Re: [OS:N:] Re: Open source in schools and then some

[Michael Tiemann <tiemann redhat com>]

Woah!  I like seeing people take interesting positions and defend them,
but suggest that perhaps the book "The Future of Ideas" by Larry Lessig
(look it up on Amazon.com) might explain why I don't believe that "open
source is the opposite of free market capitalism".  In Lessig's book, he
shows that open source is quite the example of free market economics
(but it puts on its head many of the assumptions and/or practices we
take for granted as being related to free market capitalism).

M

On Thu, 2002-09-05 at 11:25, ekunin wrote:
> Open source is the opposite of free market capitalism. It is, if you'll
> pardon the expression, utopian. Electric technology will, eventually, change
> society. This discussion is relevant to open source in schools because we
> should know why people resist open source.
> 
> 1. Knowledge, not money, is the basis of class structure. Money indicates
> knowledge which is why we let people who control capital decide what should
> be built and where. In that electric technology spreads knowledge, it is
> anti-hierarchy and authority. You see it in the medical profession where
> people check their symptoms on the internet and discuss them with the
> doctor. For many it is no longer take two of these and call me in the
> morning.
> 
> 2. The big issue with any society  is the tension between the individual and
> the collective. In capitalism the two are generally opposed. If a
> businessman has toxic materials to dispose of and to do it legally costs 5
> mil, he might hire a garbage hauler who disposes of them for 100K. It works
> for the two of them in that they each have more money than they would
> otherwise, but it doesn't do the environment (that's a collective value) any
> good.
> 
> 3. Those in open source who want disarray and choice emphasize individual
> values. They want to do their thing, whatever it is, no matter what. Were we
> to measure open source actions by some overriding (collective) goal-say
> "Beat M$", than we measure everything by that standard. I think five or so
> distros does not come near cutting it.
> 
> 4. This is an interesting thread to me, but it does not address my initial
> point which was how do we treat an active PTA mother who knows nothing about
> open source. She wants the best for the schools, but she doesn't want to use
> her clout on something that might eventually be perceived as foolish. Evan
> is unquestionably right in saying most people want to turn on the computer
> and get e-mail or run a check writing program. Open sources triumphs have
> been with servers (which I believe run one version of Apache), with
> governments, and large users who have competent system administrators.
> Individual desktops, schools, and small lans are a different story. If we
> want to Beat M$, we have to become as focused as it is.
> 
> 5. The apparent submergence of the individual to collective values does not
> diminish individuals although it restricts them somewhat. In so far as
> possible, individuals should be free to do what they want -i.e. sky dive,
> hang glide, take drugs or whatever. Where the individual impacts the
> collective is another story. Suppose someone likes to four wheel drive over
> pristine wilderness. Should the community set aside an area and say four
> wheel drive here all you want, but leave pristine wilderness alone? Is
> protecting pristine areas so significant a collective value as to justify
> restricting the individual's right to do as he or she pleases? I think yes,
> but I'd go with majority or consensus rule.
> 
> Ed Kunin
> http://www.egalite.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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