Tool-discuss -- looking at the intersection of open source hardware/software and media art
About Tool-discuss	English (USA)
Tool-discuss is the first step in the creation of a forum for the discussion of the intersection of open-source tools and media art/installation art. We have several goals for the list -- these will certainly evolve as the list does, but for the moment: Begin to question definitions. The idea of "open source" has already been pushed itself outside the world of software. How far can it be taken? Collage work from the early 20th century and sampling/appropriation in music both seem to be significant precedents for a kind of open methodology. Begin to expand the range of discussion: a huge number of interesting software packages are out there. But what about hardware? How can we begin to make physical things and start to interface them with computers, software, people, institutions, stuff? How do we choose what to work with, and how do our tools affect us? How do people join communities of practice based around various tools, and how can connections be made between different communities? Some resources, like Processing, for example, have very healthy and active communities. How does something like this evolve? How can we begin to provide a forum for people to present and discuss their work in interesting ways, and begin to make contact with others? Tool-discuss is intend to be only a first step: in the summer we'll begin work on a web-based forum. What should that forum look like? To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the Tool-discuss Archives.
Using Tool-discuss
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