Bots, bespoke, code and the materiality of software platforms
Bots, bespoke, code and the materiality of software platforms
复制标题
机器人、定制、代码和软件平台的重要性
DOI：
10.1080/1369118x.2013.873069
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发表时间：
2014
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
R. Geiger
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
R. Geiger
本文介绍并讨论了定制代码在维基百科中的作用，定制代码是与平台或系统一起运行的代码，而不是由具有特权访问服务器的个人集成到服务器端代码库中。定制代码使平台和主权的常见隐喻变得复杂，我们通常使用这些隐喻来讨论通过代码对软件系统的治理和监管。具体而言，自动化软件代理（机器人）在维基百科的操作和管理的工作进行检查，重点是代码的重要性。由于机器人程序扩展和修改了维基百科等网站的功能，但必须在独立于托管网站的服务器的计算机上持续运行，因此它们涉及权力和代码的替代关系。机器人和其他定制代码要求我们不仅检查软件代码本身，而且还要检查运行这些代码的具体的、历史上偶然的物质条件，而不是理所当然地认为维基百科作为一个平台已经存在的稳定性。为此，这篇文章编织了一系列自传体的小插曲，作者的经验，作为一个机器人开发者与更传统的学术话语。
This article introduces and discusses the role of bespoke code in Wikipedia, which is code that runs alongside a platform or system, rather than being integrated into server-side codebases by individuals with privileged access to the server. Bespoke code complicates the common metaphors of platforms and sovereignty that we typically use to discuss the governance and regulation of software systems through code. Specifically, the work of automated software agents (bots) in the operation and administration of Wikipedia is examined, with a focus on the materiality of code. As bots extend and modify the functionality of sites like Wikipedia, but must be continuously operated on computers that are independent from the servers hosting the site, they involve alternative relations of power and code. Instead of taking for granted the pre-existing stability of Wikipedia as a platform, bots and other bespoke code require that we examine not only the software code itself, but also the concrete, historically contingent material conditions under which this code is run. To this end, this article weaves a series of autobiographical vignettes about the author's experiences as a bot developer alongside more traditional academic discourse.