october 2, 2008 k-state libraries dale askey 1 we love open source software … no, you can’t have...
TRANSCRIPT
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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We Love Open Source Software … No, You Can’t
Have Our Code
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Polite Requests
Take nothing personally; think of this as a cathartic self-critique
No audible expressions of disgust or exasperation
Place chuckable objects in a secure place
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Our Open Sources ‘Issues’
Perfectionism Dependency Quirkiness Redundancy Competitiveness Misunderstanding
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Perfectionism
It is through Art and through Art only that we can realize our perfection; through Art and Art only that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of hack programmers and commercial software.
- freely adapted from Oscar Wilde
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Dependency
Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will. No, I will not be taking any questions.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, perhaps
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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The Dependency Pathway
Library X creates cool software Library Y sees it, wheedles code,
installs it, falls in love, and shares this love with the world
Library Y, along with libraries A-W, as well as Z, all come knocking for support
Library X may wish they hadn’t made it quite so cool
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Quirkiness
The continuity which accompanies the quirkiness of history that produced the original condition is an accepted part of the human condition; for absent that quirkiness, man would not be on earth in an evolutionary sense to enjoy it.
- David Jablonsky
I have no idea how/if this relates to software.
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Redundancy
How, why, did this unnecessary business begin? Why does anyone want to read about it—this redundant human madness which men accept as inevitable?
- Margaret Anderson
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Open Library Environment
“this project appears to be reinventing the wheel”
“… rather than building an entirely new system, have the project members considered adding functionality to an existing open-source ILS like Koha? I’d be interested in knowing more about ‘what’s missing.’”
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Competitiveness
The university is no longer a quiet place to teach and do scholarly work at a measured pace and contemplate the universe. It is big, complex, demanding, competitive, bureaucratic, and chronically short of money.
- Phyllis Dain
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Misunderstanding
The world only goes round by misunderstanding.
- Charles Baudelaire
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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ITSO CUL
Integrated Tool for Selection and Ordering for Cornell University Libraries
Shareware preferred over open source: "not only for the benefits to those in the audience who wished to use the program, but to Cornell by reducing their administrative costs and responsibility for the program"
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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What can we do?
Find a way to share software that’s accessible to non-technical librarians
Put a license on our code and get it out there, anywhere, no extra strings attached
Commit to the necessary human investment
Reward staff for contributing to the software community
Reprioritize internally to make all of this happen
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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What can we do?
Please ignore what I’m saying The real solution is to hire Mark
Leggott as your director
October 2, 2008 K-State LibrariesDale Askey
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Many thanks
Dale Askey Kansas State University [email protected]