Re: [ox] Meeting at WOS - some thoughts and comments
- From: Stefan Merten <smerten dialup.nacamar.de>
- Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 00:06:54 +0200
Hi Bettina, Holger, alle!
12 days ago Bettina Berendt wrote:
So what do YOU think?
Hier mein Pfennig.
- authors who are tied by non-reputation-related motives, e.g., "love for
freedom". It was not settled in the discussion whether these less
quantifiable motivations should have been included in the economic model.
[* Berendt: This is related to my remarks on a different definition of
the word "economic". There are many economic models who do just this -
include things like "love for freedom", and even "altruism". *]
Bettina: Kannst du mehr zu diesen ökonomischen Modellen sagen? Ich
persönlich denke, daß das ökonomische Modell, das auch Ghosh vertreten
hat - jedeR Mensch rennt immer nur ihrer Profitmaximierung hinterher
oder ist dumm -, für ziemlich weltfremd, einseitig und daneben. Ich
denke Menschen funktionieren über weite Strecken ganz anders (als
kapitalistische Unternehmen).
Although the discussion occasionally reverted to the unsolved
free rider
problem, it now appears to us (Blasum and Berendt) that its positivist
overtones have totally ignored limits of the open source model, e.g.,
software for groups that programmers are not so much interested in.
This includes software for beginners (WYSIWIG editors [* Berendt:
and generally programs
with a large emphasis on the user interface, a point mentioned in the
O'Reilly "Open Source" booklet *]), blind people, etc.
Klar sind erstmal die Grundlagen geschaffen worden. Aber mein Eindruck
ist, daß es auch in diesen Bereichen hochinteressante Entwicklungen
gibt - z.B. für Blinde, für die Linux wohl ein echter Gewinn ist -
gerade wegen der unbegrenzten Eingriffsmöglichkeiten.
Saying that "programmers do it, so they must have a rational reason
for it" (and they are not exploiting themselves, etc. etc.) seems to
me to be a valid motivation to start an Economic enquiry, but not a
valid reason to justify why the system is working. This would
neglect many interesting insights of Economic theory - that the
neoclassical, rational "homo economicus" is at best an idealisation
to start with, that imperfect information on the one hand and
institutional factors including altruism, family or peer group
bonds, trust, etc., are fundamental for the understanding of much of
economic activity, or human activity in general.
Genau!
An interesting question in this context seems to be: Yes, there is a
fundamental difference between Open Source programmers and other
groups of people who work a lot for little or no money (let's say,
unskilled manual workers). Open Source programmers have skills for
which there is a lucrative market, so it seems that they really have
a choice (in contrast to the unskilled manual workers). Is that
true?
Denke schon.
Open Source and Science
-----------------------
Therefore, I will simply list points that have been made in the
various discussions, and my own ideas, here:
- Commonalities:
- scientific publications must be "open source" (either include
the "source" in the publication itself - e.g., a mathematical
proof, or be prepared to release it - e.g., experimental data in
psychology, program to evaluate results in cognitive modelling).
A publication saying "this is what I found out, but I am not
going to tell you how it's done" is simply not scientific.
Es geht hier sogar noch einen Schritt weiter: Seit der Aufklärung ist
m.W. Naturwissenschaft nur dann gültig, wenn die Erkenntnisse durch
ein Experiment jederzeit reproduzierbar ist. Daher *muß* Wissenschaft
OS sein.
- comments are the currency (scientists speak at conferences,
publish papers to get comments) / economy of reputation:
a newsgroup article that is forwarded corresponds to an article
which is cited
In der Wissenschaft gilt dies wohl in der Tat. Da werden ja sogar die
"Werte" ganzer Institute in Veröffentlichungen gemessen (arbeite an
einem solchen und weiß wovon ich rede...). Daß das ausgemachter Unsinn
ist und lediglich der Konkurrenz um öffentliche Mittel geschluldet
ist, dürfte unbestreitbar sein.
- economy of attention
Hier stimmt das wirklich, denn hier wird die (sogenannte)
Aufmerksamkeit tatsächlich in klingende Münze umgesetzt.
- high intrinsic motivation, enthusiasm of participants
Stimmt oft, ja.
- marginal costs of distribution very low
Na, wenn ich an die teuren wissenschaftlichen Bücher denke...
- no payment in exchange for a particular piece of writing
Na, da gibt's aber schon Mechanismen, Prämien z.B.
- Differences:
- payment: Scientists are usually paid for the time they work and
indirectly for the success they have had in the scientific
publications market (Re-employment is, among other things, based
on publication lists).
Und das finde ich einen ganz entscheidenden Unterschied.
- Difference or commonality?:
- widespread exploitation and self-exploitation, unpaid overtime is
the rule in science.
Das dürfte der hohen Motivation geschuldet sein.
Mit li(e)bertären Grüßen
Stefan