Comments on: Free as in Freedom http://opensiddur.org/2009/10/free-as-in-freedom/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=free-as-in-freedom sharing the ingredients of Jewish spiritual practice for the craft and design of new siddurim Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:08:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: The Open Siddur Project Development Blog / http://opensiddur.org/2009/10/free-as-in-freedom/comment-page-1/#comment-96 The Open Siddur Project Development Blog / Sun, 14 Feb 2010 06:00:25 +0000 http://opensiddur.net/?p=201#comment-96 [...] Digitization and networks provide the foundation for easy dissemination of cultural works. So much of the legacy of our cultural inheritance is already in the Public Domain, and thus, free, but bottled up in print media. The tragedy is that in the conversion from print to digital media, cultural workers are using closed standards and terms-of-use agreements which limit access to other cultural innovators. It is a real travesty when amazing and ambitious projects assume ownership of our common cultural heritage through onerous terms-of-use agreements. (See for example, Davka Corp’s license). [...] [...] Digitization and networks provide the foundation for easy dissemination of cultural works. So much of the legacy of our cultural inheritance is already in the Public Domain, and thus, free, but bottled up in print media. The tragedy is that in the conversion from print to digital media, cultural workers are using closed standards and terms-of-use agreements which limit access to other cultural innovators. It is a real travesty when amazing and ambitious projects assume ownership of our common cultural heritage through onerous terms-of-use agreements. (See for example, Davka Corp’s license). [...]

]]> By: Aharon http://opensiddur.org/2009/10/free-as-in-freedom/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Aharon Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:51:39 +0000 http://opensiddur.net/?p=201#comment-47 Unfortunately, Silverman is exceptional in listing its sources compared to more contemporary siddurim. Unfortunately, Silverman is exceptional in listing its sources compared to more contemporary siddurim.

]]> By: Efraim Feinstein http://opensiddur.org/2009/10/free-as-in-freedom/comment-page-1/#comment-46 Efraim Feinstein Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:26:50 +0000 http://opensiddur.net/?p=201#comment-46 <i>There are other reasons why we would not use the digitized texts of contemporary siddurim. The most important reason besides their not being free, is that they do not clearly attribute the source of their digitized texts to the historical siddurim that they were presumably derived from.</i> I'm not sure that this is necessarily a problem of itself. Most siddurim don't attribute sources, and even if they do, they frequently edit their sources. The Silverman Siddur (Conservative, c1930's-1950's) is a good example. His text is based on Baer's text (he tells you that in the introduction) with minor changes all over. All that this means is that if you copy from source A, which says that it copied from source B, we have to attribute to source A, and can't assume that source A==source B, even if copyright were not an issue. There are other reasons why we would not use the digitized texts of contemporary siddurim. The most important reason besides their not being free, is that they do not clearly attribute the source of their digitized texts to the historical siddurim that they were presumably derived from.

I’m not sure that this is necessarily a problem of itself. Most siddurim don’t attribute sources, and even if they do, they frequently edit their sources. The Silverman Siddur (Conservative, c1930′s-1950′s) is a good example. His text is based on Baer’s text (he tells you that in the introduction) with minor changes all over. All that this means is that if you copy from source A, which says that it copied from source B, we have to attribute to source A, and can’t assume that source A==source B, even if copyright were not an issue.

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