[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.28,0:00:02.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to talk to you today about something
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.22,0:00:05.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the open-source programming world can teach democracy,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.24,0:00:06.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but before that, a little preamble.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.87,0:00:08.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's start here.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.69,0:00:12.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is Martha Payne. Martha's a 9-year-old Scot
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.09,0:00:14.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who lives in the Council of Argyll and Bute.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.11,0:00:16.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A couple months ago, Payne started a food blog
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.80,0:00:19.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called NeverSeconds, and she would take her camera
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.67,0:00:21.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with her every day to school to document
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.95,0:00:23.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her school lunches.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.97,0:00:25.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can you spot the vegetable? (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.86,0:00:29.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, as sometimes happens,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.61,0:00:32.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this blog acquired first dozens of readers,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.20,0:00:33.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then hundreds of readers,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.88,0:00:36.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then thousands of readers, as people tuned in
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.47,0:00:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to watch her rate her school lunches,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.13,0:00:39.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including on my favorite category,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.66,0:00:43.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Pieces of hair found in food." (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.25,0:00:46.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was a zero day. That's good.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.72,0:00:49.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then two weeks ago yesterday, she posted this.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.92,0:00:51.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A post that read: "Goodbye."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.83,0:00:55.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she said, "I'm very sorry to tell you this, but
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.04,0:00:57.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my head teacher pulled me out of class today and told me
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.78,0:01:00.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not allowed to take pictures in the lunch room anymore.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.78,0:01:02.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I really enjoyed doing this.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.51,0:01:05.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you for reading. Goodbye."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.74,0:01:10.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can guess what happened next, right? (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.92,0:01:16.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The outrage was so swift, so voluminous, so unanimous,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.83,0:01:19.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the Council of Argyll and Bute reversed themselves
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.78,0:01:21.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the same day and said, "We would,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.06,0:01:23.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we would never censor a nine-year-old." (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.23,0:01:25.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Except, of course, this morning. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.71,0:01:30.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this brings up the question,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.12,0:01:32.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what made them think they could get away
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.34,0:01:34.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with something like that? (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.38,0:01:39.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the answer is, all of human history prior to now.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.10,0:01:42.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) So,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.65,0:01:46.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what happens when a medium suddenly puts
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.58,0:01:50.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a lot of new ideas into circulation?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.28,0:01:52.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, this isn't just a contemporaneous question.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.38,0:01:54.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is something we've faced several times
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.38,0:01:55.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the last few centuries.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.74,0:01:57.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the telegraph came along, it was clear
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.72,0:01:59.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it was going to globalize the news industry.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.94,0:02:01.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What would this lead to?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.43,0:02:04.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, obviously, it would lead to world peace.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.100,0:02:07.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The television, a medium that allowed us not just to hear
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.81,0:02:10.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but see, literally see, what was going on
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.57,0:02:12.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,elsewhere in the world, what would this lead to?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.89,0:02:15.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,World peace. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.13,0:02:16.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The telephone?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.09,0:02:18.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You guessed it: world peace.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.68,0:02:23.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sorry for the spoiler alert, but no world peace. Not yet.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.66,0:02:26.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even the prInting press, even the printing press
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.14,0:02:29.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was assumed to be a tool that was going to enforce
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.26,0:02:32.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Catholic intellectual hegemony across Europe.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.92,0:02:35.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, what we got was Martin Luther's 95 Theses,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.40,0:02:37.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Protestant Reformation, and, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.42,0:02:39.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Thirty Years' War. All right,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.78,0:02:44.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so what all of these predictions of world peace got right
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.01,0:02:46.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that when a lot of new ideas suddenly
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.54,0:02:49.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,come into circulation, it changes society.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.47,0:02:52.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What they got exactly wrong was what happens next.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.100,0:02:55.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The more ideas there are in circulation,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.55,0:03:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the more ideas there are for any individual to disagree with.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.26,0:03:05.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More media always means more arguing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.03,0:03:07.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's what happens when the media's space expands.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.95,0:03:10.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet, when we look back on the printing press
