“All men by nature desire to know.” Aristotle- Metaphysics, 350 B.C.E.
“所有人天生都渴望知道。” 亚里士多德-形而上学，公元前350年
At the dusk of International Women’s Day, 2021, I pen these words. On a keyboard. ‘Coz that’s how we roll.
在2021年国际妇女节的黄昏时分，我写下了这些话。 在键盘上。 “因为这就是我们滚动的方式。
“Open source,” I ask some friends; friends who generally know things.
“开源，”我问一些朋友；通常知道事情的朋友。
“What is it?”
“这是什么？”
“Isn’t that something you put on pasta?” says one?
“那不是你放在意大利面上的东西吗？” 说一个？
“I think I saw them play live, back in the 90’s”, says another.
另一个人说：“我想我在90年代看过他们的现场表演。”
“What was the middle part of the question?”, says a third.
“问题的中间部分是什么？”第三人说。
Not many of us are in the know, when it comes to Open Source. My son, my baby, my 10-year-old innocent flower, pipes up, “It’s software that’s developed by many people in collaboration, Mama. And I thought you were a nerd”.
说到开源，我们中没有多少人知道。 我的儿子，我的宝贝，我10岁的无辜花，说：“这是许多人合作开发的软件，妈妈。 我以为你是个书呆子。”
Not for the first time, I notice the kindly roast. Like any self-respecting “digital native”, I scuttle off to consult my sage; the internet.
这不是第一次，我注意到了亲切的烤肉。 像任何自尊的“数字本地人”一样，我迅速去咨询我的道奇；互联网。
According to the Grandaddy of open-source, online information, Wikipedia, the definition of open source is as follows; “A type of computer software in which source code is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner”.
根据开源、在线信息的祖父维基百科，开源的定义如下；“一种计算机软件，其源代码是根据许可证发布的，其中版权所有者授予用户出于任何目的使用、研究、更改和向任何人分发软件的权利。 开源软件可以以协作的公共方式开发。”
Yet another hit reveals, “Open source software is developed in a decentralised and collaborative way, relying on peer review and community production”.
另一个热门揭示了，“开源软件以去中心化和协作的方式开发，依靠同行评审和社区生产”。
37 different pages later.
37个不同的页面之后。
The participative context in which such software is developed is widely lauded as one of the benefits of this type of digital technology development. Its opposite, proprietary code, is developed under copyrighted conditions, and the source code is not available for public reference or modification.
开发此类软件的参与式环境被广泛称赞为此类数字技术发展的好处之一。 其相反的專有程式是在受版權保護的條件下開發的，源程式不能供公眾參考或修改。
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) champions an egalitarian ethos, ethically committed to equity, equality and engagement between communities of practice. People, random individuals with a proclivity for coding, read, develop and share back into the system code for open-source software programmes. Common examples include Mozilla Firefox, Linux and Moodle, the online learning platform preferred by universities worldwide. I haven’t dabbled in Linux, but Firefox and Moodle are magnificently manageable and intuitive. I’ve used different Moodles over the last six years, and they all have left me with the unshakeable sense of being a tech savvy person. I swear!
开源倡议（OSI）倡导平等主义精神，在道德上致力于公平、平等和实践社区之间的参与。 人们，随机有编码倾向的个人，阅读、开发和共享到开源软件程序的系统代码中。 常见的例子包括Mozilla Firefox、Linux和Moodle，Moodle是全球大学首选的在线学习平台。 我没有涉足Linux，但Firefox和Moodle非常易于管理和直观。 在过去的六年里，我使用了不同的Moodles，它们都给我留下了一个精通技术的人的坚定不移的感觉。 我发誓！
Firefox had its moment of starlet super-fame, but it remains popular for its privacy, its speed and its customisability according to literally every review on the first web search.
火狐浏览器曾是小明星超级出名的时刻，但根据第一次网络搜索的每篇评论，它仍然因其隐私、速度和可定制性而广受欢迎。
So, what makes open source so ephemerally appealing? And what is it that the OSI does, if it’s all a big free for all, anyway?
那么，是什么让开源如此短暂地吸引人呢？ 无论如何，如果一切都对所有人都是免费的，OSI是做什么的？
From what I can glean from Aunty Searchengine, open source appeals to the souls of this so-called generation of “digital natives” (Prensky, 2001). These individuals were born and bred amongst technological advances. They have never known a world before technology, and therefore think, process and respond on a neurological level that is fundamentally different from their ancestors. They multi-task, flip screens and were raised on apps and tablets, according to popular lore. The cut-off point has helpfully been set at circa 1983 for this new breed of human. And because they have been weaned on Google, instant searches, content at a keyboard tap, their primary source of information is the internet, and their primary tools for life are centred in digital devices.
