Benjamin Mako Hill @mako@social.coop
Rebel with rather too many causes. https://mako.cc/
Free Software needs many things, such as a focus on diversity, a more deliberate way to fund itself without depending on corporatism, and increased interest in other human factors like accessibility.
I believe that coops can be helpful to deliver improvements on those fronts.
Puzzled . . @mako makes a clear pitch on "Free software production needs free tools" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_nK6nP_RCY&feature=youtu.be
And is very clear on #commons and #P2P (though says most code comes from solo not collaboration!). Yet not a hint of coop ownership of #platforms to keep tools honest & open (GitHub!). Surely tools today become platforms? And platforms require collaboration even if code doesn't? So why doesn't #coop follow automatically, as we talk tools? How does libre not equal coop in FLOSS world?
What does the "maker" movement think of the song "Maker" by Fink? An accidental anthem or just unfortunate evidence of the semantic ambiguity around an overloaded term? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJhnbmdSy_U
This writeup of my #LibrePlanet2018 keynote on BoingBoing is more eloquent and concise than the talk. Thanks to Cory for the awesome summary, reflections, and signal boost! https://boingboing.net/2018/06/21/digital-enclosure.html
A well-phrased short talk by @mako on free tools for free software: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_nK6nP_RCY
You can now watch my #LibrePlanet keynote (edited w/ slides) about how firms and markets have coopted the free culture and free software movement's most powerful weapon (mass collaboration) and where that leaves us. https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/libreplanet-2018-keynote
《自由软件需要自由工具》（2010）
By @mako
https://beijinglug.club/free-software-free-tools/
虽然专有开发工具在短期内可能帮助自由软件开发者创造更多自由软件，但它的代价是不可接受的。为了实现更多自由而妥协原则，对我们的用户和更广大的自由软件开发社群而言是自我否定的、不稳定的，终究是不公正的。
Thanks so much to @wizard for translating my essay on why free software needs free tools into Chinese!
自由软件需要自由工具: https://linux.xidian.edu.cn/wiki/article/freetool
Original: https://mako.cc/writing/hill-free_tools.html
I lived on the east coast for ~5 years before somebody explained that the term "honey bucket" is not the generic way to refer to portable toilets. They thought it was a idiosyncratic euphemism. In fact, Honey Bucket is a brand. https://social.coop/media/l9ZqKRImY7ccWgIjpZA https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/honey-buckets
This is an amazing talk about why open source software needs open source tools.
"We should listen to ourselves when we cite our openness as a reason to choose our software." - @mako
@mako 's talk on why free software needs free tools. Highly recommended.
I've got a new paper with Sayamindu Dasgupta that analyzes a natural experiment in Scratch and shows how "wide walls" can support engagement and learning. https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/wide-walls-natural-experiment
Check out my (~15m) talk at @opendevconf@twitter.com where I explain why it's critical that free/libre/open source software projects shouldn't rely on proprietary tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_nK6nP_RCY
It's a talk version of https://mako.cc/writing/hill-free_tools.html from 2010. Sadly still relevant.
I posted some pictures and context for my climb of Mt. Rainier w/ @mika this week: https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/climbing-mount-rainier
Here are some #opensource #foss apps I use from #F–droid Show more
I successfully climbed Mt. Rainier with @mika this week! Huge wind at the top meant it was touch and go on the summit so no pics from the top. https://social.coop/media/fZR4ibFE0yCKyvLEndw https://social.coop/media/GhaW4p06z7WcFoL_srI
https://social.coop/media/EBdgjnbEtVPHfX-M2tg
Excited to share this new blog post on my research: https://blog.communitydata.cc/revisiting-the-rise-and-decline/
The pool of active contributors to Wikipedia started declining in 2007. Researchers blamed a calcifying bureaucracy and hostility to newcomers. Are these problems in other wiki communities too? Could there be a deeper reason why these dynamics emerge?
I replicated Halfaker et al 2013's analysis of 'The rise and decline.' The dynamics observed in Wikipedia appear to reoccur again and again in many wiki communities.
My new paper w/ @groceryheist and Aaron Shaw shows that big wikis tend to grow and decline in a way that looks eerily similar to English Wikipedia. https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/revisiting-the-rise-and-decline
@groceryheist will present the work on Thursday at #CHI2018.
I can't help but be a little disquieted by the enormous "Mako Hate" community that I've found on Tumblr. https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/mako-hate https://social.coop/media/bgjqEdoHBpxVqTli2hc
I recently realized my dream of launching a job on Hyak (the supercomputer run by the University of Washington) on Hyak (the Washington State ferry). https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/hyak-on-hyak