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.85,0:03:14.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the early years, we like what happened.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.23,0:03:17.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are a pro-printing press society.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.48,0:03:19.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So how do we square those two things,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.44,0:03:22.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it leads to more arguing, but we think it was good?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.20,0:03:24.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the answer, I think, can be found in things like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.80,0:03:28.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the cover of "Philosophical Transactions,"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.08,0:03:30.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first scientific journal ever published in English
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.71,0:03:32.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the middle of the 1600s,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.59,0:03:34.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was created by a group of people who had been
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.42,0:03:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,calling themselves "The Invisible College,"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.05,0:03:38.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a group of natural philosophers who only later
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.26,0:03:40.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would call themselves scientists,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.86,0:03:44.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they wanted to improve the way
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.41,0:03:47.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,natural philosophers argued with each other,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.06,0:03:49.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they needed to do two things for this.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.05,0:03:51.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They needed openness. They needed to create a norm
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.54,0:03:53.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which said, when you do an experiment,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.40,0:03:56.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you have to publish not just your claims,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.08,0:03:57.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but how you did the experiment.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.51,0:04:00.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you don't tell us how you did it, we won't trust you.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.30,0:04:02.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the other thing they needed was speed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.66,0:04:04.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They had to quickly synchronize what
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.97,0:04:07.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,other natural philosophers knew. Otherwise,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.42,0:04:10.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you couldn't get the right kind of argument going.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.28,0:04:13.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The printing press was clearly the right medium for this,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.23,0:04:15.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the book was the wrong tool. It was too slow.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.82,0:04:18.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so they invented the scientific journal
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.68,0:04:21.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a way of synchronizing the argument
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.46,0:04:24.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,across the community of natural scientists.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.02,0:04:27.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The scientific revolution wasn't created by the printing press.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.52,0:04:29.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was created by scientists,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.66,0:04:31.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it couldn't have been created if they didn't have
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.52,0:04:33.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a printing press as a tool.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.69,0:04:35.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what about us? What about our generation,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.93,0:04:37.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and our media revolution, the Internet?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.93,0:04:42.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, predictions of world peace? Check. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.05,0:04:50.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More arguing? Gold star on that one. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.64,0:04:51.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.95,0:04:56.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, YouTube is just a gold mine. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.29,0:05:00.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Better arguing? That's the question.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.39,0:05:02.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I study social media, which means,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.43,0:05:05.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a first approximation, I watch people argue.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.04,0:05:09.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if I had to pick a group that I think is
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.15,0:05:12.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our Invisible College, is our generation's collection of people
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.94,0:05:16.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trying to take these tools and to press it into service,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.10,0:05:18.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not for more arguments, but for better arguments,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.88,0:05:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd pick the open-source programmers.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.28,0:05:23.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Programming is a three-way relationship
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.54,0:05:25.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between a programmer, some source code,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.82,0:05:28.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the computer it's meant to run on, but computers
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.44,0:05:33.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are such famously inflexible interpreters of instructions
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.14,0:05:37.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it's extraordinarily difficult to write out a set
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.16,0:05:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of instructions that the computer knows how to execute,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.20,0:05:42.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's if one person is writing it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.07,0:05:44.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once you get more than one person writing it,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.17,0:05:47.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's very easy for any two programmers to overwrite
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.25,0:05:49.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,each other's work if they're working on the same file,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.91,0:05:52.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or to send incompatible instructions
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.09,0:05:54.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that simply causes the computer to choke,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.54,0:05:57.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this problem grows larger
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.49,0:06:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the more programmers are involved.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.26,0:06:03.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To a first approximation, the problem of managing
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.61,0:06:06.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a large software project is the problem
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.34,0:06:09.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of keeping this social chaos at bay.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.99,0:06:12.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, for decades there has been a canonical solution
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.47,0:06:14.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to this problem, which is to use something called
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.12,0:06:16.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a "version control system,"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.10,0:06:18.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a version control system does what is says on the tin.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.31,0:06:21.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It provides a canonical copy of the software
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.70,0:06:23.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on a server somewhere.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.26,0:06:26.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The only programmers who can change it are people
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.16,0:06:29.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who've specifically been given permission to access it,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.69,0:06:33.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're only allowed to access the sub-section of it
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.46,0:06:35.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they have permission to change.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.89,0:06:39.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when people draw diagrams of version control systems,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.08,0:06:41.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the diagrams always look something like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.44,0:06:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All right. They look like org charts.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.32,0:06:45.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you don't have to squint very hard
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.72,0:06:49.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to see the political ramifications of a system like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.19,0:06:53.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is feudalism: one owner, many workers.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.67,0:06:56.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, that's fine for the commercial software industry.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.99,0:07:02.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It really is Microsoft's Office. It's Adobe's Photoshop.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.38,0:07:05.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The corporation owns the software.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.21,0:07:07.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The programmers come and go.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.53,0:07:10.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there was one programmer who decided
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.90,0:07:13.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this wasn't the way to work.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.89,0:07:15.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is Linus Torvalds.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.15,0:07:17.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Torvalds is the most famous open-source programmer,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.30,0:07:22.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,created Linux, obviously, and Torvalds looked at the way
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.60,0:07:26.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the open-source movement had been dealing with this problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.11,0:07:30.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Open-source software, the core promise of the open-source license,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.74,0:07:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that everybody should have access to all the source code
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.48,0:07:37.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all the time, but of course, this creates
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.74,0:07:41.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the very threat of chaos you have to forestall
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.04,0:07:42.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to get anything working.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.62,0:07:45.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So most open-source projects just held their noses
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.10,0:07:47.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and adopted the feudal management systems.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.78,0:07:50.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Torvalds said, "No, I'm not going to do that."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.29,0:07:53.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His point of view on this was very clear.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.86,0:07:56.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you adopt a tool, you also adopt
Dialogue: 0,0:07:56.39,0:07:59.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the management philosophy embedded in that tool,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.98,0:08:03.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he wasn't going to adopt anything that didn't work
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.12,0:08:05.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way the Linux community worked.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.42,0:08:07.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And to give you a sense of how enormous
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.96,0:08:11.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a decision like this was, this is a map
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.62,0:08:15.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the internal dependencies within Linux,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.11,0:08:17.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within the Linux operating system, which sub-parts
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.72,0:08:22.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the program rely on which other sub-parts to get going.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.16,0:08:25.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a tremendously complicated process.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.74,0:08:28.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a tremendously complicated program,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.54,0:08:31.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and yet, for years, Torvalds ran this
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.20,0:08:35.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not with automated tools but out of his email box.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.10,0:08:37.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People would literally mail him changes
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.58,0:08:41.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they'd agreed on, and he would merge them by hand.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.70,0:08:46.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, 15 years after looking at Linux and figuring out
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.44,0:08:49.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how the community worked, he said, "I think I know
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.25,0:08:53.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how to write a version control system for free people."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.42,0:08:59.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he called it "Git." Git is distributed version control.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.31,0:09:02.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has two big differences
Dialogue: 0,0:09:02.34,0:09:04.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with traditional version control systems.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.40,0:09:07.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first is that it lives up to the philosophical promise
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.55,0:09:10.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of open-source. Everybody who works on a project
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.83,0:09:14.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has access to all of the source code all of the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:14.50,0:09:17.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when people draw diagrams of Git workflow,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.18,0:09:20.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they use drawings that look like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.12,0:09:22.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you don't have to understand what the circles
