#free-knowledge — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #free-knowledge, aggregated by home.social.
-
"How AI Threatens the Social Contract of Free Knowledge"
- Jacob Rogers, Wikimedia Diff, 2026-07-17https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/07/17/how-ai-threatens-the-social-contract-of-free-knowledge/
The plundering, value extraction and debilitating load "genAI" inflicts on Free Knowledge projects make Wikimedia reconsider their legal policies and their choice of licences.
The vast majority of "genAI" tools do not cite nor contribute back. This drives contributors away, and impedes new ones from joining.
-
Ah, the Wikimedia Foundation, that bastion of free knowledge, now wants to freely ignore #unions 🚫🤖. They've traded in their "all-for-one" ethos for a shiny new anti-union law firm 🤝🔨. Maybe they can update their robot policy to include "robots work better without pesky unions" 🤖➡️👋.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2026-08-02/News_and_notes #WikimediaFoundation #antiunion #freeknowledge #laborrights #HackerNews #ngated -
À Brest, le groupe local a fêté les 25 ans de Wikipédia en organisant des discussions et des conférences que nous vous laissons découvrir ou redécouvrir à travers cette vidéo. Nicolas Vigneron, Cyril De Sousa Cardoso, et @Nicolas Jullien nous offrent divers regards sur l'encyclopédie en ligne et son usage à la Médiathèque de Brest
👉 Visionner la conférence Wikipédia 25 de Brest : https://w.wiki/PS7M
#Brest #Wikipédia25 #Freeknowledge #IA #Conférences #WikimédiaFrance #KnowledgeIsHuman
-
You Got What You Asked For
By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News
Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — May 20, 2026 — 7:20 p.m. PHST
There was a moment when a simple idea spread:
Information should be free.
It was part of the language of movements. Part of the language of Occupy. Part of the belief that knowledge should not be locked behind institutions, paywalls, or gatekeepers.
Fair enough.
You got what you asked for.
More than 5,000 essays.
Years of work.
Patterns documented.
Systems analyzed.
Available to anyone with an internet connection.Free.
What “Free” Actually Means
Free does not mean effortless.
Free does not mean costless.
Free does not mean that no one had to build it.
Every piece in this archive required:
- time
- thought
- structure
- revision
- maintenance
Every piece had to be written. Stored. Organized. Preserved.
Free to access does not mean free to produce.
That distinction matters.
The Part That Was Skipped
It is easy to say “information should be free.”
It is harder to ask:
- Who creates it?
- Who maintains it?
- Who ensures it is still there tomorrow?
Because once those questions are asked, the answer is unavoidable:
Someone is doing the work.
The Work Is Here
This is not theoretical.
This archive exists.
It is not an idea. It is not a proposal.
It is a working system of long-form documentation built over more than a decade.
And it is available, right now, without charge.
That was the goal.
That was the promise.
What Was Never Solved
What was never clearly addressed was sustainability.
Not access.
Not distribution.
Sustainability.
If knowledge is to remain free to access, then it must still be supported in some way.
Otherwise, it disappears.
Not because it lacked value, but because it lacked support.
A Simple Reality
You cannot have:
- free access
- long-term continuity
- independent production
without some form of support behind it.
That is not ideology.
That is logistics.
No Abstraction
This is no longer a theoretical conversation.
The work is here.
It is accessible.
It is being maintained.
The only remaining question is simple:
Now what?
The Ask
If you believe in free knowledge, then this is where that belief meets reality.
The work exists.
If it has value to you, support it.
If it doesn’t, don’t.
But the idea that knowledge can be free without cost to anyone was never sustainable.
You got what you asked for.
The question is whether you intend to keep it.
If you read this and it matters, help me keep it going: https://www.patreon.com/cw/WPSNews
For more social commentary, please see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com
WPS News archives are available through Amazon for long-term preservation and library distribution.
#digitalEconomy #freeKnowledge #IndependentJournalism #informationAccess #intellectualLabor #OccupyWallStreet #sustainability #WPSNews -
Wikimedia d'Italie participera au marathon de Milan le 12 avril. Ils ne courent pas seulement pour le chrono : ils courent pour soutenir la connaissance libre et Wikimedia Italia.
L'objectif : Récolter des fonds pour garantir l'accès gratuit à l'information, soutenir les bénévoles de Wikipédia et promouvoir la culture libre dans les écoles et les musées.
