> People who insist that Open Source and other
> non-balkanized methods of production and distribution
> are models for how the present muck-up can be replaced
> are mistaken in my view.
>
> It would be more accurate to say that OSS makes the
> process of producing, obtaining and modifying software
> less onerous *within* the existing cage (to paraphrase
> Simone Weil, it's like having a cell with lovely
> accommodations).
I really don't understand your point. FOSS is pretty much replacing the commercial software industry at this point. FOSS runs most of the web servers and facilitates Internet communications. Linux and FreeBSD are growing rapidly, especially outside of the United States. FOSS browsers such as Firefox are doing very well (half of the visitors to Infoshop use Firefox). Many companies use FOSS technology such as MySQL to run large database operations. And there is the whole file-sharing movement which has to rely on FOSS software because of legal issues.
Chuck