OT-Re: Open Source Values

[Oren Beck]

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