Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking

This book is insightful and engaging, a wonderfully observed picture of the dynamics, divisions, and history of free software and the world of software freedom.

Exploring the rise and political implications of the free and open source software (F/OSS) movement in the United States and Europe, Coding Freedom details the ethics behind the dedication of hackers for F/OSS, the social codes that guided its production, and the political struggles through which pirates challenged the scope and direction of copyright and patent law.

Who is the hacker? What is free software? And what the emergence of a community dedicated to the production of free and open source software – and hacking as a technical, aesthetic and ethical project – reveals what the values ​​of contemporary liberalism ? Exploring the rise and political importance of the free and open source software (F/OSS) movement in the US and Europe, Coding Freedom details the ethics behind hackers’ attachment with F/OSS, the social rules that guide production, and the political struggles through which pirates challenge the scope and direction of copyright and patent law. By telling the story of the F/OSS movement, the book reveals a larger story related to computers, access policy, and intellectual property.

The author tracks how hackers collaborate and examines passionate manifestos, hacker humor, how free software projects are managed, and hacker conferences. By looking at the ways hackers maintain their freedom of work, Coleman shows that these activists, motivated by a commitment to their work, reframe key ideals such as freedom. due to speech, transparency and democracy and the rejection of limited intellectual protections. Coleman demonstrates how hacking, often marginalized or misunderstood, highlights the continued relevance of liberalism in online collaboration.