[lbo-talk] JDK runs on FreeBSD!!

[ravi]

Miles Jackson wrote:
> 
> Look at it this way: Open source software is a major kick in the
> intellectual groin of economists who bloviate about the inherent
> superiority and efficiency of capitalist production motivated by
> personal profit.  Open source software demonstrates that you
> don't need to rely on capitalism to effectively accomplish
> social goals (e.g., serving up web pages to the Internet using
> Apache).  I agree that using open source software isn't
> effective political activity in and of itself, but the
> undeniable success of this overtly socialist form of
> economic activity is worth emphasizing in political
> discussions.
>
jimi ayler wrote:
>
> and, in any case, what's wrong with alternative means
> of distribution, even if it can't house or clothe the
> writer? what's wrong, dear leftists, with workers
> owning and distributing the means of production? must
> every parecon-omic solution be totalized into fixing
> what's wrong with the 95% remainder of the economy
> said solution doesn't directly address? can we not
> have two, three, many non-competitive economic
> alternatives, regardless of how much one influences
> something outside of its socio-economic sphere?

great points, and i will re-emphasize that open source is not just about
downloading and using the software, but participating in the community
to whatever extent you can. add code. fix bugs. file bugs. write
documentation. help other users. etc.

Doug writes:
>
> Nothing, if the writer has alternative means of housing and clothing.
>

sure thing, no problem. if you download and start using mozilla, and
help with the project in any way you can, i will provide you clothing
for one year. ;-) warning, it may not be the fancy metrosexual threads
you nyc dandies are into ;-).

i know, i know... how do i earn the money to clothe you? i think jimi
ayler's and others' response is still relevant. even if you have to
whore yourself to the man or the capitalist for food and clothing, your
participating in the open source community is valuable, whatever be the
scope. *unless* you claim that such participation distracts, diverts or
degrades larger, more significant projects that will food and clothe you
without having to participate in capitalism.


> But a bunch of geeks 
> exchanging lines of code isn't going to change the larger world very 
> much.

hence my [semiserious] call to the wider left community to participate
in open source. open source is not just linux kernel hacking.

also, its unfair to characterize (even in the narrow sense you wish to)
such efforts as geeks exchanging lines of code. these geeks build
products that you and others can use.

	--ravi