www/philosophy hackathons.html

[Ineiev]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Ineiev <ineiev> 17/09/13 13:34:50

Added files:
        philosophy     : hackathons.html 

Log message:
        New article RT #1239160.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/hackathons.html?cvsroot=www&rev=1.1

Patches:
Index: hackathons.html
===================================================================
RCS file: hackathons.html
diff -N hackathons.html
--- /dev/null   1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0000
+++ hackathons.html     13 Sep 2017 17:34:49 -0000      1.1
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.84 -->
+<title>Hackathons should insist on free software
+- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/gnun/initial-translations-list.html" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>Why hackathons should insist on free software</h2>
+
+<p>Hackathons are an accepted method of giving community support to
+digital development projects.  The community invites developers to
+join an event which offers an encouraging atmosphere, some useful
+resources, and the opportunity to work on useful projects.  Most
+hackathons choose the projects they will support, based on stated
+criteria.</p>
+
+<p>Hackathons fit the spirit of a community in which people take an
+attitude of cooperation and respect towards each other.  The software
+that accords with this spirit is free (libre) software, <a
+href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free as in freedom</a>.
+Free software carries a license that gives its users (including
+programmers) freedom to cooperate.  Thus, hackathons make sense within
+the free software community.  <a
+href="/philosophy/free-hardware-designs.html">Hardware
+design projects</a> also can and ought to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Respect for freedom can't be taken for granted.  On the contrary, we
+are surrounded by companies that shamelessly release proprietary
+(nonfree) software, available for use only to those that will yield to
+their power.  These companies develop software as a <a
+href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">means
+to dominate and control others</a>.</p>
+
+<p>These companies' harmful success inspires young developers to follow
+their example by developing their own programs or hardware designs to
+dominate users.  They sometimes bring their projects to hackathons,
+seeking the community's support while rejecting the community's
+spirit: they have no intention of returning cooperation for
+cooperation.  Hackathons which accept this undermine the community
+spirit that they are based on.</p>
+
+<p>Some perverse hackathons are specifically dedicated to aiding the
+computing of certain companies: in some cases, <a
+href="https://www.beyondhackathon.com/en";>European</a> and <a
+href="http://www.hackathon.io/rbc-digital";>Canadian banks</a>, and 
+<a href="http://expediaconnectivity.com/blog#madrid-hackathon-winners";>
+Expedia</a>.  While they don't explicitly say, the announcements give the
+impression that they aim to promote development of some nonfree
+software, and that attendees are meant to help these non-charitable
+projects.</p>
+
+<p>Those examples show how far down the slope hackathons can slide.
+Let's return to the more common
+case of a hackathon that is not specifically commercial, but accepts
+projects that are proprietary.</p>
+
+<p>When a developer brings a project to a hackathon, and doesn't say
+whether it will be free, that is not overt opposition to the community
+spirit, but it undermines that spirit.  Hackathons should strengthen
+the community spirit they are based on, by insisting that hackathon
+projects commit to release in accord with that spirit.</p>
+
+<p>This means telling developers, &ldquo;So that you deserve our support and
+help, you must agree to give the community the use of your project's
+results in freedom, if you ever consider them good enough to use or
+release.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As an individual hackathon participant, you can support this
+principle: before joining in any hackathon project, ask &ldquo;What license
+will you publish this under?  I want to be sure this will be free
+(libre) before I join in developing it.&rdquo;  If the developers of the
+project say that they will choose the license later, you could respond
+that you will choose later whether to participate.  Don't be shy&mdash;if
+others hear this discussion, they may decide to follow the
+same path.</p>
+
+<p>To see which licenses are free licenses, see <a
+href="/licenses/license-list.html">the GNU license
+list</a>.  Most &ldquo;open source&rdquo; licenses are free, but <a
+href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">some
+open source licenses are nonfree because they are too restrictive</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Firmness by individuals has an effect, but a policy of the hackathon
+itself will have a bigger effect.  Hackathons should ask each
+participating project to pledge to follow this rule:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>If you ever release or use this code or design, you will release its source
+code under a free (libre) license.  If you distribute the code in executable
+form, you will make that free (libre) also.</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Many hackathons are sponsored or hosted by schools, which is an
+additional reason they should adopt this rule.  Free software is a
+contribution to public knowledge, while nonfree software withholds
+knowledge from the public.  Thus, <a
+href="/education/edu-schools.html">free software
+supports the spirit of education, while proprietary software opposes
+it</a>.  Schools should insist that all their software development be
+free software, including that of hackathons they support.</p>
+
+</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+<div class="unprintable">
+
+<p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";>&lt;address@hidden&gt;</a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF.  Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
+to <a href="mailto:address@hidden";>&lt;address@hidden&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
+        replace it with the translation of these two:
+
+        We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
+        translations.  However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
+        Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
+        to <a href="mailto:address@hidden";>
+        &lt;address@hidden&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+        <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of
+        our web pages, see <a
+        href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+        README</a>. -->
+Please see the <a
+href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+of this article.</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
+     files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
+     be under CC BY-ND 4.0.  Please do NOT change or remove this
+     without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
+     Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
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+     
+     If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too.
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+     year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including
+     being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system).
+     
+     There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
+     Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
+
+<p>Copyright &copy; 2017 Richard Stallman</p>
+
+<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
+href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/";>Creative
+Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
+
+<p class="unprintable">Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2017/09/13 17:34:49 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>