BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:adamgibbons/ics METHOD:PUBLISH X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16@ox.ogeer.org SUMMARY:Good Enough Ancestor: Software Freedom as Civic Care across Generat ions - Audrey Tang\, 2025 Right Livelihood Laureate & Taiwan’s Cyber Ambas sador DTSTAMP:20260710T132155Z DTSTART:20260522T143000Z DTEND:20260522T153000Z DESCRIPTION:View the Talk Recording [https://ogeer.org/ox/rec/gea/]\n\n[IMP ORTANT: The event was previosuly advertised with the wrong time. It is\n15 :30-16:30\, UK British Summer Time.]\n\nTang discusses how the Free Softwa re movement is foundational to her theory of\ncare ethics\, democracy\, lo cal stewardship and self-governance — and how she and\nCaroline Green are putting this theory into practice\, with principles for AI\nsystems at the local Institute for Ethics in AI.\n\nTang: "What does it mean to be a goo d ancestor in the age of AI? Not a perfect\none — perfection forecloses co rrection — but one whose work future generations\ncan inspect\, modify\, r epair\, and retire with grace.\n\nThe free software movement has been prac tising this discipline for forty years:\nkeep the source open\, keep the u ser in control\, keep exit possible. Those four\nfreedoms are exactly the civic muscles democracies need as AI systems start\nmediating public life. \n\nThis talk connects software freedom to a framework I've been developin g at\nOxford with Caroline Green called the 6-Pack of Care [https://6pack. care]: Six\ndesign principles that translate care ethics into something in stitutions can\nbuild and inspect. The unit of deployment is the Kami: a b ounded local steward\,\nnot a universal governor. No central model owns it . Communities govern it\,\ncontest it\, and shut it down when its work is done.\n\nSoftware freedom is not nostalgia for hacker culture. It is the l oad-bearing\ninfrastructure of intergenerational self-government. When use rs can fork\, audit\,\nand migrate\, no single platform — or AI lab — gets to decide on behalf of those\nnot yet born. That is what makes a good eno ugh ancestor."\n\nFeel free to share the information: we have promotional posts on the Fediverse\n[https://social.coop/@ogeer/116579470188463231] an d on Bluesky\n[https://bsky.app/profile/ogeer.org/post/3mlvpxjh7iam2].\n\n \nATTENDING\n\nOpen to anyone\, technical or not\, whether a free software expert or newbie.\nJust turn up or join online [https://ogeer.org/ox/meet /gea/]\; no registration\nrequired! If you can't make it\, we should also record the talk.\n\nAs always\, our code of conduct [https://ox.ogeer.org/ p/code-of-conduct] applies\nto all attendees\, organisers\, and speakers\, in-person and online.\n\n\nVENUE\n\n\n\nDIRECTIONS\n\nEnter the Weston Li brary at its main entrance on Broad Street\, and enter the\nmain hall of t he library (Blackwell Hall). The words "Lecture Theatre" are on\nthe wall at the back of the hall. Go to the back of the hall\, and into the\nexhibi tion space under the "Lecture Theatre" sign. The door to the lecture\nthea tre is in this room\, where a member of staff will be waiting to let you i n.\n\nToilets (including an accessible toilet and binary gendered ones\; u nfortunately\nno standard gender-neutral ones) were to the left after you entered Blackwell\nHall.\n\n\nACCESSIBILITY\n\nThere is step-free and whee lchair access into the building and to the room\, and\naccessible toilets with the other toilets on your left after entering Blackwell\nHall. There is public Blue Badge parking on Parks road and Broad street. For\nthorough information\, please see the Access Guide\n[https://www.accessguide.ox.ac .uk/weston-library-exhibition-spaces].\n\n\nSPEAKER BIO\n\nAudrey Tang is a civic hacker\, co-author of Plurality and the forthcoming\n"6-Pack of Ca re" Civic AI framework\, and an inaugural senior accelerator fellow\nat th e Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI.\n\nShe served as Taiwan’s first Digit al Minister (2016–2024) and the world’s first\nnonbinary cabinet minister. In 2025\, Tang was awarded the Right Livelihood Award\nfor “advancing the social use of digital technology to empower citizens\, renew\ndemocracy a nd heal divides.”\n\nA child prodigy who practiced Taoism to manage a cong enital heart condition\,\nTang left formal schooling at 14 to pursue self- education. By age 19\, she was an\nentrepreneur in Silicon Valley and a le ader in the free and open-source software\ncommunities\, revitalizing the Haskell and Perl languages.\n\nTang was instrumental in the creation of g0 v (gov-zero) and played a pivotal\nrole in the 2014 Sunflower Movement\, f acilitating digital consensus-building\nduring the occupation of Taiwan’s legislature. As Digital Minister\, she\nimplemented radical transparency a nd “participatory democracy” platforms like\nvTaiwan and Join. Her tenure saw public trust in Taiwan’s government rise from\nsingle digits to over 7 0%\, driven by innovations such as the “Mask Map” during\nCOVID-19 and def enses against cyber interference in the 2024 elections.\n\nCurrently\, Tan g advocates for “Plurality”: Collaborative technology that bridges\ndivide s. In 2025\, she co-launched ROOST (Robust Open Online Safety Tools) in\nP aris to build decentralized safety infrastructure. She describes her philo sophy\nas becoming a “good enough ancestor\,” striving to leave future gen erations a\nwider canvas for democratic possibility.\n\n\nATTRIBUTION\n\nB io\, image\, and quotation in description courtesy of Audrey Tang\; rest b y Oliver\nGeer. All dedicated to the public domain under CC0\n[https://cre ativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/]. URL:https://ox.ogeer.org/event/good-enough-ancestor-software-freedom-as-civ ic-care-across-generations-audrey-tang-2025-right-livelihood-laureate-and- taiwans-cyber-ambassador GEO:51.7548179;-1.254968 LOCATION:Weston Library Lecture Theatre - Weston Library\, Broad Street\, O X1 3BG STATUS:CONFIRMED CATEGORIES:talk,open-level X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

