GNUmedia

The GNUmedia are creating and distributing multi-media (text, audio, video, computer code, &c) in a manner compatible with (or in the spirit of) the GNU GPL and GNU FDL, including the CC-by-SA. Similarly, the use of software tools licensed under the GNU GPL and/or GNU AGPL is key to maintaining multimedia liberation.

For a more complete list of tools see GNUmedia recommended multimedia tools.

=GNUmedia Guidelines= Background

Computer technology was born out of a community of collaboration and knowledge sharing. In the early 1980s the practice of sharing efforts and ideas was losing momentum. Richard Stallman, taking the initiative to restore the culture he endeared, founded the GNU Project and Free Software Foundation.

GNU and FSF are cornerstones of modern Copyleft. Copyleft intends to remind persons of freedoms which Copyright takes away and allow them to share these liberties with others. Software Libre is so named to remind us of the distinction between financially free (gratis) and freedoms which are granted (libre).

Most software users receive comes packaged under various EULAs [End-User License Agreements.] All of these applications are released under the GNU's Not Unix General Public License. The GNU GPL is a liberating license designed [and recently re-designed] to promote software freedom. The freedoms at stake are individuals' ability to access software, examine it's structure, modify the structure to suit one's needs and give a copy of [or redistribute] the software to a friend or person in need.

Create Multimedia
There are a number of GPL multimedia tools and GPL harmonious educational resources available, enabling persons to learn and create or modify new and existing cultural artefacts. Utilizing these resources does not mandate that one embrace fully the GPL ideals or perpetuate them with one's own efforts. By experiencing the freedom granted and the empowerment to create with as few encumbrances as possible one might wish to amplify the efforts and ideals of the GNU Copyleft movement.

Audio Production

 * WikiEducator: Using Audacity
 * LMMS Wiki

Graphic Design

 * Wikibooks: Blender3D: Noob to Pro
 * Wikibooks: GIMP

Software Development

 * Ruby Language on Wikibooks
 * How to become a Programmer
 * Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby

Contribute Multimedia
Copyleft Considerations

Copyleft allows creators the freedom to selectively license their cultural creations, enabling varying degrees of liberty for other persons. The spectrum of Copyleft extends between the Public Domain, which allows complete liberty with a given work, and Copyright, which has evolved in the last century to restrict access to culture for generations after the initial creation. Some Copyleft fails to preserve the liberties granted for subsequent iterations of the culture if allowing derivative works at all.


 * Demonstrate GPL freedoms and contextualize for multimedia.

Copyleft Multimedia Repositories
Public File Repositories and the Creative Commons

Our collective consciousness is expanding with the advancement of digital storytelling and recording devices. A great project is at hand, to help store vast quantities of multimedia, called the Internet Archive (iArchive). the iAarchive allows persons to easily submit cultural works and multimedia artefacts for public access and distribution.

Some multimedia repositories disallow access from non-registered users. Open access is an important feature and is necessary to maintain harmony with GNU Copyleft ideals. Another important function of a multimedia repository is the ability of the users to freely move content to other file mirrors if necessary.
 * iArchive
 * Wikimedia Commons

Collaborate
Information and ideas can be amplified when people get together. It is possible for persons to interact, on a global scale, over milliseconds and/or generations. This section intends to explore some helpful tools which enable persons to share and collaboratively evolve multimedia, information and culture.

Recursive Media
Explain the importance of derivative works.

'Real-Time' Collaboration
In addition to file repositories, there are technologies which enable users to distribute content to one another in 'real- time.' The act of users directly sharing data is sometimes referred to as Peer-to-Peer (P2P)

eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is a communications standard for communications and data transfer. XMPP is an open standard, allowing developers to incorporate it's functionality into software tools and eXtend it's functionality with additional features.

XMPP is not specifically designed for multimedia collaboration, it is a more general means of communication. NINJAM, however, is a platform for global, low-latency, audio transfer. Musicians spanning the globe can plug in their instrument or microphone and transmit streaming audio to/from other collaborators!

=Content Management and Website software= It is economical to host one's own web portal to display and promote self-made and collaborative media. There are quite a few GPL Content Management Systems available to be utilized for self expression and feedback. Below are a few popular and well developed systems. =Communications Infrastructure and Mass Media= All the creative freedoms we allow persons with our multimedia are dependent on people having access to said contributions. Physical and electronic distribution methods are subject to ownership, unnecessary impediment and/or exploitation. The GNUmedia are dependent on non-discriminatory, equitably accessible, distribution channels and technologies such as:
 * Open communications protocols.
 * Public bandwidth of the electromagnetic spectrum.
 * Patent-free codecs.
 * Low-cost production hardware.
 * Public access to our national, regional and local broadcast networks.

Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits."

We are all 'standing on the shoulders of giants' and it is senseless for our ideas and technology to be 'owned' and monetized by a narrow margin of the global population. Universal access to our mediums of expression is essential for an empirical understanding of our population and cultures to emerge. It is important that we also aspire for the universal ability to contribute to and improve our culture and the infrastructure by which it is distributed.