Over the last decade, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have acted as the pillars of application development. They provide mechanisms which allow applications to communicate with each other. Developers can integrate various APIs into their code to create entirely new applications.
Unfortunately, users of an API are held hostage to the licensing of its creator. If an API is not free software compliant, then none of its users can build free software off of it. Using the Google Maps API as a case study, we will examine the ethical and technological implications of providing open, but not free, access to an API.
Speakers: Shaun Carland