> anyway, i think the distinction may be closer to "software written by an
> individual" or "software written by an 'artist'" vs. "software written by
> a company with a focus on mass commercialization... rather than open vs.
> proprietary. this might be paul w's point.
I agree - individuals write more interesting software (note: not
necessarily more useful :) but if the user also happens to be the writer
then the artist/programmer is more than the sum of it's parts, or
something... this has nothing whatsoever to do with free software (except
it's slightly easier to cross over that boundry than with closed systems).
the main contribution free software has to give to art (and the rest of
the world for that matter) is a political/philosophical one. I think this
does tie in with livecoding, in the exposing of working methods, the
celebration of the raw algorithm and removing the childish secrecy of much
computer art.
cheers,
dave
Received on Thu Oct 13 2005 - 11:01:40 BST