Free Software (GNU/Linux) from the Perspective of Intellectual History. Re-edition with Editorial Introduction (2025)

Re-edition with editorial introduction.
Originally published in Między nauką a sztuką. Wokół problemów współczesnej historiografii, edited by E. Solska, P. Witek, M. Woźniak, Lublin: UMCS 2017, this essay by Wiktor Werner anticipates the intellectual and ethical dimensions of today’s open science and AI ethics movements.

The author interprets the idea of free software (GNU/Linux) through the lens of intellectual history, treating it as a modern continuation of Enlightenment ideals of transparency, cooperation, and the public circulation of knowledge. By drawing parallels between the philosophy of information and the history of ideas, the essay situates the notion of “software freedom” within a broader humanistic tradition that values knowledge as a common good rather than a private commodity.

The new editorial introduction contextualises the text within twenty-first-century open-science debates, highlighting how the ethical and epistemological concerns of the free-software movement resonate with current reflections on algorithmic accountability, digital commons, and the informational turn in the humanities.

This re-edition thus bridges early Polish digital humanism with global discussions about openness, reproducibility, and responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence.