Bristol Anarchist Bookfair 2015 Talk
The Free Software Movement: what lessons could the anarchist movement learn?
Duration: 50 minutes, talk and discussion
The Free Software movement can be said to have begun in 1983 when Richard Stallman launched the GNU project. Since then a global network of projects worked on by individuals and organisations in a largely non-hierarchical fashion has gradually infiltrated the world of proprietary software. It has been subject to successes and failures, been co-opted and has changed the information technology world from within. What parallels are there with the anarchist movement and how does it fit with anarchist philosophy? Are there any lessons to be drawn from the Free Software movement that could be useful in anarchy's approach to gaining wider acceptance?
Basic Differences between Free and Proprietary Software
Free Software | Proprietary Software | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Who writes it? | Anyone, some corporate, some free individuals | Corporate employed programmers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Who owns it? | Everyone | Corporations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Who runs it? | Everyone | Whoever the corporations allow, and those who "steal" it | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Who governs it? | A variety of Structures | Corporate Hierachy
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'Free' or 'Open Source'?
The differences between these two terms are not really understood. They have emerged as terms based on radically different philosphies. Here's a quick look at some differences.
Parallels between Free Software and Anarchist MovementsThere are a number of very strong parallels between the two movements, though they share no common historical source. It must be remembered that Software as a resource can be copied virtually free of cost, whereas Anarchist movements which concern primary production deal with items which cannot be reproduced without labour. No hierachyThere's no given structure to a Free Software project. Adoption of roles within a project is commonly ad hoc. Many projects do end up with strong leaders, though this role is by no means granted through entitlement or ownershtip, and can be as fleating as the morning mist if decisions aren't liked. Active ResistanceKeeping software free has been a fight. It will continue to be a fight. We will ilucidate some responses to co-option and take over. Examples:
We might also draw parallels with the smashing of Mc Donalds restaurants and cyber attacks. SolidarityFree Software projects work together towards a common goal. Methods for relieving dis-unity are understood and practically applied. Free Software as a movement has a core philosophy, based around the four freedoms. These four freedoms are there to promote social solidarity. Mutual AidIn Free Software results in a situation where all our labour (work on the code) is given as a resource for everyone else. SharingFree softwares licensing is an attempt to allow sharing whilst preserving freedom. Open ParticipationThe four freedoms apply to everyone on the planet. If we discover life on other planets, it will be apply to them too. Anyone can contribute to Free Software. Differences between Free Software and Anarchist Movements? Attempts at co-optionWe looked at this in last years talk, concluding that Free Software had held fast in the midst of hostile take over attempts and other such worries. MySQL's purchase by notorious proprietary software mungers resulted in mass walk outs and project forks (Libreoffice, MariaDB). There are more subtle ways in which Free Software is subverted by the evil though.
Corporate ContributionMuch code is contributed by corporations. For example in X.org, 30% came from independant developers, 70% from corporate paid contributors. This kind of seems right, since it's support for hardware they produce, but how right is it? This is possible topic for inclusion, but it a somewhat peripheral issue. Gender EqualityNot many women code. It's no different in Free Software. There are movements within Free Software to counter this. https://www.debian.org/women/ Why would we want to learn lessons from Free Software?Because it's very successful. We have a massive slice of the mobile phone, verticals and server markets. We have small slice of the desktop market. We have a massive estate. Is this a successful revolution, or has it just begun? DiscussionLinks
[file|http://www.people.vcu.edu/~gasaunde/software_wars2011.png] |