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Essay on Open Source as an Art Form

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stuff-to-read dept.

Lilly Tao writes "Here's an Atlantic Unbound essay which takes the concept of open source as an art form (prompted by Linux having won an art prize, Prix Ars Electronica) to partly answer and mostly pose the question "How far can the open source model go?" " I've long since abandoned the idea of Programming as Engineering and taken up the idea of Programming as Art. That theory explains why Slashdot is pretty, but slow anyway (rimshot).

8 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Code = Art by PurpleBob · · Score: 2

    So how is this art going to be displayed? Will art galleries have framed printouts of C code, or will they just give out Linux CDs?
    --

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    Win dain a lotica, en vai tu ri silota
  2. Which part by Hrunting · · Score: 3

    Which part of the programming is the art? Is it the code, neatly formatted, with creative comments and clever algorithms or is it the finished product? When you look at 'art' in a museum, all you see is the finished product. Contrary to popular belief, great art is not the result of a genius mind and a few hours in front of the canvas or clay, but rather the result of sometimes years of analytical study. The Mona Lisa has no less then nine versions of itself underneath the top layer of oil and color.

    So which is the art? The code or the program? I personally think it's the program, and beautiful programs usually have very nice/efficient/clean code.

    MHO

  3. And RMS does scream... by ricOS/2 · · Score: 2

    Linus's cleverest and most consequential hack was not the construction of the Linux kernel itself, but rather his invention of the Linux development model.

    1. Re:And RMS does scream... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Except that RMS didn't develop cooperative, bazaar style development. He developed the GPL, under which he released his own source. None of the FSF projects had significant input from the outside community, nor was the development guided by outside needs.

  4. Donald Knuth has covered this terriotory by Cptn+Proton · · Score: 2

    with his great book 'literate programming'. Both fascinating and practical reading. I admire him.

  5. Think of the legal ramifications! by grappler · · Score: 2

    So art is protected by freedom of speech, and open source programming is art.

    Well then, wouldn't an elegant, artful open source implementation of a strong encryption algorithm be protected by freedom of speech, and therefore be exportable?

    Q.E.D. Baby!

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    Vidi, Vici, Veni
  6. Open Source model by jd · · Score: 2
    The Open Source model can be taken wherever you like it. It's not constrained by engineering concepts, or even artistic concepts.

    I'm working on the "Free Film Project", an "Open Source"-type project to not only develop an entire virtual studio from the ground up, but to also produce films within that studio, mixing live-action with CGI.

    If I can apply the GPL or the "Open Source" idea to scripts, music, film footage and movies as well as source code successfully (as yet unproven), then "Open Source" should be applicable to just about anything creative.

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    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  7. Re:the process by Hrunting · · Score: 2

    One of the characteristics of Art is that it challenges those who encounter it to see the world in new ways.

    Since when was this a characteristic of art? The overgeneralization of what exactly 'art' refers to is what has primarily lead to the downfall of art within society over the past fifty years. It's comments and ideas such as this that have led 'artists' to put toilets under plastic bubbles and then sell it for millions of dollars as 'art'.

    And I guess that kind of solidifies my opinion on the whole matter. The Open Source movement is /not/ art any more than is the process of making a half-mixed bowl of porridge. A process may be interesting and it may challenge the mind, but I dare not call it art as it cheapens the hard work and effort that design has produced over the years.

    I dunno if it's just the OS movement inflating it's own ego, but I've seen the most ridiculous applications of the open-source moniker lately, and now, I'm beginning to see the most ridiculous applications of other concepts to the open-source ideal.

    As I learned in a real art class, the easiest way to completely destory a concept is to try and compare it to something else rather than evaluating it on it's own ground.