> Quoting Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu>:
>
>
>>It is also my understanding that things
>>became much worse for the sector that so far felt immune from the
>>downturns of the capitalist economy - software engineers. These folks
>>are conservative to begin with
>
>
> Not of all them are Microsloths. The programmers/designers responsible for the
> PS2, "Half Life", "Max Payne", open source software, Linux and... *drum
> roll*... Grand Theft Auto 3/Vice City are some of the greatest subversives
> around.
There are also lots of anarchists and radicals working in all levels of the computer industry. Probably less now that the dot-com bust has cost many techies their jobs, but several years ago I knew anarchist techies that worked for a variety of software companies. The ironic thing is that these folks obtained the skills, knowledge and capital that allow them to do alot of activist tech projects now.
During the dot-com years there were a few cases of libertarian techies drifting over to anarchist ideas. The entire free software movement is based on anarchist ideas of sharing, cooperation, horizontal organization, and anti-IP.
I would bet that tech workers are less conservative and reactionary than they were during the dot-com bubble. Losing your nice job and dealing with unemployment does wonders when it comes to political radicalization.
Chuck0