Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman
Certainly the earliest, and perhaps still the most substantive argument for making software code freely available. Stallman is writing specifically about the Free Software Movement (which he helped found), but his argument can be broadly applied to science and research.
Why this is progressive/liberal: This is a book about freedom. While many people understand free software to mean software without any price (which if often does) free also means liberate and freedom. Stallman's emphasis is on the freedom to see and re-write code. This often involves making code available without any price, but more importantly Stallman argues that if you buy a car you should be able to open the hood and futz around with the engine. If you buy software the same rules should apply. Ownership is better than licensing. Freedom means freedom to tinker. A free society doesn't mean one with no cost, or one without capitalism. A free society is open to change.
These works by Richard Stallman are freely available here. (Or, you can use the same link to purchase a copy from the Free Software Foundation and give your money to them instead of Amazon.)
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