[Fwd: Re: Articolo su Archeologia e Open Source]

[M. Fioretti]

On Thu, Jun 01, 2006 15:00:53 PM +0200, Roberto Bagnara
(bagnara@cs.unipr.it) wrote:


> I think open data formats are really a major issue.  (Please note: I
> have no background in archaeology, so what I say may be nonsense.)
> Ideally, all the data originating from excavations and other
> data-collection activities should be recorded and made available to
> everyone.

Note that things can be available without being open (in the "open
source software" sense, at least). For example, a MS Office
spreadsheet or text containing macros could be released in the public
domain (available), but it could not be used without paying or
illegally installing, a copy of Windows + office.

So, which kind of "openness" are you referring to? What do you think
is more important, or more urgent, for your job:

1) Data which one must pay to have or redistribute, but can be natively
   used with Open Source Software (open format, closed copyright), or

2) Data which everybody can copy and share without restrictions, but
   are usable only with one software program, maybe because patents or
   licenses make writing clones illegal? This (closed format, open or
   no copyright) is the opposite of case 1)

3) both of the above?

Apart from this, is there something in archeology sw (apart from data)
which cannot be made open source but would be great to have in that
way? Algorithms to analyze data, whatever?

TIA,
	Marco


-- 
Marco Fioretti                    mfioretti, at the server mclink.it
Fedora Core 3 for low memory      http://www.rule-project.org/

Be the change you want to see in the world - Gandhi