Dr. Haggen So discusses why Chinese Christians should care about free and open source software (FOSS) and Creative Commons (CC). He summarizes the hacker culture that values technical excellence, freedom of information, and community. This relates to Richard Stallman's creation of free software to guarantee users' freedom via the GPL license. Christians should thoughtfully consider technology and its effects, entering situations with understanding to enact positive change. FOSS and CC may help balance authorship rights with information sharing in fellowship.

1. Why should Chinese Christians
Care about FOSS and CC?
Dr. Haggen So
22 Sep Pre-Indigitous Hack 2018 Sharing
@Hong Kong Campus Crusade for Christ Office
Released under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Hong Kong Licence

2. Dr. Haggen So
●
PhD Thesis on Free/Open Source Software
(FOSS)
●
Former Project Manager for Creative
Commons Hong Kong
●
Founder of Hong Kong Creative Open
Technology Association

3. Hong Kong Creative
Open Technology Association
http://cota.hk

4. Objective
Open Standards
Free Software and Open Source Software
Open Hardware
Free Culture Works, Open Content and Creative
Commons

5. Hong Kong
Open Source Conference
http://hkoscon.org

6. PyCon Hong Kong
http://pycon.hk

7. Free HK Fonts
Chinese Font
made by Elderlies
to fit the
Recommendation of
EDB( 常用字字形表 )

8. STEM Education
Partner with Schools in QEF and EITP

9. Dr. Haggen So
●
中華基督教會灣仔堂會友
Member of the Church of Christ in China, Wanchai Church
●
前香港基督徒畢業生團契執行委員
Former executive member of Graduate Christian Fellowship
●
福音派信徒
Evangelical

10. →開源軟件 Free & Open Source
Software
→共享創意 Creative Commons

11. Hacker Culture

12. Cap'n Crunch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74845103@N00/2795
05346/ CC-BY 2.0 by akaalias

13. Cap'n Crunch (Cont.)
John T Drapper
http://www.webcrunchers.com/

14. What is Hack?
Surprising Result from Simple Means
Demonstration of Mastery in the Domain
Turkle (1984), p.227

15. Early Hacker Culture
Access to computers-and anything
which might teach you something
about the way the world works
- Should be unlimited and total
- Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!

16. Early Hacker Culture
All information should be free

17. Early Hacker Culture
Mistrust Authority-Promote Decentralization

18. Early Hacker Culture
Hackers should be judged by their hacking,
not bogus criteria such as
degrees, age, race or position

19. Early Hacker Culture
You can create art and beauty on a computer

20. Early Hacker Culture
Computers can change your life for the better

21. Quick Summary
Hack as an ideal to pursuit
Technical Excellence
Freedom Flow of Information
To enable Formation of Communities

22. History of Software
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Honeywell-
Bull_DPS_7_Mainframe_BWW_March_1990.jpg,
CC-BY-SA 3.0 by Ferdi

23. Apple ][+ Clone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Taiwanese_Appl
e_II_clone_Cosmo.jpg, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Licence, by
A-giâu

24. Changes in Computer Industry
• Rise of Personal Computers
• Widening of Market – Horizontal Market
Possible
• Secrecy and Profitability – Closed Source

25. Source Code
• Computer Instructions are coded in binary
format 00101...
• A more human friendly method to program
computer:
/* Hello World program */
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{ printf("Hello World"); }
• Convert source code into binary instructions by
a computer compiler

26. Richard M. Stallman
The Last of the True Hackers?
http://www.stallman.org/saintignucius.jpg,
CC-BY-ND 3.0

27. Responses of Richard Stallman
• Release source code that must remain freely
available -> Software Freedom
• 1983 GNU project, Unix Clone
• 1985 Free Software Foundation, Free as in
Free Speech, General Public License (GPL)

28. Free Software
• The freedom to run the program, for any
purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works,
and change it to make it do what you wish
(freedom 1). Access to the source code is a
precondition for this.

29. Free Software
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can
help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to improve the program, and
release your improvements (and modified
versions in general) to the public, so that the
whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access
to the source code is a precondition for this.

30. General Public License (GPL)
• One of the implementations of the 4 Freedom
• Most used Free/Open Source License
• Contract based on Copyright
• Hacking Copyright
• Expression of the Hacker Ideal

31. General Copyrighted Works
Creative Commons
Attribution 署名
Non-Commercial 非商業性
No Derivative Works 禁止衍生
Share Alike 相同方式共享

32. Creative Commons
6 Licenses
Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives
(by-nc-nd)
Attribution No Derivatives
(by-nd)
Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike
(by-nc-sa)
Attribution Non-commercial
(by-nc)
Attribution Share Alike
(by-sa)
Attribution
(by)

33. Author gives up Copyright
Copyright Expired
CC0 and
Public Domain

34. What is Copyright ?

35. Copyright
All Rights Reserved
Control over Distribution of
Copies

36. Statute of Anne
1710
14+14 yr

37. What is one the
Most Influential Technology
to Spread Protestantism?

38. Gutenberg
Movable Type
Printing Press

39. Pre - Statute of Anne
Control of Press via Printers
Glorious Revolution
Fix Copyright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fdUDecJ6jc

40. Statute of Anne
Interest of the Author

41. Modern Copyright
1998
Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
(Mickey Mouse Protection Act)
Auto & 95 yr

42. Hacker Culture (Re-Cap)
Hack as an ideal to pursuit
Technical Excellence
Freedom Flow of Information
To enable Formation of Communities

43. Stallman &
Free Software (Re-Cap)
Under Copyright Law
Control → 4 Freedom
Preservation of Communities

44. Heaven
Sea
Sun
Moon

45. Genesis
Sea
Sun
Moon

46. Jesus and the Law
Mt 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them."

47. Hack &
Christianity
Enter into the Situation
Deep Understanding
Transformative Action

49. Christians on Copyright
Good or Evil?

50. The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind
Mark Noll
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scandal_of_t
he_Evangelical_Mind

51. The Separation of Church and State
• Deregulation for Religions & Denominations
• Developed into a New Market
• Quick to adopt Science and Technology

52. Christians on Copyright
Christians on Technology
Neutral

53. Technology is not Neutral!

54. Technology not Neutral
Design with Intention

55. The Technological Society
Jacques Ellul
https://ellul.org/life/biography/

56. Christianity & Technology

57. Christianity & Technology

58. Christianity & Technology
Enter into the Situation
Deep Understanding
Transformative Action

59. Christians on Copyright
Bad – Rights
Good - Concern on Authors

60. Christians on Copyright
Fellowship of Authors
and
the Worshipers in the Body of Christ

61. Implementation

62. Conclusion
Enter into the Situation
Deep Understanding
Transformative Action

63. Credit
Part of these slides is based on Rebecca
McKinnon (2008). Creative Commons: Copyright in
the digital age for Greater China and Hong Kong,
from http://www.slideshare.net/rmackinnon/cc-hku-
129484, CC-BY 2.5.

64. Ellul, J. (1964), The Technological Society, Vintage Books.
Levy, S. (1984). Hackers: Heroes of The Computer Revolution.
Garden City, New York, Anchor Press/Doubleday.
Noll, M. (1994), The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Eerdmans.
Pavlicek, R. C. (2000). Embracing Insanity: Open Source
Software Development. Indiana, Sams.
Turkle, S. (1984). The Second Self: Computers and the Human
Spirit. New York, Simon & Schuster.
Williams, S. (2002). Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's
Crusade for Free Software, CA, O'Reilly.
References