# Sharing > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sharing > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sharing.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing > Source revision: 1321486522 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Joint use of a resource or space For the Daniel Lee Chee Hun album, see [Sharing (album)](/source/Sharing_(album)). Sharing food Sharing a drink Sharing a microscope Reptiles sharing space **Sharing** is the joint use of a [resource](/source/Resource) or space. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of inherently finite [goods](/source/Goods), such as a common [pasture](/source/Pasture) or a shared residence. Still more loosely, "sharing" can actually mean giving something as an outright [gift](/source/Gift): for example, to "share" one's food really means to give some of it as a gift. Sharing is a basic component of human interaction, and is responsible for strengthening social ties and ensuring a person’s well-being. Apart from obvious instances, which can be observed in human activity, many examples can be found in nature. When an organism takes in nutrition or [oxygen](/source/Oxygen), for instance, its internal organs are designed to divide and distribute the energy taken in, to supply parts of its body that need it. Flowers divide and distribute their seeds. In a broader sense, it can also include free granting of use rights to goods that can be treated as [nonrival goods](/source/Rivalry_(economics)), such as information.[1] ## In computer and Internet culture Main articles: [Image sharing](/source/Image_sharing) and [File sharing](/source/File_sharing) This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (January 2017) [File sharing](/source/File_sharing) is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multi-media (audio, video), documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways. Storage, transmission, and distribution models are common methods of file sharing incorporate manual sharing using [removable media](/source/Removable_media), centralized computer file server installations on [computer networks](/source/Computer_network), [World Wide Web](/source/World_Wide_Web)-based [hyperlinked](/source/Hyperlink) documents, and the use of distributed [peer-to-peer networking](/source/Peer-to-peer_networking) (see [peer-to-peer file sharing](/source/Peer-to-peer_file_sharing)). Sharing is a key feature in the developing field of [free software](/source/Free_software) and [open source software](/source/Open_source_software), with implications for economics. This is leading to a need to review [licensing](/source/Licensing), [patents](/source/Patents) and [copyright](/source/Copyright), and to [controversy](/source/Controversy) in these areas, as well as new approaches like [Creative Commons](/source/Creative_Commons) and the [GNU General Public License](/source/GNU_General_Public_License). Furthermore, sharing is a key feature of [Internet culture](/source/Internet_culture) in which images, videos, links, knowledge and other content are shared on [Web 2.0](/source/Web_2.0)-platforms such as [reddit](/source/Reddit).[2][3][4]: 7 Andreas Wittel said that in the modern, Internet-era discourse "Sharing now is associated with politics, with [socialist](/source/Socialism), [communist](/source/Communism), and [anarchist](/source/Anarchism) values, with the [free culture movement](/source/Free-culture_movement) and the [digital commons](/source/Digital_commons_(economics))" and it "is an expression of a [Utopian](/source/Utopia) imaginary".[5]: 5 ## In computer science In [computer science](/source/Computer_science), the issue of handling [shared resources](/source/Shared_resource) figures prominently. For example, [time-sharing](/source/Time-sharing) is an approach to [interactive computing](/source/Interactive_computing) in which a single [computer](/source/Computer) is used to provide apparently simultaneous interactive general-purpose computing to multiple users by sharing processor time. Sharing of resources between [processes](/source/Process_(computer_science)) and [threads](/source/Thread_(computer_science)) is the source of most of the difficulties of [concurrent programming](/source/Concurrent_programming). The word "sharing" is also used in some [functional programming](/source/Functional_programming) communities to refer specifically to sharing of memory between different data items to save space, otherwise known as [hash consing](/source/Hash_consing). See also: [Call by sharing](/source/Call_by_sharing), [Aliasing (computing)](/source/Aliasing_(computing)), [Concurrency control](/source/Concurrency_control), and [File locking](/source/File_locking) ## In or across households This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sharing" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Plant sharing Screenshot of an open source [file sharing](/source/File_sharing) software [Shareaza](/source/Shareaza) Resource sharing—called *kaláka* in Hungarian—is an old tradition in [Hungary](/source/Hungary). Young couples had to build their house after marriage. Marriage itself was called *házasodás* in Hungarian (en: becoming the owner of a house). When doing so, the whole community, relatives and acquaintances helped the young couple with work, knowledge and even money. At [pigsticking](/source/Boar_hunting#Pigsticking), all members of the community got their shares too. Superfluous plants were freely distributed to neighbours in the season. In most cultures, members of the same household tend to pool their resources. In the [New Testament](/source/New_Testament), [John the Baptist](/source/John_the_Baptist) commended sharing as the mark of a [new way of life](/source/Repentance): "If you have two shirts, share with the person who does not have one. If you have food, share that also."