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Tech has a tendency to become monopolistic. Well funded open source competitors seem like a solution as it would allow anyone to compete. Fund the development

by acover 8y ago

Tech has a tendency to become monopolistic. Well funded open source competitors seem like a solution as it would allow anyone to compete. Fund the development of software and not the distribution. It would realign incentives to the consumers.

tareqak 8y ago
That's part of what I'm trying to figure out as part of asking the question: what works well, but stays decentralized? There are probably transferable characteristics that we can learn about and be aware of.
- panic 8y ago
  Looking at successful decentralized systems (the web, email, the internet itself) the common theme seems to be simple protocols that support multiple independent implementations.
TaylorAlexander 8y ago
I think this is a good idea. We use intellectual property protection to get money to developers, but then they charge money for things we could be duplicating for free. I think we could improve the lives of many people and lower the total cost of living a good life if for example everything productive was open source. I’ve written a story about this, with an all-capable machine as an allegory for an open source automated economy. That’s here: http://tlalexander.com/machine/ http://tlalexander.com/machine/ I really want to see more people taking this seriously. Open sourcing the productive world is a radical idea I fear most entrenched businesses owners wouldn’t take seriously, but I think the notion has staggering potential for improving the human condition for generations to come.
Vinnl 8y ago
But that's just moving the goalposts: who do you align incentives such that software is funded, not distribution?
- acover 8y ago
  One way is to pay for feature requests. Pay $10 a month for you or a proxy to vote on various features to be developed/maintained. There are multiple ways this could be funded. I don't know if any would work.

by acover 8y ago

tareqak 8y ago

That's part of what I'm trying to figure out as part of asking the question: what works well, but stays decentralized? There are probably transferable characteristics that we can learn about and be aware of.

panic 8y ago
Looking at successful decentralized systems (the web, email, the internet itself) the common theme seems to be simple protocols that support multiple independent implementations.

TaylorAlexander 8y ago

I think this is a good idea. We use intellectual property protection to get money to developers, but then they charge money for things we could be duplicating for free. I think we could improve the lives of many people and lower the total cost of living a good life if for example everything productive was open source. I’ve written a story about this, with an all-capable machine as an allegory for an open source automated economy. That’s here: http://tlalexander.com/machine/ http://tlalexander.com/machine/ I really want to see more people taking this seriously. Open sourcing the productive world is a radical idea I fear most entrenched businesses owners wouldn’t take seriously, but I think the notion has staggering potential for improving the human condition for generations to come.

Vinnl 8y ago

But that's just moving the goalposts: who do you align incentives such that software is funded, not distribution?

acover 8y ago
One way is to pay for feature requests. Pay $10 a month for you or a proxy to vote on various features to be developed/maintained. There are multiple ways this could be funded. I don't know if any would work.