the.world.is.flat-第24节

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collection。　The　site　became　a　runaway　success　in　the　first　year　and　gained　a　loyal　
following；　generating　over　20；000　articles　and　spawning　over　a　dozen　language　
translations。　After　two　years；　it　had　100；000　articles；　and　in　April　2004；　it　exceeded　
250；000　articles　in　English　and　600；000　articles　in　50　other　languages。And　according　
to　Website　rankings　at　Alexa。com；　it　has　become　more　popular　than　traditional　online　
encyclopedias　such　as　Britannica。com。〃　
How；　you　might　ask；　does　one　produce　a　credible；　balanced　encyclopedia　by　way　of　an　
ad　hoc　open…source；　open…editing　movement？　After　all；　every　article　in　the　Wikipedia　
has　an　〃Edit　this　page〃　button；　allowing　anyone　who　surfs　along　to　add　or　delete　
content　on　that　page。　
It　starts　with　the　fact；　Lih　explained；　that　〃because　wikis　provide　the　

ability　to　track　the　status　of　articles；　review　individual　changes；　and　discuss　issues；　
they　function　as　social　software。　Wiki　Websites　also　track　and　store　every　
modification　made　to　an　article；　so　no　operation　is　ever　permanently　destructive。　
Wikipedia　works　by　consensus；　with　users　adding　and　modifying　content　while　trying　
to　reach　common　ground　along　the　way。　
〃However；　the　technology　is　not　enough　on　its　own；〃　wrote　Lih。　〃Wales　created　an　
editorial　policy　of　maintaining　a　neutral　point　of　view　（NPOV）　as　the　guiding　
principle　。　。　。　According　to　Wikipedia's　guidelines；　The　neutral　point　of　view　
attempts　to　present　ideas　and　facts　in　such　a　fashion　that　both　supporters　and　
opponents　can　agree　。　。　。'　As　a　result；　articles　on　contentious　issues　such　as　
globalization　have　benefited　from　the　cooperative　and　global　nature　of　Wikipedia。　
Over　the　last　two　years；　the　entry　has　had　more　than　90　edits　by　contributors　from　
the　Netherlands；　Belgium；　Sweden；　United　Kingdom；　Australia；　Brazil；　United　States；　
Malaysia；　Japan　and　China。　It　provides　a　manifold　view　of　issues　from　the　World　Trade　
Organization　and　multinational　corporations　to　the　anti…globalization　movement　and　
threats　to　cultural　diversity。　At　the　same　time　malicious　contributors　are　kept　in　
check　because　vandalism　is　easily　undone。　Users　dedicated　to　fixing　vandalism　watch　
the　list　of　recent　changes；　fixing　problems　within　minutes；　if　not　seconds。　A　defaced　
article　can　quickly　be　returned　to　an　acceptable　version　with　just　one　click　of　a　
button。　This　crucial　asymmetry　tipsthe　balance　in　favor　of　productive　and　cooperative　
members　of　the　wiki　community；　allowing　quality　content　to　prevail。〃　A　Newsweek　piece　
on　Wikipedia　（November　1；　2004）　quoted　Angela　Beesley；　a　volunteer　contributor　from　
Essex；　England；　and　self…confessed　Wikipedia　addict　who　monitors　the　accuracy　of　more　
than　one　thousand　entries：　〃A　collaborative　encyclopedia　sounds　like　a　crazy　idea；　
but　it　naturally　controls　itself。〃　
Meanwhile；　Jimmy　Wales　is　just　getting　started。　He　told　Newsweek　that　he　is　expanding　
into　Wiktionary；　a　dictionary　and　thesaurus；　Wikibooks；　textbooks　and　manuals；　and　
Wikiquote；　a　book　of　quotations。　He　said　he　has　one　simple　goal：　to　give　〃every　single　


