1

Beyond computer exceptionalism:

Open source aeronautics before

1903Peter B. Meyer, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics*

SHOT conference, Oct 21, 2007, Washington, DC

*All views expressed in this paper are those of he authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

2

Open-source technology advance Defn: Advanced through openly-shared

designs

Parallels between open source software projects and the gradual invention of the airplane: contributors are autonomous and geographically

dispersed with own objectives or projects by hobbyists, experimenters, tinkerers, hackers

some are drawn to the activity or technology it has charisma, or dazzle, or potential

they share information and progress without explicit payoff

radical differences about intellectual property

3

Development of the airplane

early 1800s: George Cayley proposal for fixed wing, mechanically powered flying machines

1840s and on: experiments and demonstrations 1860s and on: aeronautical journals and books

a niche activity maybe hopeless, useless, and/or dangerous

1894 – Octave Chanute’s great overview book 1903 – Wrights fly famous powered glider 1910 – an industry exists

4

For 20+ years Otto Lilienthal studied birds and experimented on shapes in wind to test “lift” effect

Published Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation, 1889

Then made hang gliders

Motivation:“. . . A desire takes possession of man.

He longs to soar upward and to glide, free as the bird . . .” -- Otto Lilienthal, 1889

“The glory of a great discovery or an invention which is destined to benefit humanity [seemed] dazzling. . . . Enthusiasm seized [us] at an early age.” - Gustav Lilienthal, 1912

Lilienthal’s wing experiments

5

Lilienthal’s inspirational hang gliders1891-1896

6

Samuel Langley

Professor, then Director of Smithsonian InstitutionPublished Experiments in Aerodynamics, 1891• which shows his specialized equipment and his

careful measures of the effect of rectangular planes whirled on a 30-foot arm

His 1896 powered gliders went over half a mileInvited audiences to 1903 experiments on Potomac

river

7

Lawrence Hargrave

On principle he patented nothing, published all.

Until something really worked, he thought it would be best if aerial navigation work were just published and shared for free.

“Patent fees are so much wasted money. The flying machine of the future . . . must be evolved gradually. The first difficulty is to get a thing that will fly at all. When this is made, a full description should be published as an aid to others.” – Hargrave, 1893

8

Octave Chanute

Octave Chanute takes interest in flying machines in late 1880s

Wealthy former engineer in Chicago Experimented on gliders Corresponded actively with many experimenters around

the world, wrote and published Surveyed their work globally in 1894 book Progress in

Flying Machines. To establish that there was some hope of success To save duplicate efforts of experimenters To welcome future tinkerers who could make progress Chanute preferred that everyone’s findings be open. helps define “flying machines” work, drawing from kites book supports two-way communication of interested people

9

Motivations and modes of experimenters analogous to

open-source Would like to fly Curiosity, interest in the problem Prestige, recognition Belief in making world a better place Make own nation safer Hoped-for profits, but not usually a plan

They work autonomously, not in hierarchies They form networks and share information They write and publish They specialize, technologically and/or in

evangelism

10

Chanute’s 1894 overview book Progress in Flying Machines cites almost 200

experimentersExperimenter/ group Pages

Location(Background)

Maxim 33 Britain (US)

Lilienthal 31 Germany

Penaud 22 France

Mouillard 21Algeria, Egypt

(Fr)

Hargrave 19 Australia (Br)

Moy 19 Britain

Le Bris 17 France

Langley 16 US

Wenham 15 Britain

Phillips 14 Britain

Experimentors are not a local club,

but international

In retrospect, Wrights treated

Lilienthal, Langley, and Chanute as

central.

11

U.S. aircraft patents before 1907

Falconnet 6

Quinby 5

Beeson 3

Bell 3

Blackman 3

Cairncross 3

Fest 3

O’Brate 3

German patents before 1907by aerial navigation people (including non-

aircraft patents)

Lilienthal, O. 25

Lilienthal, G. 9

Baumgarten 7

Gaebert 6

Lehmann 6

Hofmann 4

Ozeyowski 4

Wellner 4

Czygan 3

Fischer 3

Israel 3

Riedinger, A. 3(Zeppelin 2, Moy 1)

Counts from list collected by Simine Short.

Not much overlap with lists:

• in Chanute’s book

• cited by the Wrights published papers

• in histories of the development of the airplane.

Patent

counts

12

Wright brothers 1900-1902Wilbur and Orville Wright ran a bicycle

shop in Dayton, Ohio.In 1899 Wilbur takes increased interest in

flying machines.

Motivations:"I am an enthusiast . . . I wish to . . . if possible add my mite to help on the future worker who will attain final success." -- Wilbur Wright, 1899"At the beginning we had no thought of recovering what we were expending, which was not great . . ." -- Orville Wright, How We Invented the Airplane, [1953] p. 87

Here, Wrights help test Octave Chanute’s triple-wing glider., October 1902

Advantages:They are skilled toolsmithsThey are in a workshop every day.

Open sourcing: They published, spoke at meetings, had visits from Chanute and others.

13

Wrights wind tunnel, propeller discovery

Wrights made high quality tools

Wind tunnel made smooth air flow

Balance device measured lift precisely

They tested many wings systematically

Having studied wings, they try propellers shaped like wings, with lift in forward direction

This produces far more pulling power

This idea lasts

14

Exiting the network

In late 1902 and subsequently they were more secretive,

having succeeded so well with their wings.

They filed a patent on their control mechanism for the

wings.

After their successes they started a company and

manufactured.

Analogously, open source companies spin off from a

network of hobbyists.

In the Wrights case it led to permanent conflicts with

Chanute.

15

Open source processes conclusion

The airplane’s invented through an open source process

By autonomous, self-motivated, dispersed tinkerers Drawn to a certain subject

(by fun, use, charisma, challenge, or something else) (with a variety of tools and projects)

Who share technical information without explicit payoff

This process generates inventions by: hobbyists, “skunkworks” inside organizations, basic researchers

Alternatives: secrecy, hierarchy, intellectual property Open-source outperforms those sometimes, and vice

versa An industry can arise this way

16

Kites, kite/gliders, then powered glider

(“rapid” testing and prototyping?)

They flew kites a long time, then made gliders. Didn’t try adding an engine till

they were pretty sure it would work

1902 glider can be still flown as kite

17

Alternative models of invention

(1) Network of tinkerers: a population of agents with interest in a problem, worthwhile opportunities, information flows between them experimentation and socially constructed “progress”No pool of information, nor incentives, nor technical measure of

improvement.

(2) Race to be first (space race; genome project)(3) Collective invention (Allen, 1983)

but those are (a) firms, (b) not paying costs to experiment

(4) To earn income or wealth indirectly Start company, or license patented invention signal to employers; get hired as engineer (Lerner and Tirole,

2002)