free culture

Today I found an excellent small website about the gender imbalance in Free software. There's been a lot about the topic on the linux/free software news sites too.

Large parts of the free software community are rather hostile towards women, as unfortunately is usual in communities with a huge male majority. Which then prevents the community from becoming balanced because it will be unattractive to women.

I think it is odd the proprietary software industry is closer to gender balance. Aren't people who care a lot about freedom supposed to be more friendly to others who are different from them in any way?

Just before new year, on December 31st 2006 the Free Culture Foundation site has been launched. The site appears to be mimicking the Free Software Foundation in form and also presents four core freedoms on which the Free Culture Movement should be based, to use, create, share and learn. On Libervis.com we have been discussing the need for defining core principles of the Free Culture Movement before and the FCF might just be filling the gap. Here is the press release:

"The Free Culture Foundation was launched today to promote and protect cultural freedoms. The Foundation provides an accessible, independent introduction to the free culture movement, now a global phenomenon thanks to the Creative Commons licenses, organisations like Open Business and artists like the Beastie Boys.

There is some significant symbolic and historical value in the gesture that the popular Time Magazine exercised this month. It may be remembered as one of the signs of historic change for decades to come. Time Magazine declared you the person of the year because you changed the world. Internet opened its doors to you and you dared to enter, raise your voice and cooperate on making the magic happen. You connected, sent the signal and the conversation ensued.

What is a Free Culture

Before talking about Free Culture we should establish some kind of a definition of Free Culture, in that it would seem logical we should first define "culture" and then identify what it is that makes this culture to become a free one. It is not an easy task regarding the term "culture" tends to mean various things in several contexts of use. However, if we look at some most common contexts we can see what culture in general may consist of and reach a better understanding of what it is, and in the end, what turns it a free one.

That said, we can recognize "culture" as a system of beliefs, ethics and morality, various methods, approaches and solutions to common problems, common human behaviors, sense of creativity and ultimately the outcome of any of the above in interaction (for comparison see: Wikipedia and dictionary.com definitions from which this was partly derived).

Free culture is the culture of free (as in freedom) information and content such as music, images, text, software; anything! The word "libervis" means "most freely" in Latin. In the beginning this "most freely" only referred to free software, but throughout 2005 we broadened our view to all of free culture. This is probably the biggest change that happened to Libervis.com and also the one that was the most crucial to defining its identity.

Libervis.com provides a rich environment where its users can discuss free culture related topics, write articles together, blog, share their creations, and much more. It is a framework through which a Free Culture can flow in open communication, discussion and creativity.

2005 was a year of defining Libervis.com, its identity and purpose. It was also a year of growth that brought it to a mature state in which it has something to show, a strong base to build on and something to attract with. It happened through the few key events that marked this year and shaped Libervis.com to what it is. The following examines some of these events.