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.43,0:09:26.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and boxes and arrows mean to see that this is a far more
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.11,0:09:29.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,complicated way of working than is supported
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.21,0:09:31.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by ordinary version control systems.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.93,0:09:36.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this is also the thing that brings the chaos back,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.24,0:09:39.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is Git's second big innovation.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:39.29,0:09:43.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a screenshot from GitHub, the premier Git hosting service,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.28,0:09:46.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and every time a programmer uses Git
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.63,0:09:49.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make any important change at all,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:49.80,0:09:53.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,creating a new file, modifying an existing one,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.10,0:09:57.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,merging two files, Git creates this kind of signature.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.78,0:10:00.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This long string of numbers and letters here
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.92,0:10:05.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a unique identifier tied to every single change,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.100,0:10:08.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but without any central coordination.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.85,0:10:13.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every Git system generates this number the same way,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.34,0:10:16.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which means this is a signature tied directly
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.68,0:10:19.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and unforgeably to a particular change.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:19.83,0:10:21.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This has the following effect:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.77,0:10:25.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A programmer in Edinburgh and a programmer in Entebbe
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.45,0:10:29.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can both get the same -- a copy of the same piece of software.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.15,0:10:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Each of them can make changes and they can merge them
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.98,0:10:35.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after the fact even if they didn't know
Dialogue: 0,0:10:35.91,0:10:38.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of each other's existence beforehand.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.87,0:10:42.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is cooperation without coordination.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.37,0:10:45.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the big change.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.30,0:10:50.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I tell you all of this not to convince you that it's great
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.52,0:10:54.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that open-source programmers now have a tool
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.21,0:10:57.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that supports their philosophical way of working,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.30,0:10:59.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although I think that is great.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.41,0:11:02.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I tell you all of this because of what I think it means
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.18,0:11:04.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the way communities come together.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.37,0:11:10.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once Git allowed for cooperation without coordination,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.69,0:11:13.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you start to see communities form
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.63,0:11:17.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are enormously large and complex.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.88,0:11:20.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a graph of the Ruby community.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.16,0:11:21.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's an open-source programming language,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.69,0:11:24.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all of the interconnections between the people --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.69,0:11:27.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is now not a software graph, but a people graph,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.09,0:11:29.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all of the interconnections among the people
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.19,0:11:31.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,working on that project —
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.53,0:11:34.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this doesn't look like an org chart.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.52,0:11:37.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This looks like a dis-org chart, and yet,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:37.94,0:11:40.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,out of this community, but using these tools,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.55,0:11:42.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they can now create something together.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:42.84,0:11:47.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there are two good reasons to think that
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.20,0:11:51.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this kind of technique can be applied
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.37,0:11:55.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to democracies in general and in particular to the law.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.91,0:11:57.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you make the claim, in fact,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.76,0:12:00.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that something on the Internet is going to be good
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.72,0:12:03.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for democracy, you often get this reaction.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:03.16,0:12:09.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music) (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.09,0:12:11.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which is, are you talking about the thing
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.61,0:12:14.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the singing cats? Like, is that the thing
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.02,0:12:16.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you think is going to be good for society?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.65,0:12:18.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To which I have to say, here's the thing
Dialogue: 0,0:12:18.79,0:12:22.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the singing cats. That always happens.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.15,0:12:23.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I don't just mean that always happens with the Internet,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:23.88,0:12:26.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean that always happens with media, full stop.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.46,0:12:28.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It did not take long after the rise
Dialogue: 0,0:12:28.50,0:12:31.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the commercial printing press before someone
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.18,0:12:34.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,figured out that erotic novels were a good idea. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.49,0:12:37.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You don't have to have an economic incentive to sell books
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.53,0:12:40.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very long before someone says, "Hey, you know what I bet
