[OpenDesign] research on application of open design processes

Tue Nov 27 22:58:51 UTC 2012

At a first glance, it looks like a kind of a "chicken or the egg" question
to me. But after reflecting on it for a while, I think I quite agree with
Peter.

For people that are already interested and even involved into these topics,
it may look more like a technical question (I know WHAT I want to achieve
and WHY I want it, now the question for me is HOW). At least that's what
usually happens to me.

But I think the "community first" approach does totally apply here. It's
the community who can start a process of change, a project or even a
movement, both by "scratching their own itch" and by seeing the point of it
all –the general interest, the common good...– and becoming advocates.

As an example, in architecture (which is what I know more closely) the free
software development is really scarce. There are huge technical challenges
(we are used to very complex and feature-rich programs), but above all
there's just not enough interest, not enough "hacker spirit", so why would
a programmer get involved in a FLOSS project for architects, if architects
themselves don't see the point of doing that?

I'd say it's crucial that design professionals begin to get interested in
the "why" and "what for" of opening both their tools, their knowledge,
their creations, their way of working... And that's more a community issue
than a technical one.

Of course, if a small, young and still weak community hits agains a huge
technical or methodological challenge, it won't be able to overcome it in
one step, even in a very long one, and it may even come to a halt. The best
approach I can imagine here, regarding technology and methodology, is
starting low, rough and short, and trying to *experience* the benefits of
openness and freedom in that small scale, so the community can gather
enough energy and interest to jump into something bigger.

And yes, there's a lot to be done. We will need to be capable of enjoying
uncertainity and unanswered questions ;)

Best,

2012/11/27 Dr. Peter Troxler <trox at fabfolk.com>

>
> On 27 Nov 2012, at 16:15 , Bram Geenen wrote:
>
> Maybe I can leave you guys with an interesting question:
> Do you think the biggest need is for technological sollutions? e.g. 'git'
> for 3d models / more tangible communication than skype and chat (such as
> the EU project asks)?
> or:
> Is the first step to grow this movement into an ecosystem, by connecting
> communities and platforms for example, and lowering the entry barriers to
> connect with this movement? And will the technology then follow?
>
>
> Very interesting and very relevant question.
>
> I can only respond from my personal point of view:
>
> -- There is certainly a lot of tech stuff to be dealt with, but I do not
> expect this to come from an EU project:  there are quite a few big players
> in the 3D modelling market, and I'd expect them to address the issue first.
> The .stl file format stems from 3D systems and was then adopted by ASTM as
> a standard.
> So the question is: will anybody do a git for 3D, maybe it in a
> proprietary way, and will others (including an open source community) be
> able to benefit from it?
> -- Similarly for 3D cooperation ... think of a 3D etherpad
>
> -- I would argue that first we would have to arrive at a movement.  These
> days, the word "movement" is used much too quickly and often in an attempt
> to express a wish to become big one day (famous example: Lawrence Lessig
> rebranding Creative Commons as a movement instead of a project).
> -- to do that, we actually need to achieve what you are proposing:
> connecting communities (and platforms), lowering the barriers to entry
>
> and I think we need to do a lot more:
> -- we need to find the right "institutions" to support us becoming a
> movement;
> -- we need to find the good ways to connect with what is there in design,
> understand the developments that are ongoing in design--particularly in
> regard to open source and IP protection: there is at least as much push to
> more IP mussle as there is desire to more open source, while exactly some
> disciplines of design don't have strong IP regimes (look at fashion, for
> instance).
> -- we need to free us from the simplistic business models of mass
> manufacturing
> -- we need to work on the value created from attribution
> -- ...
>
> so currently the only answer I have is more questions ... looking forward
> to discussing them
>
> / Peter
>
>
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