Problems with free software and open source models: Difference between revisions

("no power" -> "no practical power", also Java example)
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'''Problems with free software and open source models''' for discussion:
'''Problems with free software and open source models''' for discussion:


1. ''issue'' - "No restrictions on field of use" means that software is explicitly licensed for military purposes, spying purposes, selling environmentally and socially destructive products, hiding activities of companies, and anything else that opponents of [[moral purchasing]] may want to do.  There is no legal recourse.  While there are few incentives to subvert operating system or database software, there are ''many'' incentives to subvert or gain advantage in the operations of a [[healthy buying infrastructure]].  With no way to restrict these activities with civil court action, only technical means are available to subvert such subversion - wasting everyone's time in an [[arms race]] that is to no one's advantage.
1. ''issue'' - "'''No restrictions on field of use'''" means that software is explicitly licensed for military purposes, spying purposes, selling environmentally and socially destructive products, hiding activities of companies, and anything else that opponents of [[moral purchasing]] may want to do.  There is no legal recourse.  While there are few incentives to subvert operating system or database software, there are ''many'' incentives to subvert or gain advantage in the operations of a [[healthy buying infrastructure]].  With no way to restrict these activities with civil court action, only technical means are available to subvert such subversion - wasting everyone's time in an [[arms race]] that is to no one's advantage.


:''position'' - there should be quite specific hard restrictions on use of any [[Consumerium License]] software, at least, what a [[Consortium license]] tends to contain:  "no using this software to set up your own competing consortium."
:''position'' - there should be quite specific hard restrictions on use of any [[Consumerium License]] software, at least, what a [[Consortium license]] tends to contain:  "no using this software to set up your own competing consortium."
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4. ''issue'' [[self-interested fork problem]] - there are already Adbusters and other groups' versions of this possibly being created, and no doubt stores will come up with "their own".  To prevent this requires cutting a balance so that a self-interested party has every incentive to use Consumerium, but once they have committed to it, have no easy ability to fork it.
4. ''issue'' [[self-interested fork problem]] - there are already Adbusters and other groups' versions of this possibly being created, and no doubt stores will come up with "their own".  To prevent this requires cutting a balance so that a self-interested party has every incentive to use Consumerium, but once they have committed to it, have no easy ability to fork it.
5. ''issue'' [[bad user interface]] - inevitable since the developers choose what to do next, not the users, and there's no way to discipline their choices without putting together a commercial regime identical to commercial software to convey market intelligence to developers and pay them for doing the right things next.
Anonymous user