The problem with the computer industry under capitalism - Free Software the
answer?
,----[ Quote ]
| The true significance of the free software model is a political one.
| Thousands of computer programmers all over the world work together on a
| common project and they share their computer code in order to arrive at a
| good product that everybody is able to use. It shows in practice that even in
| this capitalist world it is possible to collaborate rather than be in
| competition with each other. It shows that it is a myth that people will only
| do things for money or for profit.
`----
http://binaryfreedom.info/node/289
The New Open Source Legacy
,----[ Quote ]
| In other words, being open source doesn’t mean that some bundles won’t be
| more equal than others. Yes, You can run the Linux ports of rival J2EE
| platforms on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, while JBoss continues to run on
| Windows (and has an interoperability agreement with Microsoft to juice
| performance), but Red Hat has become another commercial platform company,
| just like anyone else in the open source or proprietary worlds.
|
| There’s nothing wrong with this unless you’re an open source idealist who is
| committed to a democratic ideal where all software is free and the playing
| field for interoperability is completely level. In the real world, enterprise
| customers want products that they know will work.
`----
http://www.onstrategies.com/blog/?p=248
More below. Linux can fight the Red Microsoft threat. ;-)
Related:
Soviet Microsoft: How Resistance to Free Markets and Open Ideas Will
the Unravel the Software Superpower
,----[ Quote ]
| The New Soviet Union.
| Microsoft isn't evil for being Microsoft, but because its leadership
| values control above delivering good products or advancing the state
| of the art. Rather than competing in the market, Microsoft's
| leadership has pursued a strategy of repeatedly deceiving the market.
| The result has been decades of productivity losses that negatively
| impact the rest of the world's economy and distract humanity away from
| technical achievement to instead fiddle with shoddy software that is
| weak because it was developed outside of competitive pressure....
`----
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/12/13/soviet-microsoft-how-resistance-to-free-markets-and-open-ideas-will-the-unravel-the-software-superpower/#more-1347
Eben Moglen: Copyleft Capitalism, GPLv3 and the Future of Software Innovation
,----[ Quote ]
| Today I heard the best single presentation on open-source and free software I
| have ever personally attended, in a talk by Columbia Professor of Law Eben
| Moglen, on the topic “Copyleft Capitalism: GPLv3 and the Future of Software
| Innovation.” He spoke for over 90 minutes. I understand the session was
| recorded, and I have asked that a transcript be prepared. I write the rest of
| this post based on the notes I took during his extraordinary talk.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft failed in that, as a monopoly, it has for the first time failed to
| produce a new version that will get the old version out of the market.
|
| Vista has doomed them, as Microsoft is now competing with itself, trying to
| displace Windows with Vista.
|
| He then said the real problem was to limit the damage when Microsoft fails,
| how to get “out from under” Microsoft as they enter the end game, perhaps by
| paroxisms of litigation.
|
| [...]
|
| Eben then related how he had finessed the famed “coupons” in the
| Microsoft/Novell brouhaha, describing how he had “hacked” Novell.
`----
http://daveshields.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/eben-moglen-copyleft-capitalism-gplv3-and-the-future-of-software-innovation/
Is Sharing Software Capitalist or Communist?
,----[ Quote ]
| And why is sharing so "Communist", anyway? Don't Capitalists pride themselves
| on sharing their money? Is it better to share money or software? Is it better
| to share money or food? Most 'conservatives' (and many 'liberals') recite the
| proverb, "it's better to teach a man to fish for himself." So again, how is
| sharing Communist?
`----
http://blue-gnu.biz/content/sharing_software_capitalist_or_communist
Microsoft's man in Europe carries communist-era baggage
,----[ Quote ]
| That report sparked a flurry of speculation in Czech media and online
| chat rooms about Muehlfeit's role under the communist regime, and it
| elicited a public statement at the time from Microsoft, which
| supported Muehlfeit's integrity.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsofts-man-europe-carries-communist-era/story.aspx?guid=%7BA26DE642%2DD6BC%2D4946%2DA2A7%2D158330F9E89B%7D&siteid=yhoof
Free software out of passion - or, the curse of capitalism
,----[ Quote ]
| I think perhaps they have been cursed by capitalism. Their arguments
| have the implicit and explicit assumption that capitalism drives
| all things. This is revealed by Mr. Anderson's statement, "People
| wonder how Wikipedia magically arose from nothing, and how 50
| million bloggers suddenly appeared, almost all of them writing
| for free". Mr. Green's thesis is based entirely on capitalism.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/the_curse_of_capitalism
Opening Up with Simon Phipps, Sun's Chief Open Source Officer
,----[ Quote ]
| In the past, you've claimed open source is "connected capitalism." Can
| you explain what you mean by that statement?
|
| PHIPPS: Yes, that phrase makes some people concerned when they first hear
| it, but in context it makes sense. Some people in the computer industry
| compare open source to communism. Instead, I suggest that open source
| is about people creating things they value, which is quite an
| entrepreneurial concept. And because open source projects aren't performed
| in isolation, the phrase "connected capitalism" seems to be a good way
| to explain the end result of the virtuous cycle of open sourced
| evelopment....
`----
http://www.sun.com/emrkt/innercircle/newsletter/0906feature.html
|
|
