Wednesday  3 July 2024

Leaving traces and FOSS
=======================

Today prahou posted [1] the wonderful speech from Erik Sandewall,
from 2014, with the title

    Leaving Traces – Words on the Road

If you haven't read it, do so now, it is a very inspiring speech.

Sandewall links the phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants" to
the concept of leaving traces. He argues that scientist are leaving
traces while doing their research. He states the wonderful
observation:

    We are not standing still when we do science, we move ahead, we
    search our way ahead, and while doing this we leave traces, but we
    are also led by the traces of those that researched before us.

For those who come after us
---------------------------
Another concept Sandewall discusses, is the dictum that is used
by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, namely

    For efterkommande

meaning "For those who come after us".

Here Sandewall adds the observation:

    This all reminds us that there are two different reasons for
    pursuing science, namely to satisfy our natural curiosity, and to
    do something useful. These two reasons apply both to individuals,
    and to the entire society, and it is usually said that these
    reasons go hand in hand.

FOSS developers
---------------
I think that much of the above also applies to FOSS developers.

Like scientists, FOSS developers are standing on the shoulders of
giants. They take what was developed before, and starting from there,
add new concepts, ideas and bring the software further.

And while developing software, FOSS developers leave traces,
and are also led by the traces of previous developments.

I guess that most FOSS developers also work to satisfy their natural
curiosity, and to do something useful. And as a community, the FOSS
movement has moved the world forward and will continue to do so.

When we look back to the last 40 to 50 years, we see that
open source has become a wonderful and huge universe, for which
we can only be in awe and thankful.

[1]: gopher://triapul.cz/0/phlog/2024-07-03-erik-sandewall-speech.txt


Last edited: $Date: 2024/07/03 08:29:39 $