FreeSoftwareAndMarxism

Context : TheFreeSoftwarePhenomenon

Is free software "Marxist"?

Dan Hunter says the FreeSoftware movement is "Marxist" : http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=586463

[AdinaLevin says it's more like the environmental movement : [http://alevin.com/weblog/archives/001480.html#001480

but push-back from Dan Hunter and others in the comments points out that her notion of Marxism is wrong. Basically she seems to be working with an idea of Marxism as equal to Stalinist.

Her response here : invokes http://alevin.com/weblog/archives/001482.html#001482 invokes CoasesPenguin - an analysis of FreeSoftware in terms of TransactionCosts - as evidence that the new Commonsists are business / capitalism friendly rather than closet redicals. (CoasesPenguin seems to be roughly a mixture of TheAgeOfAmateurs and AlternativesToCompanies)

I'm amused by this whole thing. What's really going on here is that two factions are fighting over the soul of the zeitgeist : a fundamental shift in the world economy who's two most succesful products are InternetCulture (in all it's forms) and FreeSoftware.

To be continued ...

But this is very interesting ... http://www.free-soft.org/FSM/english/issue01/smerten.html

Comments :

• http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/002550.html
• GeorgeDafermos : http://radio.weblogs.com/0117128/2004/09/26.html
  • http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=04/09/29/1411223

See also :

• OpenSource
• FabulousMonstersOfEconomicDebate/TheOriginalFreeUnix
• HackerSocialists
  • vs HackingIsASickMachoCulture
• CyberSelfish