Comment les soutenir ?
https://www.retedeldono.it/en/iniziativa/francescomoro/mens-sana-corpore-wiki@Wikimediaitalia #marathon #milano #Freeknowledge #don #Wikimedia #cagnottesolidaire
-
Bobby Shabangu makes history as the first African elected to the Wikimedia Foundation Board. A proud moment for Africa in the global knowledge movement. #Wikimedia #AfricaRising #FreeKnowledge
-
Since 2001, Wikipedia has become the backbone of knowledge on the internet. @wikipedia
Discover 25 years of Wikipedia here: https://wikipedia25.org
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia25
#Wikipedia25 #25YearsOfWikipedia #FreeKnowledge #OpenKnowledge #InternetHistory #DigitalCulture #KnowledgeForAll #FromDialUpToNow #OnlineLearning #CollaborativeKnowledge #HistoryOfTheWeb #WikiLove #Wikipedia #Wikimedia #WikimediaFoundation #Wiki25
-
🎨 "Learn computer graphics from scratch" with the elegance of a bulldozer! 🚜 Dive into a #blog for the eternally angry nerds, where free knowledge comes with the charm of a rusty nail. 🌴 And don't forget the book, perfect for those deserted island survivalists who forgot to pack logic and internet! 📚😂
https://www.scratchapixel.com #computergraphics #learning #humor #freeknowledge #desertedisland #HackerNews #ngated -
Federating knowledge: exploring ways to bridge wikis and notes
Join the workshop at #39C3!
NEW DATE: day 4, TODAY at 13:40 @ Free Knowledge Habitat Workshop Area.
Most people and organisations have their very own way of acquiring, organising, archiving, sharing, and collaborating on knowledge repositories. A broad spectrum of opinions and approaches resulted in a diverse and rich ecosystem of knowledge management solutions. Nevertheless, this also implies scattered and disconnected knowledge sources. What would it mean to build bridges among wikis and federate knowledge?
This workshop is going to be heavily centred on a twofold discussion, exploring the challenge of federated knowledge starting from two questions.
- What does it mean to federate knowledge repositories?
- Instead of pursuing a silver-bullet solution to embrace all use-cases, what would it mean to foster and enable interoperability for different software?
These questions stem from years of questioning and wondering how to integrate my personal note-taking and collective, participatory knowledge management at work, in organisations, institutions, and informal collectives. Recently, I began actively researching this topic as I started playing with the MediaWiki API to cross-synchronise my local Markdown notes and the XPUB wiki, the public learning wiki of the Experimental Publishing master. I am puzzled by taking advantage of the potential of a specific software (in this case, MediaWiki) while fearing of being locked-in.
Some further, more specific, insights and questions:
- Local-first approaches and software (e.g. Reflection)
- Interesting experiments based on existing protocols, such as Ibis
- What do we take of semi-open and obscure yet very cool initiatives like Anytype
- The power and the limits of plain-text: how to enable collaboration on simple Markdown files and build on top of it, as Obsidian does
Cc: @modal @p2panda @obsidian @wikimediaDE @dweb
#knowledge #FreeKnowledge #wiki #MediaWiki #API #Obsidian #Anytype #Ibis #IbisWiki #Reflection #CCC #Federation #federatedKnowledge #docs #PKM #knowledgeManagement #personalKnowledgeManagement #collectiveKnowledgeManagement #DWeb #decentralization #ActivityPub
-
🧩 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟭 = 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝘂𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆!
The crossword puzzle has a place on Wikipedia—a great example of how knowledge is built collectively.
➡️ https://w.wiki/FQHp𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒛𝒛𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑾𝒊𝒌𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂.
Solve it and share your solution below this post.
As a Christmas gift, we will publish the solution next week.
#CrosswordPuzzleDay #Wikipedia #FreeKnowledge #WikimediaBelgium
-
Un simple geste libère la connaissance
Grâce à votre soutien, vous préservez l’esprit collaboratif de Wikipédia ❤
Chaque don, modeste ou grand, compte pour garantir l’indépendance des actions de Wikimédia France et rend possible l’accès libre, gratuit et universel au savoir en France.❤ Merci pour votre geste ❤
#don #Wikipedia #Wikimedia #WMFr #Donner #Générosité #Freeknowledge #association #WikimediaFrance
-
Often research are led with public money, and the results put behind paywalls by “publishers” whose role seems today more and more anachronistic.
#research #science #peerreview #editors #paywall #OpenAccess #freeknowledge #freescience #arxiv
-
📸 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝟴𝟲,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀.
Vera de Kok has been named 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓 2025!
