November 12, 2023

generalizing-open-source.html

@@ -1,15 +1,11 @@
 ---
 layout: default
-title: "BONUS: Generalizing Open Source"
+title: "Generalizing Open Source"
 last-updated: May 2023
 ---
 
 <!--
 
-    Pay what you can?
-    *Franchises* -> Sprawling cities, accessible by bicycle.
-
-
     <div class="quote-text">
         "If we cannot collectively envision and design a future beyond capitalism, <br>
         then there will not be a future that includes us."
@@ -77,15 +73,10 @@
         would be one way to support the organization, and the edifice as a whole.
     </p>
 
-Journal
-
-October 1st,
-START SMALL. Build into the required demand. That will be the trick to
-bootstrapping it: Small projects that help each other subsist, 
 
 Question: But I wouldn't build something for someone else to have it!
-Response: You would if you wanted them to have it-  For instance, you'd
-be very interested in building a factory promising to produce free headphones.
+Response: You would if you wanted them to have it!  For instance, you'd
+be very interested in building a factory promising to produce free solar panels.
 -->
 
 
@@ -104,13 +95,9 @@
 </div>
 
 <div id="introduction" class="content">
-    <h1>BONUS: Generalizing Open Source</h1>
+    <h1>Generalizing Open Source</h1>
     <p>
-        As Steven Weber noted in <em>The Success of Open Source,</em>
-        open-source is as much a new and novel way of producing things 
-        as it is a collection of software.
-        In this bonus material, I explore one possible method of
-        generalizing its modus operandi to non-software goods.
+        Open source has successfully built a suite of software
     </p>
 </div>
 
@@ -141,16 +128,16 @@ <h2>Gift Economies</h2>
     </blockquote>
 
     <p>
-        Gift economies are an adaptation to abundance, rather than 
-        scarcity.<sup><a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/homesteading/ar01s06.html">[1]</a></sup>
+        Whereas capitalism is an adaptation to scarcity, gift economies are an 
+        adaptation to abundance.
         The question is, can we generalize the open source way,
         and if so, <em>how?</em>
     </p>
 
     <div class="aside-left">
         <h4>Aside:</h4>
         <p>
-            This is merely a business whose structure supports volunteerism.
+            The nonprofit is merely a business whose structure supports volunteerism.
         </p>
     </div>
 
@@ -162,7 +149,7 @@ <h4>Aside:</h4>
         It's just that few bother to formally announce it.
         Second, a nonprofit with an amenable purpose is a natural target
         for volunteer efforts, both commercial and private.
-        Such non-paying efforts are the backbone of open-source.
+        Such non-paying efforts are the backbone of the open-source ecosystem.
         Third, a collection of nonprofits is realizable within 
         America today&mdash;
         In fact, it is not too far removed from the current
@@ -171,27 +158,18 @@ <h4>Aside:</h4>
 
     <h3>Reality Check</h3>
 
-    <div class="aside-right">
-        <h4>Aside:</h4>
-
-        <p>
-            Transition, not revolution.
-        </p>
-    </div>
-
     <p>
         For the foreseeable future, any project must be financially solvent
         to be viable, long-term.
         That is to say, our goal is to prosper <em>within</em> the 
-        status quo&mdash; the capitalist / market economy&mdash; and not to 
-        "revolutionize" anything.
+        status quo&mdash; the capitalist / market economy&mdash; and thereby
+        prove ourselves superior.
     </p>
 
     <p>
         Open source has flourished in the hostile context of the market
         economy because copying software is very inexpensive.
-        Copying software costs essentially nothing, so that
-        the goods produced can be&mdash; and are&mdash; given away gratis.
+        Copying software costs essentially nothing, enabling coders to give
     </p>
 
     <p>
@@ -200,13 +178,19 @@ <h4>Aside:</h4>
         have to be financially solvent.
     </p>
 
+    <p>
+        Pay what you can?
+        *Franchises* -> Sprawling cities, accessible by bicycle.
+    </p>
+
     <h3>See Also:</h3>
     <ul>
         <li><a href="https://www.linux.com/news/gift-economy-and-free-software/">The gift economy and free software</a></li>
         <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_aid_(organization_theory)">Mutual aid (organization theory)</a></li>
     </ul>
 </div>
 
+
 <div class="content" id="many-small-projects">
     <h2>Many Small- / Medium-Sized Projects</h2>
 
@@ -229,6 +213,11 @@ <h4>Aside:</h4>
             a nonprofit doing so.
         </p>
     </div>
+
+    <p> 
+        A cacophony of projects that somehow work together to produce a useable
+        operating system.
+    </p>
 
     <p>
         The second reason to prefer small projects 
@@ -554,6 +543,7 @@ <h2>Why?</h2>
     </p>
 </div>
 
+
 <div class="content" id="faq">
     <h2>FAQ</h2>