Dialogue: 0,0:12:40.56,0:12:42.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people would pay for?" (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.72,0:12:46.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It took people another 150 years to even think
Dialogue: 0,0:12:46.27,0:12:53.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the scientific journal, right? So -- (Laughter) (Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.03,0:12:56.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the harnessing by the Invisible College
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.07,0:12:58.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the printing press to create the scientific journal
Dialogue: 0,0:12:58.46,0:13:01.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was phenomenally important, but it didn't happen big,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:01.37,0:13:04.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it didn't happen quick, and it didn't happen fast, so
Dialogue: 0,0:13:04.13,0:13:07.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you're going to look for where the change is happening,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:07.42,0:13:09.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you have to look on the margins.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.44,0:13:14.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, the law is also dependency-related.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.90,0:13:18.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a graph of the U.S. Tax Code,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.31,0:13:21.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the dependencies of one law on other laws
Dialogue: 0,0:13:21.39,0:13:23.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the overall effect.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:23.79,0:13:27.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there's that as a site for source code management.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:27.22,0:13:29.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there's also the fact that law is another place
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.12,0:13:31.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where there are many opinions in circulation,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:31.40,0:13:34.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they need to be resolved to one canonical copy,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:34.91,0:13:37.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when you go onto GitHub, and you look around,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:37.48,0:13:39.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are millions and millions of projects,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.55,0:13:40.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,almost all of which are source code,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:40.91,0:13:43.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but if you look around the edges, you can see people
Dialogue: 0,0:13:43.59,0:13:45.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,experimenting with the political ramifications
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.80,0:13:47.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a system like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:47.41,0:13:49.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Someone put up all the Wikileaked cables
Dialogue: 0,0:13:49.22,0:13:51.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the State Department, along with software used
Dialogue: 0,0:13:51.49,0:13:54.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to interpret them, including my favorite use ever
Dialogue: 0,0:13:54.68,0:13:57.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the Cablegate cables, which is a tool for detecting
Dialogue: 0,0:13:57.05,0:14:00.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,naturally occurring haiku in State Department prose.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:00.06,0:14:05.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:14:05.96,0:14:09.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Right. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:14:09.03,0:14:11.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The New York Senate has put up something called
Dialogue: 0,0:14:11.83,0:14:14.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Open Legislation, also hosting it on GitHub,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:14.24,0:14:16.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,again for all of the reasons of updating and fluidity.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:16.62,0:14:19.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can go and pick your Senator and then you can see
Dialogue: 0,0:14:19.29,0:14:21.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a list of bills they have sponsored.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:21.32,0:14:24.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Someone going by Divegeek has put up the Utah code,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:24.96,0:14:27.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the laws of the state of Utah, and they've put it up there
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.72,0:14:29.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not just to distribute the code,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:29.17,0:14:32.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but with the very interesting possibility that this could
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.37,0:14:36.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be used to further the development of legislation.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.92,0:14:40.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somebody put up a tool during the copyright debate
Dialogue: 0,0:14:40.76,0:14:44.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,last year in the Senate, saying, "It's strange that Hollywood
Dialogue: 0,0:14:44.95,0:14:48.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has more access to Canadian legislators
Dialogue: 0,0:14:48.07,0:14:51.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than Canadian citizens do. Why don't we use GitHub
Dialogue: 0,0:14:51.89,0:14:56.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to show them what a citizen-developed bill might look like?"
Dialogue: 0,0:14:56.36,0:15:00.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it includes this very evocative screenshot.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:00.12,0:15:03.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a called a "diff," this thing on the right here.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:03.10,0:15:06.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This shows you, for text that many people are editing,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:06.06,0:15:08.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when a change was made, who made it,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:08.27,0:15:09.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what the change is.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:09.27,0:15:10.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The stuff in red is the stuff that got deleted.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:10.72,0:15:13.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The stuff in green is the stuff that got added.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:13.42,0:15:16.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Programmers take this capability for granted.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.20,0:15:19.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No democracy anywhere in the world offers this feature
Dialogue: 0,0:15:19.12,0:15:22.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to its citizens for either legislation or for budgets,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:22.94,0:15:25.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even though those are the things done
Dialogue: 0,0:15:25.47,0:15:28.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with our consent and with our money.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:28.61,0:15:31.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I would love to tell you that the fact
Dialogue: 0,0:15:31.84,0:15:35.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the open-source programmers have worked out
Dialogue: 0,0:15:35.02,0:15:38.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a collaborative method that is large scale, distributed,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:38.69,0:15:42.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cheap, and in sync with the ideals of democracy, I would love
Dialogue: 0,0:15:42.15,0:15:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to tell you that because those tools are in place,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:44.32,0:15:48.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the innovation is inevitable. But it's not.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:48.66,0:15:51.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Part of the problem, of course, is just a lack of information.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:51.65,0:15:53.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somebody put a question up on Quora saying,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:53.55,0:15:55.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Why is it that lawmakers don't use
Dialogue: 0,0:15:55.64,0:15:57.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,distributed version control?"
