Book Review: Chapter 10: Ethical Interest in Free and Open Source Software
Book: The-handbook-of-information-and-computer-ethic
Author: Frances S. Grodzinsky and Marty J. Wolf
Library Reference: N/A
Amazon Reference:
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Information-Computer-Ethics/dp/0471799599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233037513&sr=1-1
Quote:
“The Free Software movement can be credited with providing an impetus for establishing notions of freedom for other types of digital media”
Learning Expectations
· Expect to learn the interest in free and open source software.
· Why is it that many are interested in open source free software?
· Why does a person take advantage to this kind of software’s?
· The relation of ethical values towards free software.
Review:
(1) Freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
(2) Freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.
(3) Freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
(4) Freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the Public, so that the whole community benefits.
While the Internet’s rapid expansion has enabled an equally rapid expansion of webbased professional services, it has not been matched by the consideration and understanding of the related ethical implications. The growth of new opportunities is accompanied by equal, if not greater, growth in ethical issues for businesses seeking to expand their offerings via the Internet. These issues include the quality of services and information, privacy and security, nature of relationship, forms of delivery, contractual considerations, and regulation and enforcement.
Computers have a central and growing role in commerce, industry, government, medicine, education, entertainment and society at large. Software engineers are those who contribute by direct participation or by teaching, to the analysis, specification, design, development, certification, maintenance and testing of software systems. Because of their roles in developing software systems, software engineers have significant opportunities to do good or cause harm, to enable others to do good or cause harm, or to influence others to do good or cause harm. To ensure, as much as possible, that their efforts will be used for good, software engineers must commit themselves to making software engineering a beneficial and respected profession. In accordance with that commitment, software engineers shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.
The Code contains eight Principles related to the behavior of and decisions made by professional software engineers, including practitioners, educators, managers, supervisors and policy makers, as well as trainees and students of the profession. The Principles identify the ethically responsible relationships in which individuals, groups, and organizations participate and the primary obligations within these relationships. The Clauses of each Principle are illustrations of some of the obligations included in these relationships. These obligations are founded in the software engineer’s humanity, in special care owed to people affected by the work of software engineers, and in the unique elements of the practice of software engineering. The Code prescribes these as obligations of anyone claiming to be or aspiring to be a software engineer.
What I’ve learned:
I learned that the distinction between Free Software and Open Source Software has had a positive effect on the software development community and on the larger online community as well. Regardless of the motivation of individual developers, it is difficult to find fault with their willingness to give their creative contributions to the world to study and adapt as the world sees fit.
Integrative Questions:
1. What is open source software?
2. Why is it free?
3. What are the ethical responsibilities of software developers?
4. What are the accountabilities made in open source software?
5. The relation of creative commons on this article?
Citations: N/A
