Traditional Music as Open SourceTony Self

Open Source, Open Standards

• Nothing to do with the way software is coded

• Different approach to property rights

• Property rights: “conditions of use imposed on the user by the software licence”

• Philosophical approach

• A movement, a community

• Free exchange of ideas, code, intellectual property

• Working co-operatively with similar minded people

Traditional Music

• Nothing to do with the way music is written

• Different approach to property rights

• Property rights: “conditions of use imposed on the user by cultural

traditions”

• Cultural practice

• A cultural movement, a community

• Free exchange of music, ornamentation, intellectual property

• Playing co-operatively with similar minded people

Ireland and Music

Tradition

• Until start of 19th century, was completely oral tradition

• Copyright?

• Wide variety of different songs in the Irish tradition

• sean nós, ballads, Anglo-Irish songs, laments,

drinking songs, working songs, lullabies, love

songs, patriotic songs, humorous songs,

religious songs

• 1792 - Edward Bunting started writing down harp music

Interesting comparison

• Musicians are permitted to share, pass on, add to and use songs…

• provided they honour the conventions of the music community's tradition

• Open source can be used, shared, and added to…

• within the boundaries of the conventions of the open source community

Not just software

• Open source standards

• Enormously useful in technical communication

• Open source underpins many of the tools and techniques

• Standards:

• HTML, SVG, DITA, DocBook, MathML, CSS, XML, URL, HTTP, TCP/IP, PGP, GPL, Creative Commons, PNG,

MPG

• Software:

• Mozilla Firefox, Google Chromium, Android and OpenOffice.org

• Development Platforms, OS, and Database:

• JavaScript, Java, Eclipse, Apache, MySQL, Linux, Drupal, Perl

• Content:

• Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Gutenberg, MOOC, DITA Style Guide!

How open source works…

• Developed and maintained by volunteers for the benefit of humanity

• Intellectual property is a donated shared resource

• Held in trust by not-for-profit standards bodies

• W3C

• OASIS

• Open

• Free

• free as in beer

• free as in freedom

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann

Vision

• The traditional arts should be an enriching part of the lives of Irish people everywhere, particularly our young people

• They should be a living, highly visible and vibrant part of society

• They should be easily accessible to all

• Their unique social, cultural and economic benefits should be fully realised by communities and individuals throughout the country and in Irish communities abroad”

Grass roots

• The Comhaltas vision for the

traditional arts can be realised…

• not by it acting in isolation…

• but by working in the community

Voluntary

• The development of the traditional arts has depended to a very

significant extent on the contribution of volunteers

• Harnesses community support and engagement

Protection of IP

Music

• Boycott and shaming

• Disobedience

• Government

• Cultural organisations (eg, Comhaltas)

Open Source

• Legal protection through OASIS, ECMA, W3C

• Boycott (eg, GIF Controversy)

Responsibilities

trad.

Rules and Etiquette:Some coincidentally similar to OASIS!

• Use your common sense, be humble,

don’t be self-serving.

• Understand the local customs before taking out your instrument.

• The player who starts the set dictates the set – tunes and tempo.

Don’t push or drag.

• Quality is far more important than speed.

• Allow breathing time between tune sets.

• Minimize cell phone usage.

Inheritance (provenance)

Open Source Vision

• All information should be shared with all individuals, everyone

freely given opportunities to use the information, and everyone

free to contribute

Benefits

• Interoperability

• Future-proof

• Better quality

• More responsive to

community needs

• Software-agnostic

• Nicer

Standards and Tools

• Standards are agreed approaches to doing things or to storing things

• eg, HTML, DITA

• Standards are published as a book

• Tools

• Software

• May operate with standard formats

• Or with proprietary formats

• eg, Moodle, DITA Open Toolkit

Summary

• “Everything that can be invented has been invented”Charles Duell, Commissioner of US patent office, 1899

• Irish traditional music has the same fundamentals as Open Source

• Open source is the driving force behind nearly all IT advances

• Invisibility is a measure of its success

• Open source has an important place in technical communication

• Join the movement!