Book: "Free Software Philosophy" – Dr. B. Ekbal (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Pirate Praveen Sat 7 Mar 2026 5:05PMPublicSeen by 15I think we should help with sharing and promoting this book.
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Subject: [Contact] "Free Software Philosophy" – Dr. B. Ekbal (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2026 10:10:49 +0530
From: Dr.B.Ekbal
Dear Friends in the FOSS Movement,
I am pleased to share with you a digital copy of my latest book, "Free
Software Philosophy: Concepts and Applications – Freedom, Cooperation
and Sharing," published in January 2026.
Having been part of the public health and democratic movements in India,
I have witnessed how the philosophy of Free Software is not merely about
code, but about the fundamental right to knowledge and the creation of a
"Digital Commons." This book documents these concepts and their
practical applications in education, science, and health.
The book discusses:
*
The transition from proprietary enclosures to the Knowledge Commons.
*
The impact of FOSS in India, with specific reference to the Kerala
experience.
*
A critique of the IPR regime and the necessity of Open Science.
In the spirit of the movement, the book is licensed under Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. I would be honored if
your organization could share this resource within your networks and use
it for your advocacy and educational programs, and review the book in
appropriate networks and publications
In Solidarity,
Dr. B. Ekbal
Dr.B.Ekbal,
Retired Professor of Neurosurgery, Former Vice Chancellor, University of
Kerala, and Former Member, Kerala State Planning Board
Ravi DwivediSun 8 Mar 2026 8:14AM
I also went through the contents and agree with @Akshay on
I found it very information dense and bullet pointish.
To me, it looked more like some lecture notes than a beginner friendly intro.
Pirate PraveenSun 8 Mar 2026 1:52PM
I shared this feedback and this was his response:
I really appreciate the support and the thoughtful feedback! I noticed a real lack of books that look at Free Software philosophy across different sectors —usually, you just get the 'code' side or the 'legal' side. I wanted to weave those together into a complete picture.
To keep the work accessible and avoid an overly voluminous text, I chose to use bullet points and concise summaries for various applications. While this book serves as a foundational roadmap, I hope others build upon these ideas with even deeper, more simpler and nuanced explorations.
Ekbal
Akshay ·Sun 8 Mar 2026 3:20AM
I was excited to see this book. Before promoting in some public health groups I wanted to quickly go through the contents. I found it very information dense and bullet pointish. Sort of like an AI summary of the field.
In the reference section, the author confirms that AI was used
Regardless of how explicit the declaration is, the content layout is not at all beginner friendly. It reads like an encyclopedia that's in a rush. And for this reason, I don't have my heart in promoting this book.
If for political reasons, and for giving people the idea that free software is still being written books about, we need to promote, it might make sense to write an accessible review and share that.