely available operating system, licensed under the GPL to share with the world. While Stallman provided the philosophical foundation for information and software freedom, Linus Torvalds is thought of as the great systems engineer for OSS and much has been written about the success of Tor- valds and his Linux kernel. Essentially, Stallman’s GNU project was struggling xii | Hacking and Open Source Culture until Torvald’s Linux kernel was integrated into the GNU operating system. In addition to exploring the social side of the OSS revolution, our readings The Essence of Distributed Work: The Case of the Linux Kernel and Critical Tensions in the Evolution of Open Source Software explore the development of the GPL, GNU operating system, and the Linux kernel. Finally, our reading, How Deep is Your Love? On Open Source Hardware, explores the very beginning stages of what is known as the maker movement. Just as this book begins with the intersection of software and hardware, this article explores the creative possibilities that we are seeing today in the form of 3D printers, microcontroller boards, DIY multirotor aircraft, robotics, and in many cases, the open source code that makes it all possible. However these new technologies may be defined, we will always see the marriage of hardware and software whenever creative individuals seek to manipulate the physical world through the use of code and machines. The maker movement is simply the continuation and development of the great hacker ethos and hands-on experimental impulse that goes back for almost 70 years, if not longer. So, in a way, this text ends where it begins. In the course of history, humankind has been defined as many things—rational, economic, moral—but human beings will always be creative. As we learn more about the people, ideas, and events that led to our own technologically driven society, we learn more about who we are and what we are becoming as imaginative, innovative, and resourceful beings in this world.