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! Bits,&Atoms,&and&Informa0on&Sharing:& New&Opportuni0es&for&Par0cipa0on ! ! Sofia%Catarina%Mósca%Ferreira%Mota ! Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Comunicação Outubro, 2014 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em Ciências da Comunicação, realizada sob a orientação científica do Professor Doutor António Câmara ! Apoio financeiro da FCT e do FSE no âmbito do III Quadro Comunitário de Apoio. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! To Marcin AGRADECIMENTOS / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ! In no particular order, I am deeply grateful to: Professor António Câmara, my academic advisor, for his support and openness, for allowing and encouraging me to explore research questions across academic disciplines, and for his always prompt support in all matters related to this work. The Interactive Telecommunications Program at the New York University (ITP-NYU), where the large majority of this research was conducted, for accepting me as a visiting scholar and providing the open and collaborative environment ideal for exploring questions pertaining to openness and sharing. I am particularly thankful to this program’s chairs—Professors Red Burns and Dan O’Sullivan—for creating such a welcoming space in which collaborative exploration is not only allowed, but positively encouraged. Professor Tom Igoe, my ITP-NYU visiting scholar advisor, for the wisdom and patience with which he guided me in the exploration of complex questions, for the countless hours spent discussing approaches and possibilities, for his always enlightened and open perspectives, and for his kindness and support throughout the years. Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia for granting me a scholarship without which I would not have been able to conduct this research. The UT Austin | Portugal Program’s staff and professors for providing their students with so many fantastic opportunities to learn and evolve. FCSH-UNL, its professors—particularly Professor João Mário Grilo—and the Núcleo de Doutoramentos for the rapid, friendly and comprehensive ways in which they answered my questions and helped me address problems. William Byrd for the many hours spent discussing research matters, for sharing so much of his own experience and wisdom, and for his friendship and encouragement. Alicia Gibb for her always sweet and whimsical support. My parents and sister for their care, support and love. My husband for his relentless support and encouragement, for providing me with the conditions to write this dissertation, particularly in the last and critical months, for believing in me, for inspiring me, and for always being there even in the most difficult moments. ! ABSTRACT ! Bits, Atoms, and Information Sharing: New Opportunities for Participation Sofia Catarina Mósca Ferreira Mota ! KEYWORDS: digital technologies, participatory culture, digital fabrication, do-it-yourself, democratization, makers, hackerspaces, open source hardware ! The particular characteristics and affordances of technologies play a significant role in human experience by defining the realm of possibilities available to individuals and societies. Some technological configurations, such as the Internet, facilitate peer-to-peer communication and participatory behaviors. Others, like television broadcasting, tend to encourage centralization of creative processes and unidirectional communication. In other instances still, the affordances of technologies can be further constrained by social practices. That is the case, for example, of radio which, although technically allowing peer-to-peer communication, has effectively been converted into a broadcast medium through the legislation of the airwaves. How technologies acquire particular properties, meanings and uses, and who is involved in those decisions are the broader questions explored here. Although a long line of thought maintains that technologies evolve according to the logic of scientific rationality, recent studies demonstrated that technologies are, in fact, primarily shaped by social forces in specific historical contexts. In this view, adopted here, there is no one best way to design a technological artifact or system; the selection between alternative designs—which determine the affordances of each technology—is made by social actors according to their particular values, assumptions and goals. Thus, the arrangement of technical elements in any technological artifact is configured to conform to the views and interests of those involved in its development. Understanding how technologies assume particular shapes, who is involved in these decisions and how, in turn, they propitiate particular behaviors and modes of organization but not others, requires understanding the contexts in which they are developed. It is argued here that, throughout the last century, two distinct approaches to the development and dissemination of technologies have coexisted. In each of these models, based on fundamentally different ethoi, technologies are developed through different processes and by different participants—and therefore tend to assume different shapes and offer different possibilities. In the first of these approaches, the dominant model in Western societies, technologies are typically developed by firms, manufactured in large factories, and subsequently disseminated to the rest of the population for consumption. In this centralized model, the role of users is limited to selecting from the alternatives presented by professional producers. Thus, according to this approach, the technologies that are now so deeply woven into human experience, are primarily shaped by a relatively small number of producers. In recent years, however, a group of three interconnected interest groups—the makers, hackerspaces, and open source hardware communities—have increasingly challenged this dominant model by enacting an alternative approach in which technologies are both individually transformed and collectively shaped. Through a in-depth analysis of these phenomena, their practices and ethos, it is argued here that the distributed approach practiced by these communities offers a practical path towards a democratization of the technosphere by: 1) demystifying technologies, 2) providing the public with the tools and knowledge necessary to understand and shape technologies, and 3) encouraging citizen participation in the development of technologies. RESUMO ! Bits, Atoms, and Information Sharing: New Opportunities for Participation Sofia Catarina Mósca Ferreira Mota ! PALAVRAS-CHAVE: tecnologias digitais, cultura participativa, fabricação digital, do-it- yourself, democratização, makers, hackerspaces, open source hardware ! As características e affordances de artefactos e sistemas tecnológicos definem a esfera de possibilidades colocadas à disposição tanto de indivíduos como da sociedade e, desta forma, desempenham um papel fundamental na modelação da experiência humana. Enquanto que algumas configurações tecnológicas (por exemplo a Internet) facilitam a comunicação entre pares e estimulam práticas participativas, outras (como o sistema de transmissão televisivo) propiciam formas de comunicação unidirecionais e a centralização de processos criativos. As affordances de tecnologias podem também, por vezes, ser limitadas por práticas sociais. Esse foi o caso, por exemplo, da rádio: apesar desta tecnologia permitir, ao nível técnico, a comunicação entre pares, a regulamentação das ondas de rádio transformou-a efetivamente num meio de comunicação de massas. Por conseguinte, tendo em conta o papel fundamental desempenhado pelas tecnologias, esta tese procura interrogar os processos através dos quais estas assumem determinadas formas, significados e usos. Apesar de uma corrente de pensamento comum alegar que o desenvolvimento tecnológico é baseado essencialmente numa lógica científico-racional, estudos recentes demonstram que as tecnologias são principalmente formadas por processos sociais ancorados em contextos históricos. Segundo este ponto de vista, aqui adoptado, a seleção entre desenhos alternativos (que determinam as affordances de cada tecnologia), é efetuada por agentes sociais de acordo com os seus valores, premissas e objetivos. Assim seja, a configuração específica dos elementos técnicos de artefactos tecnológicos obedece aos pressupostos e interesses dos indivíduos e grupos que os desenvolvem. Por esta razão, para compreender os processos de formação de tecnologias, quem neles participa e de que maneira as tecnologias resultantes propiciam determinados comportamentos e não outros, é necessário entender os contextos em que estas são desenvolvidas. Argumenta-se aqui que, ao longo dos últimos 100 anos, duas abordagens alternativas ao desenvolvimento e disseminação de tecnologias evoluíram em paralelo. Em cada um destes modelos, baseados em ethos essencialmente distintos, as tecnologias são desenvolvidas através de processos diferentes por intervenientes distintos e, por essa razão, tendencialmente assumem formas diferentes. No modelo predominante em sociedades ocidentais, as tecnologias são tipicamente desenvolvidas por empresas, produzidas em fábricas, e subsequentemente disseminadas para consumo. Neste modelo centralizado, o papel dos utilizadores limita-se à escolha entre os artefactos disponibilizados por produtores profissionais. Assim, neste tipo de abordagem, as tecnologias que hoje em dia estão tão profundamente entrelaçadas com a experiência humana, são essencialmente definidas por um número relativamente