Software and Community in the Early 21st Century

[tabathabunt]

this is nice thanks

[Keruaran]

The community is more powerful than the corporation.

[Japofran]

"Freedom" and "keynote address" seem semantically at odds, or maybe it's just me.

[softofsigns]

cool

[jinkoudai]

I like free software

How many man like it?

[jinkoudai]

张师嘉

张师嘉 (陕西师大)

[bearlover07]

I thought you were a handsome man before you opened your mouth then i thought what a turnoff that voice.

[dayjn]

this guy should be president of the USA!

[KNOWYOUNOW]

Obama should be his running mate.

[iampenguinpowered]

OMG no, but Ron Paul would be great.  ;)

[420bmxer]

and if he dosnt win time for a revolution to bring down the north american union

[iampenguinpowered]

idk botu all they just yet, but its nice to know some people still realize that we do have that right. :)

[iampenguinpowered]

bout* that* :\

[420bmxer]

what about?

[iampenguinpowered]

a revolution to bring down the union

[megamarsvin]

The union itself isn't the problem. The problem is that it's being driven by greedy corporations. We need an overhaul of IP law, a rejection of the idea of draconian DRM, a more educated population which would choose 'free' software alternatives.

Granted that's not going to happen but slowing down trade globalization (since there is no way to stop it completely) won't help much in and of itself.

[420bmxer]

can i fill all ur holes XD

[fantailhumpryskunk]

exemplary diction...

[6w9rix91pgry]

oh.... well, I guess that explains it.

[rpgwapn]

Your ignorance or inability to understand a speech has no influence on the importance of or a "point" in it.

[Lam1ngton]

The the subject matter he is speaking on is of historic significance. Its lost on you, thats ok, Microsoft doesn't get it either...

[dxrules1012]

im sorry for saying that It was eight monthes ago sorry

[snoopyhater]

this mans voice is horrible.

[JohnKepha]

Thanks for saying something relevant.

[namzezam]

google it: constitution of its citizens.

[frankob]

if the speech moves you to tears it is especially important to be critical about your own reaction to the emotive language being used here. I tend to agree with much of what he said, inspite of disliking the manner in which he addressed the audience - i would suggest a read of Vincent Mosco's book 'the digial sublime'

[dh20006]

If you boil down everyone's theology to mathematics then you may have something, but that would mean that Jesus, Allah, Budha simply can't exist...nice try.

Overall a utopia would be nice, but it will never happen. The realization of the dream would itself be a nightmare, mere existence would be a persitent torment because the push for perfection would have been achieved. Such is the state of being.

[DusteDdekay]

So, where did you just prove that they can exist ? because common sense (and mathematics) say that they cant ? (unless you do enough LSD)

[jwlabs]

I like how you got there, but can't agree with your assessment.

[dh20006]

Two words: Competitive Advantage

You get what you pay for, it goes with everything. There are a few issues that the speaker forgot to mention which are human traits sad to say:

Greed

Envy

Hate

This is why society exists and how it will continue to exist, which is why communism failed in the first place and why those countries are still playing catch-up.

[DusteDdekay]

No, people like you are the reason we are where we are now, and thats no compliment.

[skooore]

Yes, this must be why china is having such a hard time catching up...

[skooore]

This must be why China has such a hard time trying to catch up.

[plemke1]

1) why is firefox (an open source product) better than internet explorer? 2) Why is ubuntu being loaded on dell's computers? We are seeing a dividing line between those that choose to create products in their spare time and those that follow the herd to pay the mortgage. Collaborative work is tough. Design by committee has a flaw... it is slow. BUT so does open source it lacks a basis that people who charge for product or service get paid and can by definition pay their mortgage.

[Lam1ngton]

Free software hasn't left me unemployed or unable to pay the mortgage, it has opened a door to knowledge and employment that simply did not exist before. You don't get it, thats ok, one day you will.

[plemke1]

I am not a software geek. I am a hardware geek. how do you get paid when software is free? Do you make a good living? You misunderstand me, I do think I get it. The problem is how to get it to hardware. Open source manufacturing? Open source design?

[Lam1ngton]

Not enough room here for an adequate response. Suffice to say we do very well via value added services: our clients are happy to pay well for good service and save on software costs. We contribute and provide feedback to the community and we benefit from that also. On hardware, sure you could open source hardware design and still charge for the product, no one has a problem with charging for something that clearly can't be made for free.

[JohnKepha]

Free and Open source software isn't about free as in beer. It is about free as in freedom.