Dialogue: 0,0:15:57.05,0:16:00.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This, graphically, was the answer. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:16:00.67,0:16:02.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) (Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:16:02.76,0:16:07.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that is indeed part of the problem, but only part.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:07.78,0:16:10.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The bigger problem, of course, is power.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:10.96,0:16:14.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The people experimenting with participation don't have
Dialogue: 0,0:16:14.13,0:16:16.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,legislative power, and the people who have legislative
Dialogue: 0,0:16:16.70,0:16:20.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,power are not experimenting with participation.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:20.66,0:16:22.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They are experimenting with openness.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:22.21,0:16:24.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no democracy worth the name that doesn't have
Dialogue: 0,0:16:24.07,0:16:26.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a transparency move, but transparency is openness
Dialogue: 0,0:16:26.100,0:16:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in only one direction, and being given a dashboard
Dialogue: 0,0:16:30.90,0:16:34.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without a steering wheel has never been the core promise
Dialogue: 0,0:16:34.07,0:16:37.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a democracy makes to its citizens.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:37.48,0:16:39.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So consider this.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:39.83,0:16:42.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The thing that got Martha Payne's opinions
Dialogue: 0,0:16:42.42,0:16:46.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,out into the public was a piece of technology,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:46.11,0:16:49.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the thing that kept them there was political will.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:49.74,0:16:52.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was the expectation of the citizens
Dialogue: 0,0:16:52.02,0:16:55.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that she would not be censored.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:55.55,0:17:00.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's now the state we're in with these collaboration tools.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:00.88,0:17:04.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have them. We've seen them. They work.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:04.89,0:17:05.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can we use them?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:05.94,0:17:11.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can we apply the techniques that worked here to this?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:11.06,0:17:14.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,T.S. Eliot once said, "One of the most momentous things
Dialogue: 0,0:17:14.78,0:17:16.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that can happen to a culture
Dialogue: 0,0:17:16.86,0:17:20.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that they acquire a new form of prose."
Dialogue: 0,0:17:20.50,0:17:22.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that's wrong, but -- (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:17:22.75,0:17:26.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it's right for argumentation. Right?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:26.41,0:17:29.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A momentous thing that can happen to a culture
Dialogue: 0,0:17:29.77,0:17:32.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is they can acquire a new style of arguing:
Dialogue: 0,0:17:32.58,0:17:39.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trial by jury, voting, peer review, now this. Right?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:39.30,0:17:42.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A new form of arguing has been invented in our lifetimes,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:42.36,0:17:44.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the last decade, in fact.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:44.25,0:17:48.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's large, it's distributed, it's low-cost,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:48.30,0:17:51.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's compatible with the ideals of democracy.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:51.60,0:17:53.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The question for us now is, are we going to let
Dialogue: 0,0:17:53.59,0:17:55.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the programmers keep it to themselves?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:55.12,0:17:57.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or are we going to try and take it and press it into service
Dialogue: 0,0:17:57.16,0:17:59.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for society at large?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:59.32,0:18:01.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you for listening. (Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:18:01.92,0:18:06.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:18:06.06,0:18:11.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you. Thank you. (Applause)