the.world.is.flat-第27章
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modification made to an article； so no operation is ever permanently destructive。
Wikipedia works by consensus； with users adding and modifying content while trying
to reach common ground along the way。
〃However； the technology is not enough on its own；〃 wrote Lih。 〃Wales created an
editorial policy of maintaining a neutral point of view （NPOV） as the guiding
principle 。 。 。 According to Wikipedia's guidelines； The neutral point of view
attempts to present ideas and facts in such a fashion that both supporters and
opponents can agree 。 。 。' As a result； articles on contentious issues such as
globalization have benefited from the cooperative and global nature of Wikipedia。
Over the last two years； the entry has had more than 90 edits by contributors from
the Netherlands； Belgium； Sweden； United Kingdom； Australia； Brazil； United States；
Malaysia； Japan and China。 It provides a manifold view of issues from the World Trade
Organization and multinational corporations to the anti…globalization movement and
threats to cultural diversity。 At the same time malicious contributors are kept in
check because vandalism is easily undone。 Users dedicated to fixing vandalism watch
the list of recent changes； fixing problems within minutes； if not seconds。 A defaced
article can quickly be returned to an acceptable version with just one click of a
button。 This crucial asymmetry tipsthe balance in favor of productive and cooperative
members of the wiki community； allowing quality content to prevail。〃 A Newsweek piece
on Wikipedia （November 1； 2004） quoted Angela Beesley； a volunteer contributor from
Essex； England； and self…confessed Wikipedia addict who monitors the accuracy of more
than one thousand entries： 〃A collaborative encyclopedia sounds like a crazy idea；
but it naturally controls itself。〃
Meanwhile； Jimmy Wales is just getting started。 He told Newsweek that he is expanding
into Wiktionary； a dictionary and thesaurus； Wikibooks； textbooks and manuals； and
Wikiquote； a book of quotations。 He said he has one simple goal： to give 〃every single
person free access to the sum of all human knowledge。〃
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Wales's ethic that everyone should have free access to all human knowledge is
undoubtedly heartfelt； but it also brings usto the controversial side of open…source：
If everyone contributes his or her intellectual capital for free； where will the
resources for new innovation come from？ And won't we end up in endless legal wrangles
over which part of any innovation was made by the community for free； and meant to
stay that way； and which part was added on by some company for profit and has to be
paid for so that the company can make money to drive further innovation？ These
questions are all triggered by the other increasingly popular form of self…organized
collaboration…the free software movement。 According to the openknowledge。org Web
site； 〃The free/open source software movement began in the 'hacker' culture of U。S。
computer science laboratories （Stanford； Berkeley； Carnegie Mellon； and MIT） in the
1960's and 1970's。 The community ofprogrammers was small； and close…knit。 Codepassed
back and forth between the members of the community…if you made an improvement you
were expected to submit your code to the community of developers。 To withhold code
was considered gauche…after all； you benefited from the work of your friends； you
should return the favor。〃
The free software movement； however； was and remains inspired by the ethical ideal
that software should be free and available to all； and it relies on open…source
collaboration to help produce the best software possible to be distributed for free。
This a bit different from the approach of the intellectual commons folks； like Apache。
They saw open…sourcing as a technically superior means of creating software and other
innovations； and while Apache was made available to all for free； it had no problem
with commercial software being built on top of it。 The Apache group allowed anyone
who created a derivative work to own it himself； provided he acknowledge the Apache
contribution。
The primary goal of the free software movement； however； is to get as many people
as possible writing； improving； and distributing software for free； out of a
conviction that this will empower everyone and free individuals from the grip of
global corporations。 Generally speaking； the free
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software movement structures its licenses so that if your commercial software draws
directly from their free software copyright； they want your software to be free too。
In 1984； according to Wikipedia； an MIT researcher and one of these ex…hackers；
Richard Stallman； launched the 〃free software movement〃 along with an effort to build
a free operating system called GNU。 To promote free software； and to ensure that its
code would always be freely modifiable and available to all； Stallman founded the
Free Software Foundation and something called the GNU General Public License （GPL）。
The GPL specified that users of the source code could copy； change； or upgrade the
code； provided that they made their changes available under the same license as the
original code。 In 1991； a student at the University of Helsinki named Linus Torvalds；
building off of Stallman's initiative； posted his Linux operating system to compete
with the Microsoft Windows operating system and invited other engineers and geeks
online to try to improve it…for free。 Since Torvalds's initial post； programmers all
over the world have manipulated； added to； expanded； patched； and improved the
GNU/Linux operating system； whose license says anyone can download the source code
and improve upon it but then must make the upgraded version freely available to
everybody else。 Torvalds insists that Linux must always be free。 Companies that sell
software improvements that enhance Linux or adapt it to certain functions have to
be very careful not to touch its copyright in their commercial products。
Much like Microsoft Windows； Linux offers a family of operating systems that can be
adapted to run on the smallest desktop computers； laptops； PalmPilots； and even
wristwatches； all the way up to the largest supercomputers and mainframes。 So a kid
in India with a cheap PC can learn the inner workings of the same operating system
that is running in some of the largest data centers of corporate America。 Linux has
an army of developers across the globe working to make it better。 As I was working
on this segment of the book； I went to a picnic one afternoon at the Virginia country
home of Pamela and Malcolm Baldwin； whom my wife came to know through her membership
on the board of World Learning； an educational NGO。 I mentioned in the course of lunch
that I was
thinking of going to Mali to see just how flat the world looked from its outermost
edge…the town of Timbuktu。 The Baldwins' son Peter happened to be working in Mali
as part of something called the GeekCorps； which helps to bring technology to
developing countries。 A few days after the lunch； I received an e…mail from Pamela
telling me that she had consulted with Peter about accompanying me to Timbuktu； and
then she added the following； which told me everything I needed to know and saved
me the whole trip： 〃Peter says that his project is creating wireless networks via
satellite； making antennas out of plastic soda bottles and mesh from window screens！
Apparently everyone in Mali uses Linux。 。 。〃
〃Everyone in Mali uses Linux。〃 That is no doubt a bit of an exaggeration； but it's
a phrase that you'd hear only in a flat world。
The free software movement has become a serious challenge to Microsoft and some other
big global software players。 As Fortune magazine reported on February 23； 2004； 〃The
availability of this basic； powerful software； which works on Intel's ubiquitous
microprocessors； coincided with the explosive growth of the Internet。 Linux soon
began to gain a global following among programmers and business users 。 。 。 The
revolution goes far beyond little Linux 。 。 。 Just about any kind of software ＇now＇
can be found in open…source
