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<font size="3">See '''[[#Recent Posts|Recent Posts from my Blog]]'''.</font>

This website operates under [[MediaWiki]] software and thus has the potential to be a [[Wiki|wiki]]. However, the site is protected against random editing, which means that you must create a user account to edit articles. In addition, at present only [[WikiSysop]] can create new accounts, because the wiki was recently spammed (read the details at [[Spam Attack]]). The site thus currently operates as the personal database of [[User:MichaelSlattery|Michael Slattery]]. Note that the companion site the [http://ctwiki.ouvaton.org Convivial Projects Wiki] is a true wiki, although as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Wiley David Wiley] says: "A wiki without contributors is nothing but a blog on steroids."

[[Ivan Illich]] coined the term [[Convivial Tools]] in his book  [[Tools for Conviviality]], first published in 1973. The concept has multiple facets. [[Convivial Tools]] are tools which allow the user to operate with independent efficiency. At the same time, [[Convivial Tools]] include tools that are developed and maintained by a community of users. [[Convivial Tools]] thus include tools that are developed and used by on-line communities.

Illich is better known for an earlier book, entitled [[Deschooling Society]], which is about how to develop "learning webs" for informal learning outside of academic institutions. In this book Illich advocated the development of a computer network which strongly ressembles the Internet, at a time before the Internet existed. Illich's later book [[Tools for Conviviality]] exercised a discrete influence in certain circles, but never received major public attention. However, it did influence [[Lee Felsenstein]], a hardware hacker who contributed to the development of the personal computer. Felsenstein adopted Illich's vision of tools that would be developed and maintained by a community of users. This vision of community tool development has been embodied in several more recent movements, such as the [[Free and Open Source Software]] (FOSS), [[Open Design]] and [[Wiki]] movements, which are thus embodiments of the idea of [[Convivial Tools]], without necessarily being familiar with the concept.

Given below is a brief mention of various trends and movements that illustrate the idea of [[Convivial Tools]], which are:

When [[Ivan Illich]] wrote [[Tools for Conviviality]] in 1973, he was informed by a long tradition of criticisms of industrial technology and propositions of alternatives. Forebears extend at least as far back as [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], and include twentieth-century figures such as [[Lewis Mumford]] and [[Jacques Ellul]]. And the [[Whole Earth]] and [[Appropriate Technology]] movements, mentioned below, in fact appeared a few years ''before'' Illich's book [[Tools for Conviviality]].