OEkoNux ======= Project Oekonux [http://www.oekonux.org/] ______________________________________________________________________ Oekonux Einführungskladde ohne Nutzungsexklusion Translation: Oekonux introductory blotter without use exclusion This is a translation of the original German [http://www.oekonux.de/einfuehrung/kladde/] version URL: http://www.oekonux.org/introduction/blotter/ "Oekonux" - what does that mean? ================================ The project ----------- o Discussion process about Free Software and society o Wide range of opinions Introduction is neither own opinion nor a simple presentation Something in between o Common interest in emancipation o Mainly virtual o Mailing lists [liste AT oekonux.de, list-en AT oekonux.org] o Web sites [http://www.oekonux.de/, http://www.oekonux.org/] o Wiki [http://en.wiki.oekonux.org/] o Open Theory [http://www.opentheory.org/oekonux/] o Sometimes less virtual also (conference, talks) Fourth Oekonux conference [http://www.oekonux-conference.org/]: 27.-29.3.2009, Manchester (UK) "Free Software" - what does that mean? ====================================== Aspects, which are important for the Oekonux discussion Characteristics of Free Software -------------------------------- o Any software can be Free o GNU/Linux, Apache, Gcc, Perl Examples for system related software o KDE, OpenOffice.org, Gimp Examples for applications o Software for router, mobile phones, ... Examples for embedded system Shows how deep software is integrated in our every day life o The actual product is gratis However: Price plays a role, but is not crucial o Source code is available Important for the most of the following four rights, which every user of Free Software has o Software may be used for any purpose o The sources may be studied and changed o The software may be distributed arbitrarily o Changed versions may be distributed arbitrarily Free in the sense of freedom Keyword: Free Software Licences ------------------------------- o Licenses are contracts o Govern under which conditions someone may do something with the software Proprietary software also uses licenses o Especially: Use, modify, distribute o Software licenses are based on copyright Copyright is based on state power o The genius hack: Use the copyright system against itself o Copyright creates scarcity by denying rights o Copyleft creates abundance by granting rights o Two main license types: GPL and BSD o Though many licenses exist Since a license is a contract it's easy to invent a new license But it's rarely useful o Lists of Free Software licenses by FSF and OSI o Main difference: May a licensee close sources again or not? o BSD: Software may be distributed without sources o GPL: Sources must be kept open o More than 50% of Free Software projects use the GPL Fundamental facility to embed Free Software in the law system Inherits the security from the law system Inherits the power of the law system Mode of production of Free Software ----------------------------------- This is a very important characteristic o Without money Developers finance themselves by other means Similar to other hobbies o Effort ist taken on a voluntary basis o Necessity of concrete solutions to problems o Selbstentfaltung of the developers Programming is fun (for some people) Other activities may serve the Selbstentfaltung also o Manifold self-organized in small, independent groups o International in the Internet Often a high quality results Quality is a direct result of the mode of production Keyword: Selbstentfaltung ------------------------- The notion plays an central role in Oekonux o More than self-realization Self-realization focuses too much on the isolated individual Selbstentfaltung understands humans as formed by their relations o Responsibility is part of Selbstentfaltung Taking necessities into account belongs to responsibility Responsibility needs to be recognized individually Responsibility is learned and therefore coupled with the norms of the society o Selbstentfaltung is "autonomy-in-interdependence" o Dependency is not reduction but extension of own possibilities Because others from whom I depend create possibilities by their actions I would not have if only by myself o Selbstentfaltung of the single person is direct precondition for the Selbstentfaltung of all o And vice-versa o Potential for Selbstentfaltung is essential feature of humans See critical psychology (Holzkamp) o Content is different for every individual Particularly it's not necessarily political correct In general Selbstentfaltung is a desirable goal Simply and Doubly Free Software ------------------------------- Important distinction of concepts o Simply Free Software o Freedom for users o Standard rights of Free Software apply o Commercial Free Software Ordered Software o Doubly Free Software o Freedom for users and producers o Producers are active on non-alienated basis o No commercial Free Software Special mode of production only for Doubly Free Software Superior quality only for Doubly Free Software There are mixed forms Free Software and commercial influences --------------------------------------- o Companies engaging themselves o Distributors and Linux-Companies (SuSE, RedHat, small ones, ...) Have an interest in the actual state, because they emerged from it o Hardware and others (IBM, Sun, ...) Especially for hardware companies GNU/Linux is simply useful Because of this they have an interest in the actual state o Licenses prevent privatization o Gnu General Public License (GPL) o Other licenses These partially allow re-privatization (BSD) o Quality accrues from the absence of alienation Only then creativity can fully unfold o Wage labor contradicts Selbstentfaltung Is alienated because it is aimed at