[GNU/consensus] "open" definitions

[flawer]

eis i found this forwarded thread below (on the okfn) interesting for 
here (forgive me if is too offtopic or spamy, my intention is good and 
don't know well if this is a place for creating definitions on further 
than socialnetworking or technical socialnetworking, you can point me to 
other places if so).

so in this sense and btw, if so, is there something we may do for doing 
a 'free' version of things for what there is already some open 
definition on the okfn? for example the data manifesto that was 
discussed at the beginning of this list: is it based on open data okfn 
def? is it bundling it or is forking it? does it make sense to name it 
"free data" or "data freedom manifesto" or "data control standards". 
most of the times i identify freedom as the hability to "keep control 
over something" because is defined so it can flow freelier-controlledly, 
that's why i mean control=freedom, but "free" is more eyecatchy than 
control which seems like control freak ;)


open economics and free economics? needed a free one? how-where?

for example. i remember the http://libre.org (free knowledge 
foundation) project, but i always saw the site under construction, dunno 
further if that is a better place than gnu consensus or else for this 
kind of sectorial definitions-standards things.

again, sorry for the mess if so.


> On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 7:17 AM, Laura James wrote:
ALL,
WE JUST POSTED ABOUT "DEFINING OPEN DATA" ON THE OPEN KNOWLEDGE 
FOUNDATION BLOG - SETTING OUT A CLEAR AND ACCESSIBLE EXPLANATION 
(HOPEFULLY!).  THERE WILL BE MORE POSTS ABOUT THE OPEN DEFINITION AND 
HOW IT RELATES TO OTHER OPEN PRINCIPLES IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

http://blog.okfn.org/2013/10/03/defining-open-data/ [1]

Laura


OPEN DATA IS DATA THAT CAN BE FREELY USED, SHARED AND BUILT-ON BY 
ANYONE, ANYWHERE FOR ANY PURPOSE. This is the summary of the full Open 
Definition [2] which the Open Knowledge Foundation [3] created in 2005 
to provide both a succinct explanation and a detailed definition of open 
data [4].

As the open data movement grows, and even more governments and 
organisations sign up to open data, it becomes ever more IMPORTANT THAT 
THERE IS A CLEAR AND AGREED DEFINITION for what “open data” means if we 
are to realise the full benefits of openness, and avoid the risks of 
creating incompatibility between projects and splintering the community.

Open_ can apply to information from any source and about any topic. 
Anyone can release their data under an open licence for free use by and 
benefit to the public. Although we may think mostly about government and 
public sector bodies releasing public information such as budgets or 
maps, or researchers sharing their results data and publications, any 
organisation can open information (corporations, universities, NGOs, 
startups, charities, community groups and individuals).

There is open information in transport [5], science [6], products [7], 
education [8], sustainability [9], maps [10], legislation [11], 
libraries [12], economics [13], culture [14], development [15], business 
[16], design [17], finance [18] …. So the explanation of what open means 
applies to all of these information sources and types. Open may also 
apply both to data – big data and small data [19] – or to content, like 
images, text and music!

So here we set out clearly what open means, and why this agreed 
definition is vital for us to collaborate, share and scale as open data 
and open content grow and reach new communities.

WHAT IS OPEN?

The full Open Definition [2] provides a precise definition of what open 
data is. There are 2 important elements to openness:

* LEGAL OPENNESS: you must be allowed to get the data legally, to build 
on it, and to share it. Legal openness is usually provided by applying 
an appropriate (open) license [20] which allows for free access to and 
reuse of the data, or by placing data into the public domain.
* TECHNICAL OPENNESS: there should be no technical barriers to using 
that data. For example, providing data as printouts on paper (or as 
tables in PDF documents) makes the information extremely difficult to 
work with. So the Open Definition has various requirements for 
“technical openness,” such as requiring that data be machine readable 
and available in bulk.

There are a few key aspects of open_ which the Open Definition [21] 
explains in detail. Open Data is useable by anyone, regardless of who 
they are, where they are, or what they want to do with the data; there 
must be no restriction on who can use it, and commercial use is fine 
too.

