Re: [ox-en] Re: Governments using Free Software
- From: Stefan Merten <smerten oekonux.de>
- Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:09:04 +0100
Hi Graham and all!
I agree with Michel's perspective in this thread. I'd like to add a
few points though.
Last week (12 days ago) graham wrote:
Stefan Merten wrote:
5 days ago graham wrote:
I do not believe any
government in the world makes use of Linux internally apart from Venezuela.
I guess you are wrong.
I think you are misled ;-) (especially if you seriously think the EU
favours free software!!)
I don't know. At least there is some development in the right
direction. And given the various sources of resistance - which I see -
I didn't expect Free Software to take over in one years time.
Generally when presented with questions like this I try to imagine the
opposite of what we actually see. This would be governments which
would clearly fight Free Software. Frankly I can see no reason why
this would not be possible for governments to take such a position.
But they don't. So I conclude that there must be some reasons for the
position they are actually publishing. May be they are actually those
they say they are ;-) .
Last week (12 days ago) graham wrote:
Now I think that capital must flow through the company as a whole for
capitalism to work, and not just through the bank account or physical
production. And the way it flows through is via the budgets of
individual departments, which are the power base of the managers in
those departments. The turnover of a department is just as much the
measure of its importance as the turnover of a company is. So the
internal flow of capital provides the power base which allows a
capitalist organisation to work. Without it there would always be the
risk of the collapse of hierarchy, where hierarchy is no longer
supported by tradition.
What you describe could IMHO be called corruption. Yes, it exists and
in my new work environment I can see very well how it works and it
does they way you describe. *But* I think you are missing two
important points.
No hierarchy, end of system: so attempts to do
anything that would reduce it are treated as attacks. Fully free
software within a company reduces the flow of capital and endangers
hierarchy (mind you, so in a different way does the use of IM without
authorization by all the staff...)
First capitalism can not be explained by hierarchy and/or corruption -
though it is certainly part of the concrete picture. There is also the
driver of cutting on expenses which is also an anti-thesis to
corruption. In this sense *if* Free Software can cut on expenses
mostly because of superior quality then there is this driver for Free
Software in capitalism.
Second I guess you underestimate what "simple workers" in the software
industry want. All I saw so far during my labor life is a *very clear*
support for Free Software with the "simple workers". And these "simple
workers" certainly have far more influence than in traditional
industries. I'm not saying they make policies. But there is a constant
driver from this side towards Free Software which in the end moves
something - even it's not on the first ambush.
Grüße
Stefan
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