[LINK] Fwd: [oss4lib-discuss] Open Source: participatory culture

[Brendan Scott]

Mmmmm

A few years ago a company which shall not be named tried to spread a meme that open source was communism.  While this is superficially attractive (since everyone is sharing), my personal view is that open source is more akin to a purist form of free market ideology.  At the very least, the selling price of open source software ($0) is predicted by the free market economic theory (ie the marginal cost of reproduction of a digital work).  The rules which define what open source software is also have something in common with those defining a free market.

Of course, it has the most to do with common sense.  If you are spending money, why would you spend it on a product the price of which is artificially inflated and the vendor of which will simply use your money to further inflate the price?

Brendan


Antony Barry wrote:
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: "Binkley, Peter" <Peter.Binkley at ualberta.ca>
>> Date: 24 January 2007 3:32:57 AM
>> To: "John Taylor-Johnston" <eslcafe at usherbrooke.ca>,
>> <oss4lib-discuss at lists.sourceforge.net>
>> Subject: Re: [oss4lib-discuss] Open Source: participatory culture
>>
>> For the hippie side of this, forgive me for plugging my brother's
>> forthcoming book:
>> http://www.dukeupress.edu/books.php3?isbn=978-0-8223-3989-2 - looking at
>> the connections between counterculture and consumer culture in the 70s
>> (things like Whole Earth Catalog etc.). It'll be out in March.
>>
>> Peter
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: oss4lib-discuss-bounces at lists.sourceforge.net
>> [mailto:oss4lib-discuss-bounces at lists.sourceforge.net] On Behalf Of John
>> Taylor-Johnston
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 9:09 AM
>> To: oss4lib-discuss at lists.sourceforge.net
>> Subject: [oss4lib-discuss] Open Source: participatory culture
>>
>> Hi all,
>> I'm looking at the notion of Open Source, and the Internet, as a
>> participatory culture - the idea that OS & the Web are a hippie effort
>> of sorts.
>> Can anyone think of any articles that might discuss this?
>> John Taylor-Johnston
>>
>>
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>> see also http://oss4lib.org/
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> 
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