从我从Aunty搜索引擎中收集到的内容来看，开源吸引了这一代所谓的“数字本地人”的灵魂（Prensky，2001年）。 这些人是在技术进步中出生和繁殖的。 在技术之前，他们从未了解过世界，因此在神经学层面上思考、处理和反应，这与他们的祖先截然不同。 根据流行的传说，他们可以同时处理多项任务，翻转屏幕，并在应用程序和平板电脑上长大。 对于这种新型人类来说，截止点被定在1983年左右。 由于他们在谷歌、即时搜索、键盘点击内容上已经中断了，他们的主要信息来源是互联网，他们的主要生活工具集中在数字设备上。
Proprietary source software claims a higher level of dependability, using the best minds to develop the optimal software solutions. Yet our post-modern practitioner coders ask, “And how is it that you could possibly ever begin to know what it is that I need my software to do, exactly?”. Open source allows users access to the source code for software, and the right to add a bit of bling as they see fit. Users return this code to the mother ship (I’m a bit sketchy on the details of HOW exactly; more on that later), where it is shared with the community of collaborators.
专有源软件声称具有更高的可靠性，使用最好的头脑来开发最佳的软件解决方案。 然而，我们的后现代从业者程序员问道：“你怎么可能开始知道我到底需要我的软件做什么？”。 开源允许用户访问软件的源代码，并有权在他们认为合适时添加一点金光闪闪。 用户将此代码返回母船（我对如何的细节有点粗略；稍后会更详细），在那里它与协作者社区共享。
Harking back to the very birth of the Internet and digital technology, code was an open-source field day. Early computers had to be programmed by hand. A single error in the input, and the software would not run. Proto-nerds painstakingly typed hours of code to run the now legendary Pong; retro tennis in Paleo-Tech times. This trait has remained a defining feature of nerds, the heroes of our era. Nerds are unapologetically, unequivocally cool people. They like to share. They treat others with respect. They function almost effortlessly as a perfect example of a community of practice.
回顾互联网和数字技术的诞生，代码是一个开源的野外日。 早期的计算机必须手工编程。 输入中出现一个错误，软件将无法运行。 原始书呆子费力地输入数小时的代码来运行现在传奇的Pong；古科技时代的复古网球。 這種特質一直是書呆子、我們時代的英雄的決定性特徵。 书呆子是毫无歉意、毫不含糊地酷的人。 他们喜欢分享。 他們尊重他人。 作为实践社区的完美例子，他们几乎毫不费力地发挥作用。
Such a group of learners lies within the same domain, those who engage in activities aimed at increasing the proficiency within their confines. So, book clubs book, fisherpeople fish, and coders code. Formed in 1998, the OSI is an “educational, advocacy, and stewardship organization”, embracing a global community that develops and modifies open-source software code under licence from the OSI; sort of like an ouroboros, the serpent that eats its own tail, a symbol as old as time itself.
这样的一群学习者位于同一领域，那些参与旨在提高其范围内熟练程度的活动的人。 所以，读书俱乐部的书，渔民的鱼，和编码员的代码。 OSI成立于1998年，是一个“教育、倡导和管理组织”，包括一个全球社区，在OSI的许可下开发和修改开源软件代码；有点像奥罗博罗，一条吃自己尾巴的蛇，一个与时间本身一样古老的象征。
Create open-source software, share it, ensure its integrity, create open-source……….
创建开源软件，共享它，确保其完整性，创建开源……….
The OSI argues that the home and hearth of software development is under its inclusive umbrella, not in secretive tech labs, whatever one of those may look like. From a luddite perspective, the Open Source ethos is not without its charm. Philosophically, it lends itself more to a Marxist worldview than Capitalist. Its scope is global, embracing its collaborators worldwide, from the comfort of their own coding snug. The community of practice develops together, shares together and is bound by a common, altruistic ethos.
OSI認為，軟體開發的家園和心臟在其包容性的保護傘下，而不是在秘密的技術實驗室中，不管其中任何一個是什麼樣子。 从路德派的角度来看，开源精神并非没有其魅力。 从哲学上讲，它更适合马克思主义的世界观而不是资本主义的世界观。 它的范围是全球性的，包括世界各地的合作者，从他们自己的编码舒适中。 实践社区共同发展，共同分享，并受到共同的、利他主义精神的约束。
As an initiative, there is much to be learned from the Open Source ethos. Sharing is caring. As we bravely embark upon 2021, the zeitgeist is humming with the need for connection after long months of separation. Travel bans mean that for many of us, our families now only exist on the virtual realm. And virtual hugs and kisses don’t cut it.
作为一项倡议，从开源精神中可以学到很多东西。 分享就是关心。 当我们勇敢地开始2021年时，在长时间的分离之后，时代主义正在嗡嗡作响，需要联系。 旅行禁令意味着对我们许多人来说，我们的家庭现在只存在于虚拟领域。 虚拟的拥抱和亲吻并不重要。
Sharing is a must in the code of our common humanity. For example, sharing medical source code for vaccines would be hugely beneficial to humankind right about now, so we could make enough to inoculate 8 billion people, fast. Sharing power, sharing time, sharing your truth.
