View source for Main Page

__NOTOC__
<font size="5">'''Convivial Tools Database'''</font><br>
<br>
This website is a database about people, projects, concepts and websites related to [[Convivial Tools]]. It is a work in progress, and some sections are more complete than others.

For information about the site itself, see [[About this Site]] and [[Road Maps]]. For a site map, see the list of [[Main Categories]], or go to [[:Category:Root]]. See also the companion websites the<br> [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia] and the [http://toolswiki.ouvaton.org Wikis Database].
<br>

==[[:Category:Convivial Tools]] as defined by Ivan Illich==
[[Ivan Illich]] coined the term [[Convivial Tools]] in his 1973 book  [[Tools for Conviviality]]. [[Convivial Tools]] can be defined as tools which allow the user to operate with independent efficiency. [[Convivial Tools]] are generally developed and maintained by a community of users, as for example an on-line community.

In an earlier book, [[Deschooling Society]], Illich proposed the development of computerized "learning webs," at a time before the Internet existed. His subsequent book [[Tools for Conviviality]] influenced members of the 1970s [[Hacker Generation]] who developed the first personal computer. One of these was inventor [[Lee Felsenstein]], who adopted Illich's vision of tools that would be developed and maintained by a community of users. This vision of community tool development is embodied in more recent movements such as [[Free and Open Source Software]], [[Wiki]]s, [[Open Design]] and the whole of [[Web 2.0]].

==[[:Category:Historical Roots]] of Convivial Tools==
The ideas put developed by [[Ivan Illich]] in [[Tools for Conviviality]] follow on a long tradition of criticism of industrial technology and of search for viable alternatives. The [[Historical Roots]] of the idea of [[Convivial Tools]] extend back to the eighteenth century French Enlightenment and the philosophy of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]. Twentieth-century precursers include philosophers such as [[Lewis Mumford]] and [[Jacques Ellul]], and counter-culture movements such as [[Whole Earth]] and [[Appropriate Technology]].

==[[:Category:Post-War Cybernetics]]==
During and after the second world war, emerging tendencies in scientific thought coalesced into a new field which [[Norbert Wiener]] called [[Cybernetics]], formed at the crossroads of computer science, electrical engineering, biology and social science. [[Post-War Cybernetics]] exercised a major influence on the thinking about society, information, the environment and the use of computers. The concepts of [[Cybernetics]] were taken up by the [[Whole Earth]] movement, and the arrival of Internet spawned derivative terms such as [[Cyberspace]] and [[Cybernaut]].

==[[:Category:Whole Earth]] Movement==
The [[Whole Earth]] movement began with the publication of the first [[Whole Earth Catalog]] by [[Stewart Brand]] in 1968. The [[Whole Earth Catalog]], which appeared regularly until 1972 and periodically thereafter, served as the center of an informal community of users and contributors. Due to their interest in [[Cybernetics]], the [[Whole Earth]] community spawned influential network-based spin-offs, such as the Internet community called the [[WELL]] and the cyber-magazine [[Wired]].

==[[:Category:Appropriate Technology]]==
The theme now called [[Appropriate Technology]] was first introduced as [[Intermediate Technology]] in the mid-nineteen-sixties by [[E.F. Schumacher]], who is best-known for his book [[Small is Beautiful]].

==[[:Category:Hacker Generation]]==
The [[Hacker Generation]] refers to the individuals and communities that created the hardware and software of the personal computer in the late nineteen-seventies and early nineteen-eighties. It includes people such as [[Steve Wozniak]] and [[Steve Jobs]], who created the [[Apple Computer]], and [[Lee Felsenstein]], an electronic engineer who along with Wozniak and Jobs was a member of the [[Homebrew Computer Club]].

==[[:Category:FOSS]] - Free and Open Source Software==
[[Free and Open Source Software]] (FOSS) is a comprehensive term encompassing both the [[Free Software]] and [[Open Source Software]] movements.

==[[:Category:Cyberspace]]==
The emergence of the [[World Wide Web]] in the early nineteen-nineties lead to the development of a new culture shared by the denizens of [[Cyberspace]].

==[[:Category:Open Source]] Culture==
The new licences developed by the [[Free and Open Source Software]] movement inspired interest in the use of [[Open Source]] licenses in all fields of creative activity.

==[[:Category:Open Design]]==
[[Open Design]] is the application of the principles of [[Free and Open Source Software]] (FOSS) to the design of physical objects such as machines and computer hardware. Open Design is a general term covering a number of specific [[Open Source]] movements, such as the [[Open Source Hardware]] movement for Open Design of microcomputer chips, and the [[Open Source Tool Design]] movement which concerns primarily the Open Design of machines.

==[[:Category:Convivial Product]] Design and Marketing==
The [[Convivial Product]] is a [[Convivial Tool]] offered for public use. The [[Convivial Product]] is a vision what the [[Convivial Tool]] can and should be.

==[[:Category:Convivial Websites]]==
[[Convivial Websites]] are those which demonstrate the characteristics of the [[Convivial Product]], including notably [[Review Sites]], [[How-to Websites]], and other useful websites. Other types of Convivial Websites include [[wiki]] website and [[Social Software]] sites.

A [[wiki]]  is a website whose pages can be edited by any visitor. The first wiki, called [[WikiWikiWeb]], was created by [[Ward Cunningham]] in 1995. Wikis were brought to the attention of the general public by the success of [[Wikipedia]], an online collaborative encyclopedia created in 2001. For detailed information about wikis see also the [http://toolswiki.ouvaton.org Wikis Database].

==Is this Website a [[Wiki]]?==
This website operates under [[MediaWiki]] software and thus has the potential to be a [[Wiki]]. However, the site is configured to require users to create an account before they can edit articles. In addition, to avoid continual hassles with spammers, the site is configured so that only WikiSysop can create new accounts. The site thus currently operates as the single-handed creation of one person. However, the companion website the [http://ctwiki.ouvaton.org Convivial Projects Wiki] is a true [[Wiki]], although for the moment it seems to have only a single user....

==See Also==
*[[Main Page Backup]]