Linked by David Adams on Mon 16th Aug 2004 17:44 UTC
I read something in one of the comments for an OSNews posting a couple weeks ago that sent me thinking. It wasn't an original or profound thought. In fact, it's a rather commonly-held opinion that happens to be quite misguided. It's an opinion summed up by the "open source = communist" meme that gets thrown around in thousands of flamewars all over the internet. In this essay, I will explore why this idea is wrong and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of economics.
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"I believe that a society can be transformed/constructed into one that encourages everyone to participate and be productive in an entertaining manner. With a little creative thought our jobs could either be automated or made into something that more closely resembles play. And with a little care and compassion for your fellow citizen you will find that there are enough products for everyone to have what they need and most of what they want. IP can be duplicated to an extent with modern technology that everyone can have every song, movie and book ever created."
Great idea! to bad its based on the assumtion that everyone will contribute in an equal manner and is of equal ability. Hence the reason true Socialism on the large scale doesn't work. Hence the reason for imperfect capitalism where everyone more or less has an equal opourtunity to succeed or fail. It is at this level where OSS will be put to the litmous test will it suceed becasue it is functionally better then competing products? or becasue it is free(as in speech).