On Thu, 28 Oct 2004, Doug Henwood wrote:
> That's ok if writers have day jobs and don't expect to be paid for
> their writing, and publishers don't have to pay any rent. Even so,
> that only expands the model slightly. It's not applicable to about
> 95% of what's produced in a modern economy - not computer hardware,
> not food, not transportation, not clothing, etc.
>
> Doug
I think it's useful to think about this in more general terms: Open source software is people collaborating for mutual benefit. In these general terms, the open source software mentality is applicable to most sectors of the economy that Doug mentions above. I agree that the specific model of collaboration may not transfer easily, but the noble socialist vision that we can effectively collaborate for mutual benefit does apply to these other areas (e.g., food co-ops, public transportation, computer networks in public schools, etc).
Miles