Open data must be available in bulk (so it’s easy to work with) and it 
should be available free of charge, or at least at no more than a 
reasonable reproduction cost. The information should be digital, 
preferably available by downloading through the internet, and easily 
processed by a computer too (otherwise users can’t fully exploit the 
power of data – that it can be combined together to create new 
insights).

Open Data must permit people to use it, re-use it, and redistribute it, 
including intermixing with other datasets and distributing the results.

The Open Definition [21] generally doesn’t allow conditions to be 
placed on how people can use Open Data, but it does permit a data 
provider to require that data users credit them in some appropriate way, 
make it clear if the data has been changed, or that any new datasets 
created using their data are also shared as open data.

There are 3 important principles behind this definition of _open_, 
which are why Open Data is so powerful:
* AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS: that people can get the data
* RE-USE AND REDISTRIBUTION: that people can reuse and share the data
* UNIVERSAL PARTICIPATION: that anyone can use the data
GOVERNANCE OF THE OPEN DEFINITION

Since 2007, the Open Definition has been governed by an Advisory 
Council [22]. This is the group formally responsible for maintaining and 
developing the Definition and associated material. Its mission is to 
take forward Open Definition work for the general benefit of the open 
knowledge community, and it has specific responsibility for deciding on 
what licences comply with the Open Definition.
The Council is a community-run body. New members of the Council can be 
appointed at any time by agreement of the existing members of the 
Advisory Council, and are selected for demonstrated knowledge and 
competence in the areas of work of the Council.
The Advisory Council operates in the open and anyone can join the 
mailing list [23].

ABOUT THE OPEN DEFINITION

The Open Definition [2] was created in 2005 by the Open Knowledge 
Foundation with input from many people. The Definition was based 
directly on the Open Source Definition [24] from the Open Source 
Initiative [25] and we were able to reuse most of these well-established 
principles and practices that the free and open source community had 
developed for software, and apply them to data and content.
Thanks to the efforts of many translators in the community, the Open 
Definition is available in 30+ languages [2].

MORE ABOUT OPENNESS COMING SOON

In coming days we’ll post more on the theme of explaining openness, 
including a more detailed exploration of the Open Definition, the 
relationship of the Open Definition to specific sets of principles for 
openness – such as the Sunlight Foundation’s 10 principles [26] and Tim 
Berners-Lee’s 5 star system [27], why having a shared and agreed 
definition of open data is so important, and how one can go about “doing 
open data”.
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Links:
> > ------
> > [1] http://blog.okfn.org/2013/10/03/defining-open-data/
> > [2] http://opendefinition.org/okd/
> > [3] http://okfn.org/
> > [4] http://okfn.org/opendata
> > [5] http://transport.okfn.org/
> > [6] http://science.okfn.org/
> > [7] http://product-open-data.com/
> > [8] http://education.okfn.org/
> > [9] http://sustainability.okfn.org/
> > [10] http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=5/51.500/-0.100
> > [11] http://legislation.okfn.org/
> > [12] http://openbiblio.net/principles/
> > [13] http://openeconomics.net/
> > [14] http://openglam.org/
> > [15] http://open-development.okfn.org/
> > [16] http://opencorporates.com/
> > [17] http://design.okfn.org/
> > [18] http://openspending.org/
> > [19]
> >
> >
> > http://blog.okfn.org/2013/04/22/forget-big-data-small-data-is-the-real-revolution/
> > [20] http://opendefinition.org/licenses/
> > [21] http://opendefinition.org/okd
> > [22] http://opendefinition.org/advisory-council/
> > [23] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/od-discuss
> > [24] http://opensource.org/osd-annotated
> > [25] http://opensource.org/
> > [26] 
> > http://sunlightfoundation.com/policy/documents/ten-open-data-principles/
> > [27] http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html
> > [28] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
> > [29] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
> > [30] 
> > http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/jul/16/data-plural-singular
> > [31] http://wolftune.com/
> >
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