This slidedeck is from presentation given at the International Cooperative Alliance (www.ica.coop) General Assembly and conference during November 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa. The audience was international and, while translation was available in several languages, translation of presentation slides was not possible so slides were necessarily kept as brief and simple as possible. All sources are indicated on slides where needed, with the exception of the second slide which was sourced from the World Bank (sourcing was shared orally during the presentation). The talk gives background on the Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) Movement - and makes a point to delve into the tensions between Free Software and Open Source philosophies. The FLOSS Movement is then proferred as the Cooperative Movement's equivalent in the technology sector, and specific calls to action are made for steps that would effectively align and strengthen the two movements. The intended audience for this presentation is comprised of folks already familiar with the Cooperative Model and Movement, though it can be easily adapted for audiences with more or less cooperative and/or technological knowledge.

1. IT Cooperation: Accessible, Free, & Open
ICA 2014: Cape Town
Emily M Lippold Cheney, “EMLC”
Cooperative Organizer
Midwest, United States
TEDx: http://s.coop/cooptedx

3. IT Cooperation: Accessible, Free, & Open
ICA 2014: Cape Town
Emily M Lippold Cheney, “EMLC”
Cooperative Organizer
Midwest, United States
TEDx: http://s.coop/cooptedx

4. Information Technology or “IT” “refers to
the application of computers and
telecommunications equipment to store,
retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data […]
The term is commonly used as
a synonym for computers
and computer networks, but
it also encompasses other
information distribution
technologies such as
television and telephones.”
DEFINITIONS ADAPTED FROM WIKIPEDIA.

5. DEFINITIONS
Computer Network: a telecommunications network that allows
computers to exchange data. The best-known computer network is
the Internet.
Internet: a network that consists of millions of private and public
networks, of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of
electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies.
Software: any set of instructions that directs a computer's
processor to perform specific operations. It is a set of programs,
procedures, functions, associated data and/or its documentation.
Hardware: the physical objects that carry out the instructions.
Computer hardware and software require each other and neither can
be realistically used without the other.
ALL DEFINITIONS ADAPTED FROM WIKIPEDIA.

6. (0) The freedom to run the program as you wish, for
whatever purpose.
(1) The freedom to study the program’s “source code”, and
change it, so the program does your computing as you wish.
(2) The freedom to make and distribute exact copies when
you wish.
(3) The freedom to make and distribute copies of your
modified versions, when you wish.
Free/Libre Software
Principles

7. Software + Service as a Software
Substitute or, “SaaSS”
“The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle
the Master's House.”
- Audre Lorde

8. Free Libre
Open Source
+ Software
FLOSS
User :: FLOSS = Member :: Coop

9. User :: FLOSS = Member :: Coop
+ JUST BETTER BUSINESS...
PROPRIETARY
FLOSS
COST
Licensing is more expensive; use
pays to cover expenses & profit
Open licensing is less expensive;
use does not pay profit
FLEXIBILITY
Illegal to modify
Able to freely modify, improve,
adapt, etc.
SECURITY
Cannot look at source code, so
back-doors & spyware possible
Can look at source code & modify,
so you cannot be “tricked”
COLLABORATION Cannot change, share, or innovate
Everyone can contribute, innovate,
& share

10. Cooperative FLOSS Solutions
●
Directories of FLOSS products/services:
–
–
●
http://directory.fsf.org
http://www.sourceforge.net
Social Media
–
–
●
https://identi.ca ~ Twitter
https://diasporafoundation.org ~ Facebook
FLOSS Support, by country
–
●
http://www.flossfoundations.org
Others
–
http://www.fairnopoly.de
–
http://www.datacommons.coop
Emily M Lippold Cheney
e.m.lippold.cheney@gmail.com
TEDx: http://s.coop/cooptedx
USA Cooperative Youth Council
CooperationWorks!
Data Commons Cooperative