Re: [dvd-discuss] Gedanken Experiment -Unix and Norton

["John Zulauf" <johnzu(at)ia.nsc.com>]

Jeme A Brelin wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 14 Jul 2003, John Zulauf wrote:
> 
> > Information is one of the least carefully quantities throughout human
> > history.
> 
> What's the missing word?

Whoa... .002 fingers in auto-typo-matic mode.  Let me write that again.

Information is one of the most carefully guarded quantities throughout
human history.

(i.e. information has essentially *never* been free)

> The uncontainability is EXACTLY the quality that makes information
> intrinsically free.  Privacy is containable.  

Privacy is control over information about me.  I need to be able to
control that information to ensure my privacy.  I use curtains in my
house, a firewall on my net, and a lock on my bedroom door (with 4 kids
it's a must).  


> Information is only a "competitive differentiator" in a system that is
> destructive to society.  Society is dependent on its members freely
> exchanging information with one another.  A breakdown in trust and honesty
> is the one sure-fire way to kill a civilization.

From here on down, I think we need a nice long "over a beer or two"
conversation.  Let's just say you and I have very different world view. 
I'll an apostate ex-utopian.  Been there, done that.  Walden Two
wouldn't work, nor will the public ever accept the personal sacrifices
needed to create self sustaining communities.  People are people, and
too many are willing to see the baby cut in half, and too few have the
wisdom of Solomon.  

You see profit as exploitation, I see it (at least partially) as a
premium on risk taking and investment.  Can for-profit employers be
exploitative, certainly, but history has shown that exploitation is
certainly not the exclusive purview of "das kapital."  I'm not even sure
if capitalism would make the "top three" --  "religion", "ethnicity",
"political system" ("king and country" or "the people" or ...) would be
my guess.

As for software companies... we'll just have to agree to disagree.  To
date no free software (and I've tried them) has the convenience,
completeness, and "fit and finish" of Word, Excel, PhotoShop, PaintShop
Pro, Maya (ahem... including a modest contribution from me) or even
Visual Studio.  These attributes (convenience, et. al.) have value to
me.  The fact that the publishers don't publish the source bothers me. 
However, the absence of the applications would bother me more.  I'm
willing for them to take their "risk premium" for the speculative
investment in building something of value to me.  

I'd like to see certain of these companies reigned in by effective
anti-trust... and since that's something we can agree on I'll end the
note there.

With regards,

.002