View the Talk Recording

[IMPORTANT: The event was p reviosuly advertised with the wrong time. It is 15:30-16:30, UK British Su mmer Time.]

Tang discusses how the Free Software movement is foundational to her theory of care ethics, democracy, local stewardship a nd self-governance — and how she and Caroline Green are putting this theor y into practice, with principles for AI systems at the local Institute for Ethics in AI.

Tang: "What does it mean to be a good ancest or in the age of AI? Not a perfect one — perfection forecloses correction — but one whose work future generations can inspect, modify, repair, and r etire with grace.

The free software movement has been practising thi s discipline for forty years: keep the source open, keep the user in contr ol, keep exit possible. Those four freedoms are exactly the civic muscles democracies need as AI systems start mediating public life.

This tal k connects software freedom to a framework I've been developing at Oxford with Caroline Green called the 6-Pack of Care: Six design principles that translate care ethics int o something institutions can build and inspect. The unit of deployment is the Kami: a bounded local steward, not a universal governor. No central mo del owns it. Communities govern it, contest it, and shut it down when its work is done.

Software freedom is not nostalgia for hacker culture. It is the load-bearing infrastructure of intergenerational self-government . When users can fork, audit, and migrate, no single platform — or AI lab — gets to decide on behalf of those not yet born. That is what makes a goo d enough ancestor."

Feel free to share the information: we have prom otional posts on the Fediverse and on Bluesky.

Attendin g

Open to anyone, technical or not, whether a free software expert or newbie.
Just turn up or join online; no registration required! If you can't make it, we should also record the talk.

As always, our code of conduct applies to all attendees, organisers, and speakers, in-pers on and online.

Venue


Directions

Enter the Weston Library at its main entrance on Broad Street, and enter the main hall of the library (Blackwell Hall). The words "Lecture Theatre" are on the wall at the back of the hall. Go to the back of the hall, and into the exhibiti on space under the "Lecture Theatre" sign. The door to the lecture theatre is in this room, where a member of staff will be waiting to let you in.

Toilets (including an accessible toilet and binary gendered ones; unf ortunately no standard gender-neutral ones) were to the left after you ent ered Blackwell Hall.

Accessibility

There is step-free and wh eelchair access into the building and to the room, and accessible toilets with the other toilets on your left after entering Blackwell Hall. There i s public Blue Badge parking on Parks road and Broad street. For thorough i nformation, please see the Access Guide.

Spea ker Bio

Audrey Tang is a civic hacker, co-author of Plurality and the forthcoming "6-Pack of Care" Civic AI framework, and an inaugu ral senior accelerator fellow at the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI.

She served as Taiwan’s first Digital Minister (2016–2024) and the worl d’s first nonbinary cabinet minister. In 2025, Tang was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for “advancing the social use of digital technology to em power citizens, renew democracy and heal divides.”

A child prodigy w ho practiced Taoism to manage a congenital heart condition, Tang left form al schooling at 14 to pursue self-education. By age 19, she was an entrepr eneur in Silicon Valley and a leader in the free and open-source software communities, revitalizing the Haskell and Perl languages.

Tang was i nstrumental in the creation of g0v (gov-zero) and played a pivotal role in the 2014 Sunflower Movement, facilitating digital consensus-building duri ng the occupation of Taiwan’s legislature. As Digital Minister, she implem ented radical transparency and “participatory democracy” platforms like vT aiwan and Join. Her tenure saw public trust in Taiwan’s government rise fr om single digits to over 70%, driven by innovations such as the “Mask Map” during COVID-19 and defenses against cyber interference in the 2024 elect ions.

Currently, Tang advocates for “Plurality”: Collaborative techn ology that bridges divides. In 2025, she co-launched ROOST (Robust Open On line Safety Tools) in Paris to build decentralized safety infrastructure. She describes her philosophy as becoming a “good enough ancestor,” strivin g to leave future generations a wider canvas for democratic possibility.

Attribution

Bio, image, and quotation in description courtesy of Audrey Tang; rest by Oliver Geer. All dedicated to the public domain u nder CC0.

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