[CLUE-Talk] [OT] A Call to Action

[Grant Johnson]

The problem with communism is that although it is a nice ideal, human 
nature wrecks it.  It only takes a few selfish mooches to wreck it for 
everyone.  Thus, capitalism is probably the best economic system for the 
real world.  The free market works in the real world.

So, how does Linux work so well in a communistic way (everyone taking 
care of each other, an no one reall owning the code for themselves)? 
Well, the cost of the mooches is very low.  The cost of those who just 
download ISO's and never contribute code or buy a distro is just 
bandwidth.  Not so expensive.

Most government instituted communism has been coupled with a 
totalitarian government.  This is a nasty combination of oppression and 
no one with the means to fight it since no one can accumulate wealth. 
However, with Linux because of the fact that the code is open, there is 
no way that anyone can take power or force actions by force.  Those who 
feel oppressed can just fork.

So, we have communism in a situation which prevents oppression and at 
the same time reduces the cost of mooching.

Now, then, closed source is oppression.  It gives the power to the few, 
and takes away from the masses.  This may have been created in a free 
market, but it is not at all a democracy.  The very fact that Linux is 
open allows many people to distribute as the like makes it possible for 
a truly freem market.  Strangely enough, communism in the source code 
provides the opportunity for capitalism in the services, support, and 
distribution.

I am a professional developer.  The money they pay me is SO MUCH more 
than they spend on the software I use.  This is true for everyone in our 
office, even the administrative staff.

The point?  Linux has a communism of source, but a free market 
(capitalism) for everything else, and the cost of the software itself is 
such a small drop in the bucket.  Overall, it is much more free market 
than closed source created in the free market.