Brian Densmore wrote:
-----Original Message-----
Apples and oranges. These were two separate sentences. One talking about freedom. One about government regulation. Don't
combine the
two sentences into one, please. OSS is about freedom. That much we
agree upon.
You on the other hand would like to see gov't regulation replaced with anarchy apparently. I, personally enjoy the fact that I can go to bed
knowing
that there is a police force out there that helps to prevent wholesale
anarchy,
and laws that set a guideline for what is and isn't acceptable in this
society.
I don't agree with a lot of the laws, but that doesn't mean I want to
through
them all away.
Let's try to put this in relative perspectives .
This started as an almostpoll of values we like or not about OSS. Then thread drift has taken it around the block a bit . But to good cause . It makes us think . Why OSS ? OSS is a realm of self policing . Closed source is a dictatorial Oligarchy . The deconstructing of theocratic nomenclatures can be fun only so far . Then it gets sticky and tends to collect between one's toes if you wear sandals . Good thing It's too cold for sandals .
To make a case for or against a world with police - OSS being consigned to a realm of "intangible common property " Closed Source being "intangible PRIVATE property " And the rest of the world grouped as Tangible chattels of Natural Persons or Corporate Entities . With all "Natural Persons" being in a unique status . Injury to person or diminishment/damage of tangible property is a pure standard for harm . The indeterminate of "information theft" or "non-physical " injury? Not so clear ! Let's go past the simple denoting of the concept that IF a code base is shared freely "theft" or "unauthorized use /distributing" vaporises ! AS does a need for "police" Now if one has a fee for usage model then arguably unpaid use may be theft . Contrast example - Jerry Garcia telling a packed show to start their tape recorders for a new song as opposed to Garth Brooks lobbying congress to outlaw the sale of used CD's as it would have poor Garth sending his kids to GASP- Public School! SO that used cd or a copy is argued to be "harm"
But copying a CD and using force to cause bodily harm hardly deserves comparison .
Back to the much maligned concept of Anarchy .
The textual definition of "anarchy" simply denotes an absence of law . NOT a society of crime or folks needfully doing bad things "because they can " Expounding upon no law thus equating to lawlessness equating to "bad things" is often oxymoronic . For absent law to proscribe an action the concept of it being a "crime" has been mooted . The flat truth is your safety derives from the good will of those around you . Argue the point till man becomes perfect . That unlikely event will render much of society moot in itself . The social contracts of everyday life carry more force than all the coercive police powers in heaven, hell or earth. Laws do define conduct but not control .
"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men with guns stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." -George Orwell IF you believe man cannot behave civilly unless at gunpoint ? Then ? That quote renders as inevitable a loss of safety absent those men with guns.
Well , in the world of OSS we have largely proved ourselves better than that ! In many situations the consensus called loosely "OSS" truly exists as a meritocracy OSS by mostly consensus bound tools has wrought the alchemy of hardware and software becoming so much *MORE* in human lives than any other facet to date . With Shibboleths that serve as one's "non-rank" in a realm that eschews titles. ALL the other points commonly used to judge or Caste place humans yields to -
Write GOOD code and rise in standing with no regard for most other considerations . "Just show us the code ...." And if you are not a coder, evangelism counts too .
Contrast the waves of exploits among the Closed Source world by TYPE as opposed to those of OSS . WE may wish to learn in places or fashions not strictly "conduct becoming" of OSS ideals . But seldom are the masses of OSS citizens barbarian thugs. Linux for the moment by setting an entry exam of sorts as did Morse Code proficiency for Ham Radio . Then rethink that by review that the majority of Ham Radio offenders DID pass a Morse test and still acted completely execrably . Point being that Shibboleth sadly does not secure conduct .
GPL and Creative Commons are creatures of social admonishment before any "Rule of Law" ever enters considering . Anathema Vs Lawsuits . NDISwrapper issues are an example of conduct by free choice challenging one's rights to freedom being curtailed pre-emptivly "because you could ..." Google for "Palladium" and "trusted computing" to see where legalism ends us !
Oren Beck