a third goal (making money) Free Software can develop only without money This ultimately prevents a drastic commercialization Otherwise Free Software is destroyed Perspectives of Free Software ----------------------------- o Free Software is becoming more and more important o GNU/Linux on the desktop, too On servers GNU/Linux is already widespread Public administrations are early adaptors o GNU/Linux on embedded systems o Tempestuous development o Dangers o Software patents In Europe: Years of struggle with many people from the Free Software scene o More and more people are inspired by the idea o The principles of Free Software in other fields, too Linux World Domination ;-) Special features of Free Software ================================= Things specific for Project Oekonux start here Free Software is not a simple hobby ----------------------------------- o Has high societal usage o Direct competition with commodities After a commodity market has been established With big success o Very modern product With very modern means of production o Develops international o Mainly written by professionals Hobby, but in a new quality Other hobbies don't combine all of these features Free Software is not a commodity -------------------------------- o Without exchange Nothing must be exchanged o Exists in abundance There is no scarcity beyond technical limitations o Open sources make secrets impossible o Cooperation instead of competition o Absolute quality claim Result of the use-oriented way of production For commodities it suffices if the buyer believes in quality relative to the competitors o Call to contribute (inclusion model) With commodities only a small circle may contribute (exclusion model) Free software is as worthless as the air to breathe Only commodities may have an (exchange) value The use value is independent of this Free Software is not a gift --------------------------- o A gift is based on a personal relationship May exist before and/or after a gift o For most people Free Software is anonymous as a product can be o A gift often creates an obligation o Taking Free Software creates no obligations o Producers of Free Software do not think in terms of gift If at all then as a gift to mankind Calling Free Software a gift is wrong Keyword: Scarcity ----------------- o Deposits o Determined by nature and unchangeable o Also products with respect to a certain point in time o Limitedness o Portion of the deposits available to humans o Is changeable by technical and other means o May occur when need is bigger than offer o Scarcity o Is determined by society and can be produced Mineral oil has not always been scarce Today for information commodities scarcity must be produced o May occur when offer is bigger than need Yes, this is insane Scarcity is not a law of nature Keyword: Rivalness ------------------ Term to classify goods o Rival: If consumed by one not available for a second o Example: Food o Rival goods can be limited o Abundance of a rival good makes rivalness less important o Non-rival: Each consumption is independent of each other o Example: Information, sunlight o Inherently not limited o Scarcity must be imposed by external means o Anti-rival: The good is more useful if it is consumed by many o Happens through network effects o Example: Telephone o Markets of material goods are based on rival goods Free Software is an anti-rival good Keyword: Excludability ---------------------- Term to classify goods o Excludable: Others can be excluded from using a good o Matching legal concept: property o Can be cast onto everything o Can be hard to maintain though For instance: Information goods in Internet age o Necessary to create scarcity o Non-excludable: Others can not be excluded from using it o Anything which can not be private property? o Non-excludable goods are often public goods For instance: Roads o Each market is based on excludable goods o Free Software made non-excludable by the license o Chance of contributions rises when more people use it o Regardless of how many "free ride" GPL society: Extending principles of Free Software to rival goods while dropping exclusion Cooperation in Free Projects ---------------------------- o Informal Roles suited to the project's need rather than a fixed set of roles No formal qualification needed Self-appointment as a general tendency Official appointment as acknowledgment of a existing practice No votes on people o Self-selected According to individual liking No appointed persons o No fixed boundaries For instance: No clear division between producers and consumers o Voluntary o Variable over time People come and go o Variable over intensity People start and stop contributing as they like o Unequal Everyone may contribute as s/he likes Some have more influence than others Different abilities are appreciated Cooperation is voluntary, variable and unequal Keyword: Maintainer model ------------------------- Software development is most of all a social process Maintainer model is a frequent way to organize Here: Doubly Free Software projects o Voluntarism as fundamental pre-condition o No alienated incentives o Makes possible and requires personal decision o Self-organization as fundamental pre-condition o Without external command or alienated goals Visible for instance in release dates o Maintainer keeps the project on course o Makes binding decisions o Supervises adherence to internal project standards o If necessary cares for further development o Organizes consensus ("Nobody needs to object") Not: Animosity o Can not command other participants o Mutual dependence Participants need the functions of the maintainer Maintainer needs the participants o On failure: Fork Balances conflicts in Free Projects in an optimal