I recently re-watched Kirby Ferguson‘s excellent Everything is a Remix which, 10 years after it’s original release, he has significantly updated and re-released. If you haven’t watched I really recommend it, it really is delightful and though-provoking watch.

The central theory Kirby presents is that all art is created by remixing other work. This got me thinking about Open Source code and how it to is driven by very same creative processes he highlights in his film–copying, transforming and combining.

Proprietary software is like creating art which no-one can see. Open Source elevates software engineering to a collaborative art form. Code is poetry.