Codebreakers, The (BBC World)

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The Codebreakers
Thecodebreakers.jpg
The Codebreakers Title Card
Format Video (TV)
Genre Documentary
Origin UK
Language English
Release Date 10 May 2006
Running Time 38 min
Production
Created by NA
Directed by Maximillian Jacobson-Gonzalez
Produced by NA
Written by NA
Screenplay by NA
Distributed by BBC
Narrated by NA
Starring NA
Music by NA
Cinematography by NA
Edited by NA
Production Company NA
Location(s) Various
Original Channel BBC
Additional Information
Based on NA
Topics Technology, Computers, Hacking
Follows NA
Precedes NA
Associated Video NA
Website bbcworld.com/content/whatpage.asp?pageid=2783 (defunct)

Code Breakers is a two-part (2x22') BBC World Documentary on free open-source software (FOSS) and computer programming that started on BBC World TV on 10 May 2006.

Synopsis

Code Breakers investigates how poor countries are using FOSS applications for economic development, and includes stories and interviews from around the world. As the digital divide is getting wider, The Codebreakers examines whether free and opensource software might be the bridge. A 40-minute version of The Codebreakers is available for free download online as of 2014.

FOSS contains 'source code' that can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction. It has been around for over 20 years, but most PC owners are not aware that many internet search engines and computer applications run on FOSS.

Directed and filmed by Maximillian Jacobson - Gonzalez, the programmes were filmed in nearly a dozen countries around the world, to see how the adoption of FOSS presents opportunities for industry and capacity development, software piracy reduction, and localization and customization for diverse cultural and development needs.

Stories from The Codebreakers include computer and Internet access for school children in Africa, reaching the poor in Brazil, tortoise breeding programmes in the Galapagos, connecting villages in Badajoz, in southern Spain, and post-tsunami disaster management in Sri Lanka. The documentary also includes interviews from key figures around the world, such as Nicholas Negroponte, Free Software guru Richard Stallman, (filmed at the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia in 2005) as well as the former Brazilian Minister of Culture and world-famous musician Gilbert Gil.

Downloads

Film User Format Link Notes
The Codebreakers (2006) NA DivX Archive.org

External Links