GNU/Linux – Milestone on the Way to the GPL Society
Stefan Merten
PDF [340 KB]
[Paper of the talk at the LinuxTag ‘00 in Stuttgart, 2000-06-29
– 2000-07-02
The most recent version is always available from http://www.opentheory.org/gplsociety/
Translation into English done by Graham Seaman, Thomas U. Grüttmüller
and Stefan Merten]
1 init 1: About This Contribution
1.1 Categorization
This contribution, entitled “GNU/Linux – Milestone on the Way to the GPL
Society” is intended to give an overview of work in progress. Some of
its content has been discussed in the Oekonux project since it was founded
in the
middle of 1999. The topics discussed in the project are almost the same as
the topics covered in this work. The core of the project is a mailing list,
archived
on a web-site. The FAQ is especially useful, as it summarizes the debate on
the mailing list. In order to honor the work of the people who have contributed
some
thoughts on the mailing list, and in order to actively respect the spirit of
Open Source, a list of their email addresses is included here:
andersenATexozet.com Annette.SchlemmATt-online.de B.BinderATDKFZ-Heidelberg.de
benniAThera.rbi.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de Bettina.BerendtATeducat.hu-berlin.de
crATiac-research.ch E.KowallikATtu-bs.de erwinAThermes.zsi.at f.nahradaATmagnet.at
Frank.OppenheimerATInformatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE h0724elwATrz.hu-berlin.de
henrik.motakefATruhr-uni-bochum.de holgerATavendo.de ingoATxhomie.de
ingohATschwaben.de j.jaegerATjpberlin.de
kritinfAThotmail.com lagemannATtelelogic.de lorenz.glatzATblackbox.net
lydiaATzedat.fu-berlin.de mickleiATfokus.gmd.de
nussiniATzedat.fu-berlin.de ohilATtequila.in-berlin.de pitATicf.de rainer15ATngi.de
rwfischbachAThotmail.com schillingATcontext-net.de sloymentATgmx.net
smertenATdialup.nacamar.de spindlerATunix-ag.uni-kl.de ss5ATophon.sax.de
stefan.meretzAThbv.org steffiATnef.wh.uni-dortmund.de
Thomas.KalkaATgmx.de
The essay begins with a brief discussion of the symptoms of crisis
in our current societies [1]. A second part will point out what
is so special
about
GNU/Linux [2].
The final section casts an utopian eye on a GPL society, in which
important principles of GNU/Linux-development have achieved relevance
on a social
scale.
By the way, the init number in the section titles is a common
nomenclature under Unix for the so-called run levels. These describe
the state of
the system in
the following way:
RunLevelMeaning 0System halt 1Basic running system 2System with
network 3System with network and graphical user interface 6System
is shutdown
and rebooted
1.2 About the Author
To make it easier to judge this work, I would like to tell you
a few things about my personal background.
I studied computer science, and have worked as a qualified
computer scientist since 1992. However, my computer experience
began with
a ZX81 before
my formal studies.
Besides that, after some prolonged inactivity, I am politically
involved in very different contexts since 1989. My political
home land is anarchism,
enriched
with a lot of Marxian analysis. My central motivation was,
and still is, a fundamental
critique of the existing state of affairs as well as the search
for viable alternatives.
Both of these influences merged in the question of whether
the development of computers in general, or that of free software
such as GNU/Linux [3]
in particular, could have a social relevance or even the potential
to change
society. Thus
this
contribution is to some extent an intermediate result in answering
this question.
2 init 2: The End of the Society of Labor
Preliminary remark: This passage can only cursorily explain
very few aspects of this complex topic. A thorough and worthwhile
argument about
the topic
is being carried out by the Krisis group [mostly German].
This passage is only
intended to touch on a few terms that are of particular importance
for our topic.
2.1 The Most Important Elements of the Society of Labor
Our societies are characterized by wage labor [4]. People’s
work is reduced to an abstract magnitude: in wage labor
the concrete
way
used in the
actual work
is
as unimportant as the product or service that is the result
of the activity. This form of activity only justifies itself
by
the fact that
labor-power
is exchanged for money. This abstraction of the activity
from its meaning and
aims results
in an alienation of the workers from their own action,
most noticeably in assembly line work.
This system of abstract wage labor is closely linked with
the principle of commodity production for a market. Under
market-economy
conditions,
economic
action only
makes sense if the commodity produced can be successfully
exchanged for money. Thus an abstraction takes place here,
too: the meaning
and goal
of economic
action are not primarily a specific product, a specific
quality, or other physical qualities,
but the gaining of exchange value [5].
In addition to both these principles, the principle of
competition due to the market puts the actors into a (negative)
relationship
towards each other,
both
in the market for commodities and in the labor market.
On the commodity producers’ side, competition leads to
the need
for
profit maximization.
To make a profit
requires wage labor, but the business man’s aim is to minimize
the number
of workers needed to produce a given amount of commodities,
or, inversely, to
maximize the amount of the commodity produced using the
same amount of work force.
Historically, in an increasing number of fields these factors
more and more have led to the replacement of human labor
by machines making it
superfluous. It is
only logical that this process can only be kept running
by continually widening
the market. If this widening does not succeed, competition
among commodity producers finally forces to move in the
direction of
completely abolishing
wage labor –
a move which cannot possibly succeed, as making profits
is inseparably connected with the use of wage labor.
