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