Free software is sold, and also services are sold, today. (See Redhat) In other words, you get paid.

Companies like Microsoft would have us believe that the ethereal bits that make up the algorithms of their software is a "product".

Free software developers use their energy to create value in knowledge. It is very possible to make a living in the transmission of knowledge from one person to another.

[JohnKepha]

My children and I are feed, clothed, and housed by free software.

[h4ck3rm1k3]

Nice quote!

[JohnKepha]

1) I recommend you attend any web development conference (South by SouthWest for instance). Internet Explorer has always been poorly implemented, buggy, and standards non-compliant. It is not designed for operating system agnosticism.

2) I would say that projects such as Ubuntu and Fedora disprove your slow design theory. In the past years these GNU/Linux operating system have changed much more quickly than cathedral model software projects.

[Konklone]

This is one of the best speeches I have ever seen. I had to hold back tears during much of this.  I've always felt torn between my software career, and working in something more directly socially relevant. Eben just did a great deal for me in closing that rift. I feel more energized than ever.

[jwlabs]

Yeah, me too.

[hoboprimate]

His speech pattern is anoying. A lawyer indeed...

[sulanewbie]

Retrogado,troglodita, obscurantista -damn it you'r a fu#*ing primate. You have no idea of what is he talking about! It's all about freedom stupid.

[hoboprimate]

I understand what he's talking about, and respect the acomplishments he has made in the past (involved with the FSF) and in the present (GPLv3, these thoughtfull contributions).

But I couldn't avoid wondering who is he trying to reach (common people? hackers? or business people which go along with everything if it is sugar coated and not contrarian to their social-rooted beliefs?), and what remedies and future solutions does he have in mind to attain a better and freer future for all of us?

[hoboprimate]

Having said this, while I have seen two older talks by Moglen, this one seems different and more interesting (I'm in the middle of it). Kudos to him!

[hoboprimate]

All I can say is, Wow.

Wow.

And I believe him.

This was the exact reason I got passionate and interested with the free software philosophies and actions ever since I first learned about gnu/linux in 98 (I was amazed!).

[hoboprimate]

I admit that in the last few years I had become a bit cynical, as to my eyes, it seemed that somehow the positive aspects of this movement (sharing, new positive and freer social structures, and it's potential influence on the rest of society (in fact, it has spread like fire to the rest of the internet, i.e., youtube ) would be co-opted in some way under everybody's noses by the big corps and their clients, the world governments.

[hoboprimate]

The big corps with their new-found ability to own groups and mold them with their own social values. The big governments, to keep the society on check and let the previous do their thing. And this would happen without anybody having noticing the great loss it would be...

[hoboprimate]

Usenet was not like that. Can't we have a webpage usenet system, but infinitally greater? In the pool of utopian ideas, have I been the only one who has thought about possibly every person getting on the net, being able to share a piece of their hardrive, host their content on their pc, and by that way be in "ownership" of what they publish on the net?

[hoboprimate]

I'm talking about jabber, commenting, website authoring, editing and hosting, but see rss/atom feed: it could have been nothing, each website could have developed their own software to place in their server which would to give out content to their developed client software the user would need to download.

[hoboprimate]

Big movie/music corporations would agree between themselves on a standard, so that, for example, they can put their music on itunes, but they would be, in the end, conspiring against the many, and the individual, and the power will stay with them.

[hoboprimate]

Instead, a more general method was developed, opening up new avenues for distribution of more "expensive" content than text (see democracyplayer, or penguintv, which use rss and bittorrent), and effectly giving the power back to all of us again (both producers, and consumers, and producers/consumers, and consumers/producers, and, let humans be humans for once.

[hoboprimate]

Anyway, many ideas like this float in my brain(And I guess to much scepticism does badly to the brain :)

Indeed I was being a stupid primate missing out on this video, thank you sulanewbie for whatever grain of curiosity by it you may have seeded in me with your comment)

[sulanewbie]

Dear hoboprimate please accept my apologies. I thought you were a troll trying to derail the importance of the Free(dom) Software Movement and Open Source Software.

[sulanewbie]

I have no tinfoil hat -i'm just a mogul who is empowered by what the community has done/doing. I'm free, I have a little bit more of knowledge than before (1980), and much more freedom attained with this great social revolution.

[sulanewbie]

I wish to express my gratitude to RMS, Eben, PJ, and many, many others in the GNU/Linux community; and I understand how hard it is when you fight for your freedom and the freedom of the likes -like me; and what about the rewards? Yes, there are some with billions of dollars -but people like yourself are setting the foundation for the future society.