person　free　access　to　the　sum　of　all　human　knowledge。〃　
96　
Wales's　ethic　that　everyone　should　have　free　access　to　all　human　knowledge　is　
undoubtedly　heartfelt；　but　it　also　brings　usto　the　controversial　side　of　open…source：　
If　everyone　contributes　his　or　her　intellectual　capital　for　free；　where　will　the　
resources　for　new　innovation　come　from？　And　won't　we　end　up　in　endless　legal　wrangles　
over　which　part　of　any　innovation　was　made　by　the　community　for　free；　and　meant　to　
stay　that　way；　and　which　part　was　added　on　by　some　company　for　profit　and　has　to　be　
paid　for　so　that　the　company　can　make　money　to　drive　further　innovation？　These　
questions　are　all　triggered　by　the　other　increasingly　popular　form　of　self…organized　
collaboration…the　free　software　movement。　According　to　the　openknowledge。org　Web　
site；　〃The　free/open　source　software　movement　began　in　the　'hacker'　culture　of　U。S。　
computer　science　laboratories　（Stanford；　Berkeley；　Carnegie　Mellon；　and　MIT）　in　the　
1960's　and　1970's。　The　community　ofprogrammers　was　small；　and　close…knit。　Codepassed　
back　and　forth　between　the　members　of　the　community…if　you　made　an　improvement　you　
were　expected　to　submit　your　code　to　the　community　of　developers。　To　withhold　code　
was　considered　gauche…after　all；　you　benefited　from　the　work　of　your　friends；　you　
should　return　the　favor。〃　
The　free　software　movement；　however；　was　and　remains　inspired　by　the　ethical　ideal　
that　software　should　be　free　and　available　to　all；　and　it　relies　on　open…source　
collaboration　to　help　produce　the　best　software　possible　to　be　distributed　for　free。　
This　a　bit　different　from　the　approach　of　the　intellectual　commons　folks；　like　Apache。　
They　saw　open…sourcing　as　a　technically　superior　means　of　creating　software　and　other　
innovations；　and　while　Apache　was　made　available　to　all　for　free；　it　had　no　problem　
with　commercial　software　being　built　on　top　of　it。　The　Apache　group　allowed　anyone　
who　created　a　derivative　work　to　own　it　himself；　provided　he　acknowledge　the　Apache　
contribution。　
The　primary　goal　of　the　free　software　movement；　however；　is　to　get　as　many　people　
as　possible　writing；　improving；　and　distributing　software　for　free；　out　of　a　
conviction　that　this　will　empower　everyone　and　free　individuals　from　the　grip　of　
global　corporations。　Generally　speaking；　the　free　
97　
software　movement　structures　its　licenses　so　that　if　your　commercial　software　draws　
directly　from　their　free　software　copyright；　they　want　your　software　to　be　free　too。　
In　1984；　according　to　Wikipedia；　an　MIT　researcher　and　one　of　these　ex…hackers；　
Richard　Stallman；　launched　the　〃free　software　movement〃　along　with　an　effort　to　build　
a　free　operating　system　called　GNU。　To　promote　free　software；　and　to　ensure　that　its　
code　would　always　be　freely　modifiable　and　available　to　all；　Stallman　founded　the　
Free　Software　Foundation　and　something　called　the　GNU　General　Public　License　（GPL）。　
The　GPL　specified　that　users　of　the　source　code　could　copy；　change；　or　upgrade　the　
code；　provided　that　they　made　their　changes　available　under　the　same　license　as　the　
original　code。　In　1991；　a　student　at　the　University　of　Helsinki　named　Linus　Torvalds；　
building　off　of　Stallman's　initiative；　posted　his　Linux　operating　system　to　compete　
with　the　Microsoft　Windows　operating　system　and　invited　other　engineers　and　geeks　


online　to　try　to　improve　it…for　free。　Since　Torvalds's　initial　post；　programmers　all　
over　the　world　have　manipulated；　added　to；　expanded；　patched；　and　improved　the　
GNU/Linux　operating　system；　whose　license　says　anyone　can　download　the　source　code　
and　improve　upon　it　but　then　must　make　the　upgraded　version　freely　available　to　
everybody　else。　Torvalds　insists　that　Linux　must　always　be　free。　Companies　that　sell　
software　improvements　that　enhance　Linux　or　adapt　it　to　certain　functions　have　to　
be　very　careful　not　to　touch　its　copyright　in　their　commercial　products。　
Much　like　Microsoft　Windows；　Linux　offers　a　family　of　operating　systems　that　can　be　
adapted　to　run　on　the　smallest　desktop　computers；　laptops；　PalmPilots；　and　even　
wristwatches；　all　the　way　up　to　the　largest　supercomputers　and　mainframes。　So　a　kid　
in　India　with　a　cheap　PC　can　learn　the　inner　workings　of　the　same　operating　system　
that　is　running　in　some　of　the　largest　data　centers　of　corporate　America。　Linux　has　
an　army　of　developers　across　the　globe　working　to　make　it　better。　As　I　was　working　
on　this　segment　of　the　book；　I　went　to　a　picnic　one　afternoon　at　the　Virginia　country　
home　of　Pamela　and　Malcolm　Baldwin；　whom　my　wife　came　to　know　through　her　membership　
on　the　board　of　World　Learning；　an　educational　NGO。　I　mentioned　in　the　course　of　lunch　
that　I　was　

thinking　of　going　to　Mali　to　see　just　how　flat　the　world　looked　from　its　outermost　
edge…the　town　of　Timbuktu。　The　Baldwins'　son　Peter　happened　to　be　working　in　Mali　
as　part　of　something　called　the　GeekCorps；　which　helps　to　bring　technology　to　
developing　countries。　A　few　days　after　the　lunch；　I　received　an　e…mail　from　Pamela　
telling　me　that　she　had　consulted　with　Peter　about　accompanying　me　to　Timbuktu；　and　
then　she　added　the　following；　which　told　me　everything　I　needed　to　know　and　saved　
me　the　whole　trip：　〃Peter　says　that　his　project　is　creating　wireless　networks　via　
satellite；　making　antennas　out　of　plastic　soda　bottles　and　mesh　from　window　screens！　
Apparently　everyone　in　Mali　uses　Linux。　。　。〃　
〃Everyone　in　Mali　uses　Linux。〃　That　is　no　doubt　a　bit　of　an　exaggeration；　but　it's　
a　phrase　that　you'd　hear　only　in　a　flat　world。　
The　free　software　movement　has　become　a　serious　challenge　to　Microsoft　and　some　other　
big　global　software　players。　As　Fortune　magazine　reported　on　February　23；　2004；　〃The　
availability　of　this　basic；　powerful　software；　which　works　on　Intel's　ubiquitous　
microprocessors；　coincided　with　the　explosive　growth　of　the　Internet。　Linux　soon　
began　to　gain　a　global　following　among　programmers　and　business　users　。　。　。　The　
revolution　goes　far　beyond　little　Linux　。　。　。　Just　about　any　kind　of　software　＇now＇　
can　be　found　in　open…source　form。　The　SourceForge　website；