Write some reflections on what open source means to you. Have you participated in an open source project before? What was your experience like? If not, why not? Respond to any of the readings above. You can write this as a blog post or medium post (be mindful of including image captions for accessibility).

Open source was something very unfamiliar to me before coming to ITP and working more extensively with code. My experience with coding during undergrad was very math-based and evaluated through exams, which meant no outside resources were allowed during the process. Coming from an architecture background as well, there were rarely open and free 3D model resources available. So realizing that there are communities where people freely share their code and work has been a bit mind-blowing to me.

While discovering these resources has been exciting, it has also made me think about the balance between openness and ownership. Opening up a resource can mean that duplicates or even commercial copies might appear. In the world of graphic design and illustration, where I used to make a living, having your work copied or widely shared on platforms like Pinterest can sometimes be seen as a sign that it is popular or valuable. I wonder if a similar mindset exists in open-source communities.

During undergrad, a friend and I created a website where we masked out people on our floor into PNGs that could be used in architectural renders and collages. We did it mainly for fun, and also because there were so few open PNG resources available at the time. Looking back now, with a better understanding of open communities, we probably should have asked for consent before putting our classmates’ images online for anyone to access and download. That was likely my first, somewhat unconscious, experience of creating an open resource.