The open source movement is all about changing technology from “how do they do that?” to “why didn’t I think of that?” Media artists (game designers, web designers, etc) are embracing open source by contributing to software like Processing and openFrameworks. The creative media software make things like fire effects, buttons, soft body animations, and fractals—all in open source code.
While artists traditionally are secretive about their processes, open source artists see strength in collaborating and sharing. Zach Lieberman of openFrameworks sees the positives in open sourcing:
My theory is that putting better tools out there means that people can make better projects and then companies and institutions will see those projects and take more risks, and in that way everybody’s work will be able to improve. There’s just more opportunity.
While open source projects are notoriously complex and fragmented, these projects are a little more friendly for non-programmers, being made with design students in mind. Hopefully their code libraries can stay organized and accessible to all who might want to take advantage of them.