在我们共同的人性中，分享是必须的。 例如，现在共享疫苗的医疗源代码将对人类非常有益，因此我们可以快速制造足够的疫苗，为80亿人接种疫苗。 分享力量，分享时间，分享你的真相。
Software development began in the garages of nerds. We have the nerds to thank for WeChat Pay and Taobao and Yellow Kangaroo. For Netflix and Baidu and Didi. When I was younger, I thought that I was a nerd. Now, I know that I am not that smart.
软件开发始于书呆子的车库。 我们要感谢微信支付、淘宝和黄袋鼠的书呆子。 对于Netflix、百度和滴滴。 当我年轻的时候，我认为我是个书呆子。 现在，我知道我没那么聪明。
I am just at the beginning of my open-source learning journey. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t go on to pasta.
我的开源学习之旅才刚刚开始。 我很确定它不会继续吃意大利面。
I think about Moodle, the way it allows me to navigate its space with ease, the way the instructions, such as, “Access the ‘Settings’ tab in the scroll-down menu on the Dashboard”, don’t induce a conniption fit. It is a safe place, a digital space that is welcoming, foolproof; tried and tested. Come to think of it, Wikipedia is like a wise old uncle, full of rambling, open source articles of information. “There are Wikipedia sites in 300 different languages, with 46 million articles accessed by 1.4 billion unique devices every single month. An army of 200,000 editors and contributors patrol this repository of online knowledge every day.”
我想到了Moodle，它允许我轻松浏览其空间的方式，说明的方式，例如“访问仪表板上下拉菜单中的’设置’选项卡”，不会诱发connipt。 这是一个安全的地方，一个热情、万无一失的数字空间；经过尝试和测试。 仔细想想，维基百科就像一个睿智的老叔叔，充满了漫无边际的开源信息文章。 “有300种不同语言的维基百科网站，每月有14亿个独特的设备访问4600万篇文章。 一支由20万名编辑和贡献者组成的军队每天巡逻这个在线知识库。”
I am appreciative of this software, and the horse it rode in on. Is this because I am a digital emigrant? Does my pre-tech passport condemn me to a life of not knowing what stuff like “open source” means, and finding tech stuff bewildering?
我很欣赏这个软件，以及它所骑的马。 这是因为我是数字移民吗？ 我的科技前护照是否注定了我过着不知道“开源”等东西是什么意思的生活，发现科技的东西令人困惑？
No. Of course not.
不。 当然不是。
I don’t believe that the metaphor of “digital native” works optimally in the case of the defining tool of our times, digital TECHnology. Rather, as a species, we have stumbled upon a new terrain, a virtual paradise that is ours for the making. We are all navigating this new space. Our little ones may find certain tasks easier, having optimised the neurocircuitry for gaming, or watching YouTube for hours without blinking. But they aren’t born with an innate desire to game like they are to sing, or laugh, or hug. They are no more native to this virtual realm than any of us. We still have to warn them of snakes.
我不相信“数字原生”的隐喻在我们这个时代的定义工具数字技术的情况下是最佳的。 相反，作为一个物种，我们偶然发现了一个新的地形，一个由我们来建造的虚拟天堂。 我们都在探索这个新空间。 我们的孩子可能会发现某些任务更容易，优化了游戏的神经电路，或者几个小时不眨眼地看YouTube。 但他们并不是天生就渴望玩游戏，就像他们唱歌、笑或拥抱那样。 他们並不比我们任何人更生土生地。 我们仍然必须警告他们不要有蛇。
We could think about open source, once we’ve had a spin around Google and found a definition that works in our own mind. We could consider what it has to offer the model for how to use tech in the 21st century, so that we may bear to read of it in history. Open source proposes an egalitarian path forwards, sharing and developing software as a global population. It’s almost a perfect reflection of epistemology itself.
一旦我们绕过谷歌，找到了我们自己头脑中有效的定义，我们就可以思考开源。 我们可以考虑它为21世纪如何使用技术的模型提供什么，这样我们就可以忍受在历史中阅读它。 开源提出了一条平等的前进道路，作为全球人口共享和开发软件。 这几乎是认识论本身的完美反映。
Another International Women’s Day has passed. I pray for a day when this too, is a meaningless relic in a more egalitarian world.
又一个国际妇女节已经过去。 我祈祷有一天，在一个更加平等的世界里，这也是一个毫无意义的遗迹。
Because we can. Because I’m guessing the joy of writing a kick-ass piece of code must be glorious. Because now is history, tomorrow.
因为我们可以。 因为我猜想写一个很棒的代码的快乐一定是光荣的。 因为现在是历史，明天。
