[ox-en] collecting info on free software cooperatives
- From: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2009 11:48:44 +0700
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Dear friends,
I'd like to update our wiki page on free software coops, here at *
http://p2pfoundation.net/Free_Software_Cooperatives*
For publication on the p2p blog on the 15th as well,
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/do-we-need-more-free-software-cooperatives/2009/02/15
here are some questions:
- do you know any software coops not on the list?
- do you have any status updates, i.e. info on how they are doing?
- any other comments on how to advance this alternative?
TEXT preview
Do we need more free software
cooperatives?<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=2432>
In a comment to an earlier
article<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/raoul-victor-on-the-corporate-commons-and-other-forms-of-hybrid-peer-production/2009/02/07>on
the "Corporate Commons", our reader Donald made an interesting comment
and suggestion:
*"In the context of the general conversation about corporate support of free
software programming, I've often wondered why we don't just have something
structured more or less as a cooperative to hire and pay people for this
work. The cooperative form is limited in many ways, but it is certainly less
limited that normal corporate mechanisms if we're talking about social
production and distribution. Essentially this would only entail chartering a
firm in which cooperative members each contribute a small amount of equity
finance (either one time or yearly) that massed together provides sufficient
capital for programmers. The overall business plan would need some tweaking,
but if we want to move beyond resignation we should explore existing
organizational and financial models for crowd-funding open source
development, either through one firm or through a meshwork of them."*
Here's my response, together with some links on free coops collated for our
wiki.
I totally agree with your suggestion, though it does not seem to have a lot
of traction. However, *I have tracked some initiatives in various parts of
the world, and if you know of others, thanks for letting me know.*
See for the links at *http://p2pfoundation.net/Free_Software_Cooperatives*
Here's the material you can find there, and *we would really appreciate
updates*:
Active:
1. OSSICS, Kerala, India
2. OS Alliance, Austria, "Georg Pleger" ; Roland Alton-Scheidl ; Eric
Poscher
3. WikiOcean, Pune, India, uses Weko/Reppo based governance system.
4. SOLIS - Brazil, Júnior Mulinari
5. Gcoop - Argentina;
6. Pong - Switzerland
7. Ikusnet - Spain
Other contacts:
1. Joice Käfer
2. Rama
Inactive?:
1. KunLabori Collaborative, Sweden (no longer active, according to Josef
Davies-Coates, May 2008)
See also:
1. Turo Technology LLP, UK
2. The Open Co-op, UK
3. HostSharing eG - a german coop specialising on ISP Services
More Information
1. Spanish-language discussion list, maintained by Gcoop in Argentina:
Cooperativismo y el Software Libre ; 2. Cooperativas de Software Livre
--
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alternatives.
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