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Re: business/3rd world (was Re: [ox-en] The Hipatia Manifesto)



Hi

On Sat 23-Aug-2003 at 05:37:57PM -0400, Graham Seaman wrote:

But it's an argument that doesn't, on the face of it, sit well with
oekonux ideas: 'free software as a creator of small businesses and
enabler of a (re)flourishing capitalism' isn't exactly what you'd expect
to hear from oekonux.

I think Raoul put it well:

  It is true that if IBM and other computer manufacturers
  participate in the development of free software, and
  prescribe Linux as the OS for certain of their machines,
  that is, in large part, to emancipate themselves from
  their dependence vis a vis Microsoft. But, the same
  fact, that the top global information enterprise should
  be forced to have recourse to free software translates
  into the superiority of this type of product and the
  inevitability of its development.

  http://www.oekonux.org/texts/marketrelations.html

It appears to me that capitalist concerns, at all levels,
small buisnesses, global corporations, governments, are
adopting free software and it is, ironically, the logic of
capitalist competition that is behind this. It makes sense
for IBM to use free software in their battle with
Microsoft, it makes sense for small businesses who have
almost no capital to use the accumulated labour time
represented in free software when competing with bigger
businesses who use non-free software and it also makes
sense for governments to use it in competition with other
states.

I said 'ironically' above because I think that the use of
free software by businesses will eventually have more of
an impact on the businesses than they have on free
software -- the free software mode of production is going
to negate capital.

Another ironic thing is that the other day I read that the
CEO (or whaterver the top person is called) at SCO was
saying that the GPL was a destroyer of value -- in a way
it is -- a destroyer of exchange value :-)

IMO the difference comes from the world itself: a completely oekonux
society isn't going to be immediately equally possible everywhere. A
flourishing small business sector in Peru or central Africa based on
free software and so hooked in to and able to take advantage of
developments in the richer world is a big step forward. Somewhere
like Brazil is inbetween.

Is this too reminiscent of old Maoist 1st/2nd/3rd world arguments?

Hmm, dunno, it is an interesting question. Perhaps it is
not going to be anything based on states -- free software
is international in it's character -- perhaps it will be
different sectors of the global economy that switch their
production methods one by one? This quantative shift is
happening already, what I have no idea about is what form
the qualitive shift will take -- the point at which the
free software mode of production become the dominant
one...

Chris

--
http://chris.croome.net/

_______________________
http://www.oekonux.org/



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