way Free Software = Selbstentfaltung + digital copy ----------------------------------------------- o Selbstentfaltung is the central motor for production o Digital copy as a means of production is o Lossless o Available to all by computers o Possible about big distances (Internet) o Universal for all (digital) information goods The content of the information good is not relevant for the copy operation Analog to electric motors of the industrial era Possibility of digital copy is a new quality Keyword: Internet ----------------- o Digital copy on a planet-wide basis Inherits the features of digital copy o Lifts space limitations of cooperation o No limitation in size o Globalized and across cultural boundaries o Lifts time limitations of cooperation o No fixed time frames o Makes possible real time as well as asynchronous processes o As a medium has little inherent limitations o Makes topic oriented coppoeration possible o New projects and forks are always possible o Combines individual use with common access o Everyone can be active based on individual decision Also meaning: As producer or consumer o Everyone has access As a tool the Internet offers a lot new features Free in the sense of Free Software ---------------------------------- This freedom is indicated by the capital "F" o Absense of alienation o Needs to result from the direct needs of those involved o Self-organization Not organized by principles alienated from the project o Voluntary participation Including voluntary taking over of responsibility o Enables Selbstentfaltung o Freedom is result of the process o Results are Free because of the process Can be used by anyone who needs them Implies that they are available without payment o I.e. unlimited externally o Freedom is pre-condition of the process o The process doesn't work without Freedom Freedom enables contributions from all sides o I.e. unlimited internally o One's Freedom enables the Freedom of others Instead of limiting it like in abstract freedom Defines several positive feedback cycles This is where the power comes from Keyword: Germ form ------------------ o Something structural new existing in the old Not the new in a small version o Features of a contemporary emancipatory germ form o Global networking o Absence of exchange value and exchange o Self-organization o At the forefront of the development of productive forces Technical, but also social o Makes Selbstentfaltung possible Also as part of the development of productive forces o Germ forms can be assessed only historically However, one can try to recognize germ forms Free Software has characteristics of a germ form Keyword: Five-step ------------------ o Germ forms develop in a five-step Five-step is a general model for development o Formation of the germ form o Crisis of the old form o Germ form becomes an important dimension of development in the old form o Germ form becomes dominant o Restructuring of the over all process All phases can take a long time Free Software is in third step Criticism: Germ form thesis --------------------------- Exists inside and outside of the project o Free Software is useful for capital Only for some sections; more important: useful for non-capital Points beyond capital structurally nonetheless o Free Software is financed by the value system Every germ form is in the beginning embedded in the old o Immaterial production is fundamentally different Yes; important is what is dominant o Just nerds in patriarchal structures After all nobody can exclude women formally Interesting question: Why do women don't want to self-unfold in this Free Software? o Free Software works in a meritocratic way There are no means of force in Free Software, so power has no substance o Assessment of the germ form questionable Everyone may make up his/her mind Germ forms and other models and ideas ===================================== Germ forms can be distinguished from other models and ideas Dam building vs. ship building ------------------------------ Picture to make clear to distinct approaches to politics o Dam building o Useful to dam against rising tide o Goal: Defend the old o Conservative approach o Ship building o Useful to use the rising tide o Goal: Journey to new shores o Progressive approach o Building dams and building ships are totally different approaches o But they can complement each other Free Software is ship building The way to the GPL society ========================== The possibilities are outlined GPL society means a formation of society, which is based on the principles of the development of Free Software The utopia ---------- Until now it can be imagines only in rough outlines o Means of production make Selbstentfaltung possible o Useful: Maximum number of degrees of freedom o Useful activities are Selbstentfaltung o Societal and individual utility is directly intertwined In part for this other means of work / machines are needed o Automation makes necessary activities superfluous o Information and goods are Freely available o Free availability is precondition of the process So everyone can use all means to self-unfold o Free availability is result of the process Becaus of openness and inclusion model o This is what the capital "F" means o Overcoming of the labor society o No labor, no commodities o No exchange, no money o No alienation o The most important productive power is the human Selbstentfaltung The freedom of the single becomes the precondition of the freedom of all And vice versa Free information goods ---------------------- Which hints are there today? o Well-known ones The idea to limit access to information is a historical relative new idea o Science? Currently there are very different and contradictory developments o Free cooking