Articulating the speed(s) of the Internet - The case of open source/free software

The Internet is widely considered as a key factor of speeding up social and cultural change. It represents the merging of information and communication technologies and enables flows of information and capital, and communication and cooperation regardless of space and, possibly, time. This article explores the example of Open Source/Free Software development, i.e. software development in self-organized projects based on a considerable share of voluntary work. Here, we find complex articulations of speeding up and slowing down technological development. Open Source/Free Software projects complement the logic of speeding up technological progress and of obsolescence with a reflexive logic of optionality, variety and sustainability which addresses the accessibility of technology and knowledge as a precondition for future creativity beyond markets and organizations.