Re: [ox-en] Re: Free Software is not a gift
- From: Stefan Seefeld <seefeld sympatico.ca>
- Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:51:36 -0400
Gregers Petersen wrote:
The terms which are being refered to, and who are in need of further
discussion are:
- Exchange
- Generalized exchange
- Transactions
- Sharing
I still don't think these terms capture the entirety of human (social)
relations, in particular things like collaboration. Work has always been
about collaboration, and division of labor. The fact that this collaboration
is organized in terms of exchange is a fairly recent development (in a historical
perspective).
How are these terms understood and how are they related to each other
--> and how can we understand the different forms of relationships and
obligations within the free software reality?
What caught me was the notion, used in this context, of free software
not being a gift --> a good statement, but it was difficult to "see" how
this statement has come about (I completely agree, I am just interested
in exploring the implications in relation to my own research project)
Answering for myself: I'm not writing Free Software because of any ulterior
altruistic or other idealistic motives. I'm doing it because I enjoy the
process of collective learning / development that is present in this culture
more than in any other I have seen.
And, as others have pointed out, the first and primary reason is to solve
a given problem; *my* problem. Doing it the 'Open Source' way simply means
that a) others may profit from my solution as they may have the same problem,
b) if indeed others are about to do the same, collaboration appears to be
much more efficient than doing it all by myself.
Doesn't this make a lot of sense ?
Regards,
Stefan
--
...ich hab' noch einen Koffer in Berlin...
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