Linux is capitalist!

[Craig White]

On Thu, 2006-05-18 at 10:45 -0700, Victor Odhner wrote:
> Vaughn Treude wrote:
> 
> >For those who may not have seen this:
> >http://www.lewrockwell.com/lora/m.lora22.html
> >Enjoy!
> >  
> >
> The author does not describe communism accurately.
> Soviet Russia had something they called "state socialism",
> which they claimed was necessary until the evils of
> capitalism would be vanquished.  Then the state would
> "wither away", leaving nothing but The People, generously
> sharing their resources and productivity, from each
> according to his ability, to each according to his need . . .
> Thus pure communism does not involve state control.
> Free Software is the closest thing I've seen to this ideal.
> So I don't think Ballmer's comment was that far off
> base, because he was talking about "the characteristics
> of communism that people love ..." .
> 
> <ramble>
> 
> Free Software does indeed have some strong resemblances
> to classic Marxism.  What makes this possible, in the field of
> software, is that a knowledge resource can be replicated
> indefinitely, so we can share something and still have it.
> Not so with physical resources:  it's always a trade-off.
> 
> In the Marxist definition, Capitalism is also a central control
> of the means of production, only it's for the sake of the Bad
> Guys, while State Socialism is for the sake of the Good
> Guys.  As Orwell said, all animals are equal, only some
> animals are more equal than others.  Owning things (or
> managing them) gives us control, and people tend to like
> being "more equal than others".  But some concentration
> of power can lead to efficiencies ... within reason.
> An "owner" can be like Linus, or like Bill.
> 
> We are now seeing excessive concentration of power in
> the hands of corporations, which lots of people see as OK
> because they are providing us with bread and circuses.
> But the downside is getting more obvious, so I'm confident
> the pendulum will swing, and Free Software is part of that.
> 
> Constructive, generous, altruistic motives are a good thing.
> Selfish motives get a lot of stuff done too.  It's all about
> balance.
----
please - let's not give credence to Balmer's remarks -- he was only
interested in pandering to people's emotions by linking Linux to
communism (assuming that was his commentary as I am not familiar with it
nor do I much care what Balmer says anyway).

Microsoft would have us believe that they created the computer, the
modern operating system, the Internet, the local area network, etc.
which clearly isn't the case. The origins of GNU pre-date Windows,
Microsoft dominance, etc.

Microsoft is just another corporation that sells the same software over
and over to the same customers with marginal improvements and spend more
effort creating lock-in/tie-up technology than in real product
enhancement.

While some would want to make the FOSS vs. proprietary software
discussion a political intercourse, it isn't now, nor was it ever about
politics ... unless you are discussing monopoly vs. competition.

Craig