We Love Open Source
Software … No, You Can’t
Have Our Code
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
1
Simple application: Citation Builder
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
2
Polite Requests
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
3
Our Open Sources ‘Issues’
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Perfectionism
Dependency
Quirkiness
Redundancy
Competitiveness
Misunderstanding
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
4
Perfectionism
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
5
Dependency
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
6
The Dependency Pathway
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
7
Sharing our code?
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
8
Sharing our code, part II
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
9
Quirkiness
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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
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I have no idea how/if this relates to
software.
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
10
Redundancy
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
11
“Big challenge” on display
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
12
Open Library Environment
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“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 Libraries
Dale Askey
13
Competitiveness
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
14
Misunderstanding
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The world only goes round by
misunderstanding.
- Charles Baudelaire
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
15
ITSO CUL
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
16
What can we do?
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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 Libraries
Dale Askey
17
What can we do?
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Please ignore what I’m saying
The real solution is to hire Mark Leggott
as your director
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
18
Many thanks
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Dale Askey
Kansas State University
daskey@ksu.edu
October 2, 2008
K-State Libraries
Dale Askey
19