[6] ## In a market [Market sharing](/source/Market_sharing) occurs when competitors agree to divide or allocate customers, suppliers or territories among themselves rather than allowing competitive market forces to work.[7] Market sharing can include: - allocating customers by geographic area - dividing contracts by value within an area Also agreeing not to: - compete for established customers - produce each other’s products or services - expand into a competitor’s market Market sharing is generally an illegal practice as it violates [antitrust laws](/source/Antitrust_laws) and the basic principles of the [free market](/source/Free_market). Market sharing mainly occur in the form of cartels like the [Guadalajara Cartel](/source/Guadalajara_Cartel), which was the first Mexican drug cartel to consolidate the production and supply of illegal marijuana into a single organization. Sharing in a market may also refer to the temporary or permanent transfer of information and other physical as well as intellectual property, but this is generally accompanied by the exchange of money. This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (November 2018) ## See also - [Collaborative consumption](/source/Collaborative_consumption) - [Common ownership](/source/Common_ownership) - [Communication](/source/Communication) - [Generosity](/source/Generosity) - [Knowledge sharing](/source/Knowledge_sharing) - [Participatory culture](/source/Participatory_culture) - [Sharing economy](/source/Sharing_economy) - [Tragedy of the commons](/source/Tragedy_of_the_commons) - [*The Apple War*](/source/The_Apple_War_(book)) - [Usufruct](/source/Usufruct) ## References - Yochai Benkler, Sharing Nicely: On Shareable and the Emergence of Sharing as a Modality of Economic Production, *Yale Law Journal*, Vol. 114, 273-358 ([PDF](https://web.archive.org/web/20110928101312/http://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/114-2/Benkler_114-2.pdf)) - Bruce Perens (2005). ["The Emerging Economic Paradigm of Open Source"](https://web.archive.org/web/20051102235831/http://perens.com/Articles/Economic.html). Retrieved October 25, 2005. - *Kaláka* in [http://mek.niif.hu/02100/02115/html/2-1770.html](http://mek.niif.hu/02100/02115/html/2-1770.html) - Market sharing, [https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/cartels/market-sharing#market-sharing](https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/cartels/market-sharing#market-sharing) ## Footnotes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Poquérusse, Jessie. ["The Neuroscience of Sharing"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130508192042/https://www.uniiverse.com/neuroscience). Archived from [the original](https://www.uniiverse.com/neuroscience) on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 16 August 2012. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** John, Nicholas A. (2013-03-01). ["Sharing and Web 2.0: The emergence of a keyword"](https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812450684). *New Media & Society*. **15** (2): 167–182. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1177/1461444812450684](https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1461444812450684). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1461-4448](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1461-4448). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [7661243](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:7661243). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Herman, Andrew; Hadlaw, Jan; Swiss, Thom (2014-11-27). [*Theories of the Mobile Internet: Materialities and Imaginaries*](https://books.google.com/books?id=BFucBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA145). Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781317911128](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781317911128). Retrieved 4 April 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-JemielniakPrzegalinska2020_4-0)** Dariusz Jemielniak; Aleksandra Przegalinska (18 February 2020). [*Collaborative Society*](https://books.google.com/books?id=yLDMDwAAQBAJ). MIT Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-262-35645-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-262-35645-9). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Wittel, Andreas (2016). *Digital Transitions* (1. Auflage ed.). Saarbrücken. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-659-77964-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-659-77964-0). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [943828474](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/943828474).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location_missing_publisher)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Luke 3:11](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+3:11&version=ncv): [New Century Version](/source/New_Century_Version) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Commission, Australian Competition and Consumer (2013-01-09). ["Market sharing"](https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/cartels/market-sharing#market-sharing). *Australian Competition and Consumer Commission*. Retrieved 2018-11-21. ## External links Look up ***[sharing](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/sharing)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Sharing](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Sharing)***. - Media related to [Sharing](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sharing) at Wikimedia Commons - [Sharing](https://web.archive.org/web/20210508080827/https://www.digital-development-debates.org/issue-17-sharing.html) Issue by online magazine *Digital Development Debates*, 2016. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sharing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.