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If a bunch of folks pitch in to build a communal well, are they being exploited by perceived "social rewards"?

• lukaseder 13y ago
  Eventually, yes, by someone claiming ownership of the well in one way or another. At least, that's what the article seems to be saying as I understand it.
  • steveklabnik 13y ago
    This is correct. Marxist 'exploitation' does not happen until someone profits, to use other people's terminology. This can only happen when someone is in control of the well, and then uses it in some form of economic exchange. A bunch of people building and then using a well does not have this character, at least as far as this particular thought experiment goes.
    • lukaseder 13y ago
      Yes, but individual advantage has lured people away from building wells just for non-profit reasons. Be it economic profit, or even social capital as claimed in the article. Or both. I don't even think that these things are good or bad, they're just human. And in a way, FOSS has lost its innocence and goes the path of all human endeavours.
• vkou 13y ago
  The point this article makes, is that FOSS are not exploited - but rather, that FOSS is a very effective way for the privileged and financially secure to gain social capital. I think the HN articles of the past few days "We only hire people with Github accounts" demonstrate that those social rewards are real.
  • steveklabnik 13y ago
    To be clear: within a Marxist framework, the only way to gain capital is to exploit others. So your second half is correct, but your first half is wrong, unless (which I suspect you are) that you're using a different definition of exploitation than the article.