What do you think about while you stare at the ceiling, unable to sleep?
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about license compatibility issues. Specifically, I’ve been wondering how I can communicate to people the difficulty copyleft causes for would-be remixers. Until you get knee-deep in it, you can’t really understand the pain. And how many people ever really get knee-deep in it?
So I wondered… how can I bring that pain to the common man? And in addition to “bringing the pain,” how can I effectively educate them about licensing compatibility issues and instruct them in the art of creating legal remixes?
My first attempt at an answer is OER Remix :: The Game. As I once read in the award statement for the 1st Annual Obfuscated Perl Contest Best of Show award in 1997, OER Remix :: The Game “takes special pains to cause special pain.”
I hope you find an opportunity to play it with a class, in a workshop, or with someone you love this New Year. Keep in mind that the card designs and rule sets are “early alpha” at this point, so your feedback will definitely be used and will be sincerely appreciated.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Awesome! Just a couple of hours ago I was trying to explain the challenges of different OSS licenses to a co-worker. When we come back from the holidays we’ll have a group game. (It will certainly be more fun than my boring explanation was!)
I started doing a read, which turned into a skim after the first game. We’re definitely going to have to sit down together so you can show me the finer points.
One recommendation I have off the top of my head. In the “License Compatibility” section, would it be possible to present the combinations on a grid instead of as a text description? That would go a long way towards both understanding, and quickly identifying compatibility issues.
You may also want to include an image glossary of what all the symbols mean to smooth the learning curve for noobs.
Did you mean Dec. 31 200_8_ for the release date? Hope we play this in “open education” class…