Robert Schuster interviewt Harald Welte auf dem Linuxtag 2008.

Links:

* Video http://www.vimeo.com/2081264

* Blog von Harald Welte http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/

* GPl Violations http://gpl-violations.org/

* Robert Schuster  http://blogs.fsfe.org/robertschuster/

Jürgen Neumann, one of the initiators of freifunk.net, and Marek Lindner, openmoko developer and B.A.T.M.A.N. programmer, speak about the Open Hardware Initiative event Open Tech Summit in Taiwan.

Google Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3658635997245168365

Links:

• Open Tech Summit Taiwan
• Open Pattern Mailinglist: https://lists.openpattern.org/mailman/listinfo/open-hw
• Server name: irc://chat.freenode.net/otstw2008
• Open Pattern Website: http://openpattern.org
• openmoko

Countless working examples of people creating free layers show the huge potential of free and open systems. However interior and exterior difficulties and problems in communities that are engaged in projects like in the free software world cannot always be overcome.

Successful as well as failed ideas and projects can teach invaluable lessons. To learn about the way people work together, their common ideas, differences and their culture as well as about the opposition to these ideas does not only teach us a lot about the successful organization of free layered projects, it could indeed teach us some basic lessons how a free society could work.

I believe a civilization where all layers are free, a civilization with a culture of free exchange and collaboration can guarantee a truly free society.

To know what difficulties lie ahead in the creation of a free civilization, or rather free societies, and what strategies and solutions are available, we should look for answers in the communities engaged in free layered projects that are already successful today as well as to projects that encountered problems, splitted up or even stopped working completely.

Some questions should be answered that could help to understand what free layers actually are.

1. What is the common idea behind free culture, free content, free software, free hardware, free infrastructures and a free economy?

2. What are working examples of free layered projects and why do they work and others did not?

3. Who are the people engaged in communities building free layers?
a) What do the people in these communities identify as the basis for their project? Political changes, technological changes, cultural changes?
b) What do people engaged in projects have in common, what not? - ideas, organizational structures, background.
c) What is the motivation of people to take part in these projects?
d) What are the difficulties of people engaged in projects and how do they solve problems?
e) What communication technologies do they use primarily?
f) What common cultural particularities can be identified?
g) Where do the people involved meet, work and communicate?

4. What difficulties a systems of free layers face in regards to international treaties, patents and copyright laws and censorship?