Open Source Everything Project
The Open Source Everything Project would be one of the key mechanisms by which Foundation initially promotes the precepts of a Post-Industrial culture. It would also be an eminently practical resource for its business and community development.
The basic objective of the project is to establish a web site and associated media to host a vast and perpetually evolving archive of Open Source plans and instructions for the fabrication of the full compliment of artifacts on which a contemporary western standard of living is based. Media, including web sites, focusing on the subject of DIY fabrication are, of course, nothing new. However, there has generally been an avoidance in this field of project designs for practical useful artifacts that might compete directly in performance and economy with the products of commercial industry. Traditionally, DIY has been about the revival of antiquated labor-intensive craft techniques which, although culturally valuable, do not allow for the production of economically competitive artifacts and thus have little progressive social impact. Currently, a new DIY movement with a distinct culture derived from that of the personal computer hobbyist culture has emerged. This new movement is embodied by web sites such as the famous MAKE blog where readers are encouraged to contribute their own project instructions and photos for the fabrication of novel artifacts. MAKErs are pioneering a progressive new attitude toward technology and the products of industry, but while much of the language used and ideals embodied by this new community express a Post-Industrial sensibility, very few of the artifacts that MAKErs contribute to their community have any practical purpose. They are predominately hacks of existing commercial products intended mostly for short-lived amusement or to exploit features the manufacturers had overlooked or tried to lock-out in some way. Nowhere on the MAKE blog will you find plans for an actual functional and economical refrigerator made from scratch.
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Phi Beta Iota: The above is focused on tangible applications such as computing and energy.
See Also:
ROOT: The Open Source Everything Convergence
Open Source Everything Highlights (Daily) at Phi Beta Iota