recipes o New ones In the Internet a number of things developed o Wikipedia o Indymedia o Wikis, Blogs o Free music This does not mean copyright violation by P2P o SETI@home (i.e. sharing of computer ressources) The idea of Free information goods gets more and more friends Keyword: Creative Commons ------------------------- o Licenses for "Some rights reserved" Copyright: "All rights reserved" o Four license building blocks o Attribution (BY) Demands attribution of the source on copies o Noncommercial (NC) Denies permission of commercial usage of the work o No Derivative works (ND) Denies permission to derive works o Share Alike (SA) Demands keeping the license on derived works Copyleft equals SA+BY o Big, international movement with good "marketing" (http://creativecommons.org/) o Adaption of license terms to national law systems 3rd Oekonux conference: Presentation of the Austrian variant o Many million of works under Creative Commons licenses already Creative Commons further the transfer of the idea of Free Software Transfers idea to arbitrary information goods Probably no initiative which does this with more success Free material goods ------------------- o Concrete projects Until now it is mainly a matter construction plans o Free electronic and hardware projects o Free car projects o In capitalism information is an important precondition for material production already o Material production becomes more and more an appendage of production of information This is analogous to the fact, that today agricultural production is a appendage of industrial production Information society creates a fundamentally new situation GPL society brings meaning to the notion of information society Keyword: Fabber / Rapid Prototyping ----------------------------------- Rapid Prototyping is the more official term o Fabbers are universal fabrication machines o Materialize three-dimensional things from digital data o Typically by "baking" some amorphous, fine-grained material Allow for constructing things which are difficult to create otherwise o Actually exist Today: Mostly used for building models o Fabbers have some interesting features o Link digital data and material world closely Bringing the logic of digital data to the material world o Universal for (parts of) material production Like computers for information: "One machine to rule them all" o Allow material production for individual needs o Industrial robots are equally interesting Fabbers transfer important aspects of the digital world to matter Other successful Free Projects: Wikipedia ----------------------------------------- o Web-based encyclopedia o Transnational, multi-lingual endeavor o Based on Wiki technology o Produces useful products Is well-known for this reason o Grows fast o Attracts "normal" people o Attracts knowledgeable people o Free in the sense of (Doubly) Free Software o Freedom is pre-condition and result of the process o Voluntary participation o Unlimited externally and internally o Challenge: Quality assurance o Difference to Free Software: No "technical truth" Software runs or not An encyclopedia article always reflects an opinion o Actions are on their way Result of those actions is of general interest Wikipedia is a very interesting Free Project Other successful Free Projects: Open Access ------------------------------------------- o Free access to scientific information o Growing movement in the scientific communities More and more acceptance in the scientific communities o Based on Internet technology o Aligns well with scientific tradition of open flow of thoughts o Based on established methods of peer review o Produces useful products o At the forefront of the development of productive forces Science is a pre-condition for production with ever increasing importance o Free in the sense of (Doubly) Free Software o Freedom is pre-condition and result of the process o Unlimited externally and internally o Challenge: Counter movement to lock away scientific information E.g. patents Open Access is a very interesting Free Project Keyword: Automation ------------------- o Today o Destroys jobs o Only capital is interested in automation o GPL society o Extends possibilities of Selbstentfaltung By reduction of unpleasant activity By the creative process preceeding it By the empowerment of the users o Everybody is interested in automation Much more will be automated Today automation is still impeded Keyword: Need ------------- o Is neither good nor bad but requires satisfaction o Needs are determined by society By fashions and (structural) coercion So this is variable o Way of satisfaction is determined by society The need for mobility does not not have to be satisfied by cars Other societies - other needs Criticism: GPL society ---------------------- o Some necessary activities will always be done only under (structural) coercion Nevertheless: They need to be abolished o How to prevent e.g. ecological unsound Selbstentfaltung? Don't know Partially this can be decided only historically Percpectives ============ The utopian toilet ------------------ o By Annette Schlemm and others o Sketches the satisfaction of a human need ;-) An excerpts follows [See http://www.oekonux.org/texts/utoklo/ for translations] Possible actions ---------------- About this we did not think very much until now o Support Free Software o Use it yourself and recommend it to others o Report bugs to the developers o Write Free Software yourself o Use standards Proprietary standards harm Free Software o Think further together o Liberate yourself from the thinking categories of the labor society o Project Oekonux (http://www.oekonux.org/) o Make available your products Freely o Is easy for digital products o Start your own Free project