Open Source Developers are all Librarians
Dave Shields has been using his blog to run his campaign for a position on the Board of Directors of the Library in Chappaqua, New York and has a very interesting post about who all open source developers are in fact librarians and authors.
For example, as an author of this kind of software I am known as an “open source developer.” We developers collect each set of related files into collections called “packages.” Individuals, groups, or, in some cases, companies, aggregate these packages into what are called “distributions,” or more colloquially, “distros.” Red Hat is an example of a distribution, as is SuSe. Debian is a distro created by open source developers that is also used as the base for Ubuntu, a widely-used distribution that has developed an extraordinary community of supporters, advocates, and experts.
That is the accepted view. Here is my view as an amateur librarian.
Every developer is an author producing copyrighted work that is available at no charge.
Every package is a “book” in what I have previously termed the “open source artifact.”
Most developers base their packages on prior art, and they often include parts of other packages in their new packages. This is not allowed in conventional publications, but is a matter of course when preparing a software package, due to the way in which these packages are licensed.
Developers are thus, for the most part, both authors and librarians.
Whether you agree or not, it’s a neat way to look at things - and I’m all for getting an open source developer/enthusiast on the boar of directors for a library 
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Thanks for the kind words.
I lost the election by 3 votes. That’s fine with me. All the other candidates were well-qualified, and I ran mainly to show my support for the library.
I have a deep love and affection for libraries and librarians, and have written many posts about both. This is why whenever I speak of my volunteer efforts I say, “I want to help educators AND librarians in their vital mission.”
Most people don’t appreciate that librarians are both educators and the guardians of our past.
I have recently taken a professional interest. The Internet is clearly the largest collection of organized information yet created, and so it the world’s largest library. Google is clearly its librarian.
That Google is a private company based on advertizing is not a problem.
What IS a problem is that, through no fault of its own, Google, by the success of its search technology, has rendered much of the Science of Libraries obsolete.
It is thus now necessary to create a new Science of Libraries so that we can best build Libraries of Science, almost all of which will be digital and distibuted over the internet.
This can only happen with the help of many people from the computer industry, both in hardware and software, and I have volunteered to be one of them.
thanks,dave