Re: [ox-en] role of science and universities
- From: Thomas Berker <thomas.berker hf.ntnu.no>
- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 13:04:15 +0200
--On 18. oktober 2003 19:21 -0400 graham seul.org wrote:
On 17 Oct 2003, Rich Walker wrote:
thomas be wrote:
I think Franz is right pointing at basic priciples of
FS-development, such as peer review and open access.
Free software has peer review, peer contribution and end-user review.
This is a significant difference from the processes that occur in
academia.
This is NOT a significant difference from the processes that SHOULD occur
in academia.
In other words, (once again) free software may have been influenced by
academia in its origins ( TeX, Knuth, and the academic maths community
spring to mind) but now the important influences (even if they are more
potential than actual) are in the opposite direction.
Research that "has peer review, peer contribution and end-user review"
(Rich) does exist. Some call it Action Research. And I guess that is not the
only kind of research, which takes all the freedom promised during the early
stage of the age of enlightenment seriously. Instead of freedom of theory
and praxis for all - after all "there is no God, no superiour being", we now
have freedom of theory and action for few, freedom of theory for some more,
no freedom at all for the rest.
And, yes, it was marginalised as soon as it threatened the (then) newly
established power structures [1].
I cherish Free Software for having the potential to realise the initial
promise of enlightenment ("everyone has the right to be every possible
potentiality of mankind, freely chosen by every individual") behind the backs
of everyone involved.
Thus, I see a deeper link between academia and FS, which - in my opinion -
should not be easily discarded pointing at mainstream research, which never
was particularly different from today: providing legitimacy for the powerful
and their privileges.
Best, Thomas Be
[1] BTW, Marx, in his Enquete Ouvriere, did some kind of very early Action
Research, planning to make respondents think about their work situation while
answering the questionnaire.
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