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Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Monday 04 September 2006 09:54 \__
>
>> begin oe_protect.scr
>> BearItAll <spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>
>>>> Open Source: How both capitalists and communists got it wrong
>>>>
>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>> | Open Source movement has a very passionate group of developers and
>>>> | users provoking similar reaction from the opposing camp (proprietary
>>>> | software developers and users). The open source movement was considered
>>>> | as socialistic movement by some and communist movement by some other
>>>> | people. Bill Gates has called the pro-open source campaigners as modern
>>>> | day communists and Shai Agassi from SAP management team has compared
>>>> | open source with socialism. There has been some talk about how
>>>> | different countries consider open source based on their
>>>> | ideologies..."
>>>> |
>>>> | [...]
>>>> |
>>>> | If anything, the capitalists should embrace the open source model and
>>>> | the communist should embrace the proprietary model. But, what we are
>>>> | seeing is just the reverse of what should naturally happen. The
>>>> | capitalists are trying to write off open source model as a communist
>>>> | ideology and the communists are embracing it even though the
>>>> | development process is not in tune with their own operating structure.
>>>> `----
>>>>
>>>> http://opensource.goingon.com/permalink/post/4374
>>>>
>>>> The subject line refers to just part of a much broader discussion.
>>>
>>> Gads I hate seeing politics discussed under the computer banner.
>>>
>>> If anything it is MS who have taken the communistic approach 'kill off all
>>> opposition'.
>>>
>>> But in the end I think people chose an OS because it works.
>>>
>>
>> But for most people, "works" is an economic decision, /not/ a technical
>> one. And economics is heavily manipulated and influenced by politics.
>> All of the major scientific and engineering leaps forward have had
>> profound impacts on society - OSS is no different; it's naive to ignore
>> this.
>
> Naive is a strong word. I happen to concur with Bear as I dislike the
> invasion of politics (or even finance) into technical settings. But as my
> Supervisor has taught me, a lot in technical context inevitably becomes
> 'political' (scare quotes intended). Sure, I could just graduate and pick up
> the job offer. But what will this hold for me... 2 years down the line... or
> 5 years... or 44 until retirement? The software industry is changing all the
> time and it is dependent upon economics, just as it has tremendous impact on
> economics. Look at the 'philantropist' Bill Gates.
>
> Be cattle and be screwed. Or stand up for your rights. And don't let Ballmer
> and Gates throw "communist" cheapshots at you. Labels kill character just as
> guns kill people.
>
Take a look at the other posting I wrote about oligopoly formation; for
more info on that, try this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopoly
Extract here:
An oligopoly is a market form in which a market or industry is
dominated by a small number of sellers (oligopolists). The word
is derived from the Greek for few sellers. Some industries which
are oligopolies are referred to as the "Big______," as in the
"Big 3" or the "Big 4." Because there are few participants in
this type of market, each oligopolist is aware of the actions
of the others. Oligopolistic markets are characterised by
interactivity. The decisions of one firm influence, and
are influenced by, the decisions of other firms. Strategic
planning by oligopolists always involves taking into account the
likely responses of the other market participants. This causes
oligopolistic markets and industries to be at the highest risk
for collusion.
Oligopoly is a common market form. As a quantitative description
of oligopoly, the four-firm concentration ratio is often
utilized. This measure expresses the market share of the four
largest firms in an industry as a percentage. Using this measure,
an oligopoly is defined as a market in which the four-firm
concentration ratio is above 40%.
...
The article goes on to give examples of currently running oligopolies
(there are so many you couldn't count them all).
Then try considering if you can take politics out of economics, and then
try taking economics out of business, and then try taking business out
of technology.
If you don't want to talk about politics, then you really need to be a
scientist rather than an engineer.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
This is the theory that Jack built.
This is the flaw that lay in the theory that Jack built.
This is the palpable verbal haze that hid the flaw that lay in...
|
|
