Convivial software: an end-user perspective on free and open source software

  • Authors:

  • Carl Mitcham

  • Affiliations:

  • Liberal Arts and International Studies, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, USA 80401

  • Venue:
  • Ethics and Information Technology
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

The free and open source software (Foss) movement deserves to be placed in an historico-ethical perspective that emphasizes the end user. Such an emphasis is able to enhance and support the Foss movement by arguing the ways it is heir to a tradition of professional ethical idealism and potentially related to important issues in the history of science, technology, and society relations. The focus on software from an end-user's perspective also leads to the concept of program conviviality. From a non-technical perspective, however, software is simply a new example of technology, and the effort to assure that technology is developed in a socially responsible manner has a significant history. The argument thus begins with observations about the history of technology. This leads to critical reflections on the development of professional engineering ethics, and to a discussion of the alternative technology movement. Finally, it concludes by indicating some criteria to consider when imagining the design of convivial software.