👉 Full story: https://ap.lc/cbUgk
📨 Sign up! [email protected]
Or view 👀 her full contribution: https://w.wiki/E$i4 -
Stealing millions of books for AI training by corporation with multi bullion profit is "fair use".
free dissemination of academic knowledge for poor is piracy.
The fight against the corporate greed is far from over.
"Sci-Hub has been blocked in India"
-
Have you always wanted to edit #Wikipedia but were never sure how to get started? This video is a very helpful primer, breaking down what to do, how to do it, and the culture of Wiki editing. https://youtu.be/bRRHR1NEOqE?si=el4-0gOcpP9u7hu8
-
🎉 Today, 19 June 2025, the Dutch-language 𝗪𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝟮𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆! 🎂
One of the largest sources of knowledge in Dutch, supported by thousands of volunteers.
✨ Celebrate by reading an article, adding to it or adding a photo via Wikimedia Commons.
-
Most people here may already know about #AnnasArchive – but maybe you’re one of today’s Lucky 10,000 (https://xkcd.com/1053/):
"The largest truly open library in human history. We mirror Sci-Hub and LibGen. We scrape and open-source Z-Lib, DuXiu, and more."
-
📚🤖 "Behold, the third coming of the AI scripture, now available for free to nullify any excuses for ignorance. Complete with deep thoughts on deep learning and societal woes—because what’s AI without a sprinkle of moral panic? 😂 Just what the world needed, a book that’s basically a textbook with a conscience." 👀
https://artint.info/index.html #AIliterature #MoralPanic #DeepLearning #FreeKnowledge #TechEthics #HackerNews #ngated -
🚀 Ah, yes, the age-old tale of #AI companies as the evil #overlords, cunningly plotting to destroy free knowledge! 🤖🔨 While we wait for the robots to steal our open-access lunch money, this newsletter almost makes you nostalgic for the days when "citation needed" was more than just a punchline. 😂📚
https://www.citationneeded.news/free-and-open-access-in-the-age-of-generative-ai/ #FreeKnowledge #CitationNeeded #Nostalgia #TechHumor #HackerNews #ngated -
It just came out that Meta downloaded via Torrent over 80 terabytes of books taken from LibGen, Anna's Archive, and Z-Library to train their AI models, and nobody is guilty. In contrast, in 2010, Aaron Swartz downloaded just 70 GB of academic articles from JSTOR (only 0.0854% of what Meta took) and faced $1 million in fines and 35 years in prison. Unable to bear the situation, he took his own life in 2013.
#FreeKnowledge #JusticeForAaronSwartz #OpenAccess #AIandEthics #FairCompensation
-
Leanne O'Donnell just drew my attention to WikiTok, random Wikipedia articles presented in a social media-style feed.
https://wikitok.net/Just what we need, another way to rabbit hole down Wikipedia! 😹
#Wikipedia #FreeKnowledge @wikimediafoundation @wm_au -
Zeit für den alljährlichen Reminder an Aaron Swartz
und die Empfehlung für den Film The Internets own Boy - die Welt hat ihm viel zu verdanken und "sorry, we as society failed you hard"
« No, you can’t force other people to change. You can, however, change just about everything else. And usually, that’s enough. »
AARON SWARTZhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
https://archive.org/details/TheInternetsOwnBoyTheStoryOfAaronSwartz#scihub #aaronswartz #rss #opensource #freeknowledge #eff #diy #rip #ccc #cypherpunk
-
#TIL about #AnnasArchive;
"The largest truly open library in human history. We mirror Sci-Hub and LibGen. We scrape and open-source Z-Lib, DuXiu, and more."
-
I fuck with Wikipedia. Might even not ignore the donation page today... might fuck around and give them a few bucks.. who knows...
-
Q1: Do you think a world would work where everything necessary (basic supplies, care & services) and easily reproducible (digital goods, knowledge, information) was free for everybody - including not paying with data or through ads?
Q2: Do you think a world works, where these things are not free?
#socialism #capitalism #UniversalBasicCare #FreeKnowledge #FreeCulture #poll #monetization #PayWall #SurveillanceCapitalism #SEO
-
As the new President of Wikimedia Australia I have put down some thoughts on potential areas for the organisation to focus on going forward: growing free knowledge, striving for knowledge equity, getting better at governance and celebrating our community.
https://eb.wtf/4gAFba3
#Wikimedia #WikimediaAustralia #Wikipedia #FreeKnowledge @wm_au