Free Software and the Free University
Dr. Derek Schuurman, professor of computer science at Redeemer University College, spoke to fellow faculty on February 15, 2006 about free software and the free university (as in the Free University in Amsterdam and Kuyper’s intentions for it). Universities were started to share and exchange ideas among peers and the logical outcome of that would be to do the same with computer software both used and developed at a university.
Mostly professors from other disciplines at this liberal arts university in Hamilton, Ontario, attended the gathering, but some students and alumni also were present. Schuurman began by giving an overview of free software, what is open source, and contrasted this to proprietary software. Many of the professors are mainly computer users and are unfamiliar with the underlying technologies.
Redeemer University College is a Christian college and Schuurman then turned to reflecting on how Christianity interacts, if at all, with software development, and especially with open source software. He stated that the language of open source and the development paradigm have many aspects with which Christians can agree. This includes sharing and helping others and freedom.
Schuurman next talked about Abraham Kuyper and put forth ideas about Neo-Kuyperianism with regards to Open Source Software. Kuyper is a recent, influential thinker in Reformed theology, and Redeemer has Reformed roots. Kuyper talked about two kinds of scientific development, Christian and non, and would have extended that to computer science, but Schuurman would rather speak of Christian software development as being distinctive, but having difference as a consequence, not an aim. In order then to have faithful Christian software and technology, the only way to affect change is if it is open and able to be changed. Therefore, open source provides an excellent avenue for faithful Christian scholarship.
He quoted Neil Postman, who in Technopoly, states that technology is not neutral, but rather is value laden. All technology makers embed their values in their products, which are then biased toward certain users. Schuurman mentioned two values easily seen in current technology: consumerism and greed, both of which would be non-Christian values.
Christian approaches to technology, as mentioned by Schuurman from Quentin Schultz’s book, High Tech Worship, are either (1) rejection of all technology, (2) adoption of technology exactly how others use it, (3) adaptation by asking how, where, when and why to use technology, and (4) creation by changing and shaping technology. With open source, one has an opportunity to participate in creating new technology and software, and this is why Schuurman wants Christians to be aware of the open
source movement and to play an active role.
Schuurman identified four aspects Open Source software allows which are of particular value to Christians. First, better stewardship of money and resources is possible. Many programs are free, and much of the software can be run on older hardware, extending its usefulness. Second, by sharing information and software, people can follow the command to “Love your neighbour” and can also help out the under privileged. Third, collaboration and peer review can flourish and encourage further insights and developments. Fourth, open source software allows Christians to participate in the shaping of technology.
During the question period, many professors expressed their appreciation at learning about something completely new and somewhat foreign. A few expressed concern for developers who seem to just give away their time and get no reward for their work. Schuurman and members of the audience spoke of how many of the main developers are employed by various organizations, and that those organizations are willing to pay them and have the final product be open source. One professor then asked how he could try out these ideas since he runs Windows and knows very little about Open Source software. Many examples of Open Source software for Windows were mentioned (Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org), and Schuurman said there usually are Linux users willing to help others install Linux for those interested. Schuurman also mentioned that many of the professors at Redeemer are already using open source, since they had recently began using Moodle, a course management system.