Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking

University Press and Fred Appel. Fred has been such a lively editor and adviser, and I have so enjoyed our many chats over coffee and drinks, and look forward to many more in the future. To the anonymous reviewers: thank you for the kindness, generosity, and finely tuned comments that have been essential to completing this book.
    One person has had the opportunity to see me through every last step of brainstorming, drafting, writing, rewriting, and complaining: Micah Anderson. For better and worse, he has experienced the public and private face of this project, graciously showering the pages with perceptive, lively, and especially humorous comments and edits on every last page, all the while providing steadfast support as we tromped from city to city under conditions that were for so many years often challenging. My gratitude is beyond words.
    Finally, my family and adopted family have been an important source of strength. The Andersons were so patient and supportive as I hopped around cities all over North America, unable to see them as I spent so much time with my mother. My father has always placed great value on education, sacrificing many years of retirement so I could get a college education. In 2004, my sister made a significant sacrifice, moving in with my mother to take care of her, so I could finish my dissertation. From 2002–2010, my mother suffered a cruel illness that robbed her of her mind and soul. During those eight years, I traveled back and forth from wherever I was living to San Juan in order to be by her side. It was not always easy to live in a state of in-betweenness, in between cities, in between life and death, but I would not have had it any other way. Even though my mother is the one person close to me who will never be able to read any of this book, she made it possible in so many ways; I dedicate this book to my mother, Vera.

INTRODUCTION
    A Tale of Two Worlds

    F ree and open-source software (F/OSS) refers to nonproprietary but licensed software, much of which is produced by technologists located around the globe who coordinate development through Internet-based projects. The developers, hackers, and system administrators who make free software routinely include the following artifact in the software they write:
    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
    While seemingly insignificant, this warning is quite meaningful for it reveals something important about the nature of free software and my subsequent representation of it. This legal notice is no doubt serious, but it also contains a subtle irony available to those who know about free software. For even if developers cannot legally guarantee the so-called FITNESS of software, they know that in many instances free software is often as useful as or in some cases superior to proprietary software. This fact brings hackers the same sort of pleasure, satisfaction, and pride that they derive when, and if, they are given free reign to hack. Further, even though hackers distribute their free software WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, the law nevertheless enables them to create the software that many deem superior to proprietary software—software that they all “hope [ … ] will be useful.” The freedom to labor within a framework of their own making is enabled by licenses that cleverly reformat copyright law to prioritize access, distribution, and circulation. Thus, hackers short-circuit the traditional uses of copyright: the right to exclude and control.
    This artifact points to the GNU General Public License (GPL), an agreement that many hackers know well, for many use it (or other similar licenses) to transform their source code—the underlying directions of all software—into “free software.” A quick gloss of the license, especially its preamble, reveals a more passionate language about freedom and rights:
    When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things. 1
    This type of language spills far beyond