where did "open source" come from?
Probably all of us on these lists are familiar with "open source" as a term applied to software. I was surprised recently at a conference (in Washington DC, of course) to learn that the CIA manages an "open source" section -- using the term in a much different way to refer to keeping an eye on publicly-available information (newspapers, TV, etc.). Wikipedia suggests that the intelligence world even has prior use -- dating back at least to a 1992 conference in Washington. By contrast, "The "open source" label came out of a strategy session[3] held at Palo Alto in reaction to Netscape's January 1998 announcement of a source code release for Navigator." Followed by Tim O'Reilly's "Open Source Summit" in April 1998. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source#History A friend thinks that the term "open source" may predate 1992, and was originally used in the business world. Similar to the CIA, it referred to making use of publicly available business intelligence. Fascinating how the same term could mean such different things in the computer developer and the intelligence world. Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 You're invited to visit & contribute to the new version of "Updating Cybertimes: It's Time to Bring Our Culture into Cyberspace" http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _____________________________________________________________________
in this case, wikipedia is right. Open Source, which is a trademark of the Open Source Initiative http://opensource.org/, was created to be inclusive of not only Free Software (that covered by the GPL), but other software that is not quite Free. For example, public domain software is not Free but it is free and may even meet the Open Source Definition http://opensource.org/docs/definition.php The word Open may have been used earlier, but not in any cohesive way. http://opensource.org/docs/history.php gives a history that is accurate to my knowledge and my experience as far as software goes. Blame Chris Peterson and Eric Raymond and Tom O'Reilly. Like you I was surprised to hear, and read on Wikipedia, about the 1992 usage in the intelligence community. But there it is OSINT all over the place. OSINT sounds a lot like "Competitive Intelligence" to me. On Sun, 10 Sep 2006, Barry Wellman wrote: +Probably all of us on these lists are familiar with "open source" as a +term applied to software. + +I was surprised recently at a conference (in Washington DC, of course) to +learn that the CIA manages an "open source" section -- using the term in a +much different way to refer to keeping an eye on publicly-available +information (newspapers, TV, etc.). Wikipedia suggests that the +intelligence world even has prior use -- dating back at least to a 1992 +conference in Washington. By contrast, "The "open source" label came out +of a strategy session[3] held at Palo Alto in reaction to Netscape's +January 1998 announcement of a source code release for Navigator." +Followed by Tim O'Reilly's "Open Source Summit" in April 1998. +http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source#History + +A friend thinks that the term "open source" may predate 1992, and was +originally used in the business world. Similar to the CIA, it referred to +making use of publicly available business intelligence. + +Fascinating how the same term could mean such different things in the +computer developer and the intelligence world. + + Barry + _____________________________________________________________________ + + Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director + wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman + + Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto + 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 + + You're invited to visit & contribute to the new version of + "Updating Cybertimes: It's Time to Bring Our Culture into Cyberspace" + http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php + _____________________________________________________________________ + + + +_______________________________________________ +The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list +is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org +Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org + +Join the Association of Internet Researchers: +http://www.aoir.org/ + ========================================================================== Paul Jones "Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation." Alasdair Gray http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/blog/ pjones@ibiblio.org voice: (919) 962-7600 fax: (919) 962-8071 ===========================================================================
The Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago invites applications for the following anticipated position: Assistant Professor of Communication. A successful candidate must have interests in the study of new media, the internet, and/or communication technology in combination with the study of one or more of the following areas of department research strength: diversity, health, political, or visual studies. The candidate will also have an earned doctorate in Communication or a related field, strong promise of scholarly achievement and teaching success (at the undergraduate and graduate levels) appropriate for appointment as Assistant Professor, good prospects for external research funding, and demonstrated commitment to multidisciplinary scholarship. Located in the heart of Chicago, UIC is a Research I University with 16,000 undergraduates, 6,500 graduate and 3,000 professional students. The Department of Communication has 11 full-time faculty, approximately 100 undergraduate majors, and 25 M.A. students. The Department is developing a doctoral program focused on the relationship between technology and communication. The desired appointment is date for the position is August 16, 2007. Interested parties should send a full curriculum vitae, samples of relevant scholarly publications, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and four letters of reference to: Professor Andrew Rojecki, Chair, Communication Search Committee, Department of Communication (MC-132)1007 W. Harrison St. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7137 Applications should be received by November 1, 2006, to receive full consideration, although the search will proceed until the position is filled. Applications from women and minorities are particularly encouraged. Women and traditionally under-represented minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. The University of Illinois is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer.
participants (3)
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Barry Wellman -
Paul Jones -
Rojecki, Andrew