[TriLUG] Generational differences in Free/Open Source Software

Tanner Lovelace clubjuggler at gmail.com
Tue Jun 19 16:31:42 EDT 2007


People don't stay the same throughout their life.  A lot has happened
since the 80s and all of that affects a person's worldview too.
All this is in the book, though, and since they're much better
at presenting it, I'll just suggest you read the book.  I know the
Durham County Library system has a few copies, since that's
where I got mine.

Cheers,
Tanner

On 6/19/07, Andrew C. Oliver <acoliver at buni.org> wrote:
> As a supposed Xer, how do you explain that I started out rather strongly
> in the supposed "pragmatist" camp and as I get older I fall farther and
> farther in the supposedly idealist camp..  In some ways I'm in a more
> idealistic camp than Stallman as I believe open source/free software
> should be designed/developed openly and not just licensed openly.  We
> can come up with some paradigm to fit around this or we can just say
> that I wanted software that was easy to use w/o controversy in my day
> job and then as I gained more experience I realized that some people
> (especially VC backed companies) are playing games with "Free" and
> "Open" to mean something very different.  In the short term I wanted
> software that I could use and potentially contribute to without
> controversy from my employer, and figured everyone else would do the
> same and play nice.  Now I think having some level of structure to where
> everyone pursues their economic interests and they don't interfere with
> maintaining the freedom and openess of the source.  One way to
> contribute to that aim is by licensing off their opportunities to do
> that and using trademarks and the legal system to ensure they can't play
> with verbiages.  I may not have "approached" it from this "third way"ist
> communitarian thought system, but am arriving there day by day.
>
> I still have no desire to sit in a circle and sing the free software
> song...I don't see that changing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sJUDx7iEJw
>
> -Andy
>
> PS anyone else think that YouTube is an ironic place for that?
>
>
> >
> > Andy,
> >
> > I agree that the world isn't nearly that flat.  However, I do believe
> > there is a good basis for what they claim.  Growing up around
> > the same time as other people can definitely affect how someone
> > views the world.  Take, for instance, those "child of the 80s" things
> > that went around a few years ago:
> >
> > i.e. http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/humor.shtml
> >
> > I'm not talking about political ideology or whether you're a realist or
> > optimist personally, but rather how someone's world view was shaped
> > and how that affects how they approach FOSS.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Tanner
> >
> >
>
>
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-- 
Tanner Lovelace
clubjuggler at gmail dot com
http://wtl.wayfarer.org/
(fieldless) In fess two roundels in pale, a billet fesswise and an
increscent, all sable.



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