Re: [OPE-L] OpenSource: a "new source of communism"

From: Paul Cockshott (wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK)
Date: Sun Dec 23 2007 - 14:21:27 EST


My own take is

1. Free software is a major part of the means of production.
2. It is not a commodity.
3. It is only area in which the marxian conception of abundance/distribution according to need can be
   directly implemented.

------------------------

More generally one has to take the word 'software' here to refer to all digitally reproducible information
structures, including those codes which when entered into the appropriate interpreter generate sounds,
images, or text.


Paul Cockshott
Dept of Computing Science
University of Glasgow
+44 141 330 3125
www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc/reports/



-----Original Message-----
From: OPE-L on behalf of Howard Engelskirchen
Sent: Sun 23/12/2007 4:34 AM
To: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU
Subject: Re: [OPE-L] OpenSource: a "new source of communism"
 
Paul and others,

I'd be interested in some theoretical elaboration of this -- why
would left wing computer people say so and what would they mean when
they say so?  How do they think existing relations of production are
transformed?

howard

At 05:25 PM 12/22/2007, you wrote:
>I think what Gates says here is what many left wing computer people
>would also say.
>
>Paul Cockshott
>Dept of Computing Science
>University of Glasgow
>+44 141 330 3125
>www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc/reports/
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: OPE-L on behalf of glevy@PRATT.EDU
>Sent: Sat 22/12/2007 5:34 PM
>To: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU
>Subject: [OPE-L] OpenSource: a "new source of communism"
>
>A short article from the English
>online version of
>_L'Humanite'_,
>published by the PCF, in which
>Bill Gates
>is quoted as saying
>that Open Source is a "new
>source of communism":
>
>  <http://www.humaniteinenglish.com/article319.html>
>
>
>The article, though, doesn't
>identify the
>original source for
>the quote.
>
>In solidarity, Jerry


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Dec 31 2007 - 00:00:04 EST