It seems that today we have arrived at this historical
point, as demonstrated by two well-known phenomena.
2.2 Mass Unemployment and the Stock Market Boom
For years it has become more and more evident that the
high rate of unemployment can never be reduced again.
Instead, it is increasingly
said that mass
unemployment will rise still more [6]. It becomes clear
that the replacement of human labor
continues fast [7]. If one considers the potential for
reduction of the
work-force by computerization
which still exists in large parts of the service sector
such
as banks and insurance companies [8], it has to be assumed
that the process
has
barely started [9].
While mass unemployment steadily increases, new speculative
bubbles continually appear in the global stock markets.
Companies that
classic business criteria
would rate poorly shoot up like rockets on stock markets
– often to come down like comets onto the ground of economic
reality.
When such
a speculative
bubble
bursts, whole states with millions of people can go overboard,
as was clearly shown by the example of Indonesia, the
biggest victim of the
Asian crisis.
This phenomenon also shows how the financial capital
that was
once reinvested in new
production is today obviously unable to broaden production
sufficiently to gain profits that are higher than the
profits that can currently
be achieved
on the
stock markets.
2.3 Summary
There are indications that the labor society, and thus
also exchange as the basis of society have come to
their historical
end. Even
if at first
sight
this has
the threatening appearance of a collapse scenario,
it does open up the possibility of a new society that overcomes
the deficits
of the
old one;
one in which
not abstract principles but the wealth of all people
on
this planet will be the
principal goal.
3 init 3: The Special Thing About GNU/Linux
The thesis of this work is that GNU/Linux represents
a milestone in an ongoing process. A milestone is
recognized by the fact
that it has
certain
special
characteristics not shared by other products. People
who
oppose the idea that GNU/Linux is a
milestone try to fit it into other well-known frameworks [10] in order to minimize its importance.
In this section we discuss the comparisons that people
make with previously existing phenomena or products.
In this way
we can
make it clear what
is special about
GNU/Linux.
3.1 GNU/Linux is not only a Simple Hobby
Often, people argue that GNU/Linux is just a hobby [11],
and as such it could not have any social relevance.
Of course,
the
development of
free software
is in
many cases a personal hobby, but result of this
activity goes far
beyond other hobby products [12] in the following
aspects.
3.1.1 Extraordinary Benefit for the Society
GNU/Linux is a large set of programs, including
an operating system and numerous applications,
useful
in the concrete
daily activity
of ever
larger numbers
of people. If we observe the evolution of GNU/Linux,
we see that its usefulness increases all the
time, both in
the breadth
of
possible applications and
in the
concrete benefits which more and more people
derive from it. And it
doesn’t seem that this tendency will change.
GNU/Linux is, therefore, a product of considerable
quantitative and qualitative social utility.
This marks an essential
difference from
the other products
which derive from hobbies, which can compete
with commodities on grounds of quality,
but not of quantity, and whose social utility
is markedly less.
3.1.2 Direct Competition with Commodities
As a useful and widely available product and
GNU/Linux competes directly with the commodities
created
and sold by large firms
such as Microsoft.
There are
certainly other products derived from hobbies
which compete with commodities – for example,
the vegetables
grown
in a family allotment
which compete
with those from the supermarket – nevertheless,
there are some differences.
Firstly, it is noteworthy that GNU/Linux has
become established in spite of the wide range
of products
already offered
in this sector.
And it
has not only
become
established, but promises to surpass and overcome
the competition from commercial products [13].
Until now no product derived from a hobby had
ever achieved this. On the contrary, it is
normal for
the production
of something that begins
as a
hobby, sooner
or later, whether at the initiative of the
hobbyists themselves or other people, to turn
into the
production of commodities,
leaving at
best only
a gap for
the
product as a hobby.
3.1.3 GNU/Linux is very Modern
It is noteworthy that free software is developed
using very modern techniques. Not only because,
naturally, the computer
is the
basic tool for development,
but also because, with the Internet, the
most recent techniques have an essential importance.
In some
cases
the development
of new techniques
has
actually
been driven by GNU/Linux [14].
In this aspect GNU/Linux is clearly different
from normal hobbyist products, which generally
are from
the sector
of crafts. This
is a point of the
greatest importance in relation to the social
relevance of GNU/Linux, since observation
of the leading top technology of the present
and the way in which it is applied usually
provides a good
guide to
future trends.
3.1.4 International Networking
Another distinctive characteristic of GNU/Linux
is that it arises from a wide international
network. People from
all
parts of the
technologically
well developed
world [15] co-operate through the Internet
bypassing state borders and cultural barriers.
As well as being a unique case among hobbies,
it is also very rare for any multinational
company, in spite
of
their huge
infrastructures and
their millions,
to achieve
such a productive and fluid level of co-operation.
3.1.5 Summary
Even if GNU/Linux has its origins in personal
hobbies, it has become something much
more than a simple
hobby product, both
in the way
in which it is created
and in the product it has become. Therefore
it is no longer possible to talk of it
as a hobby.
3.2 GNU/Linux is not a Commodity
GNU/Linux is a product, but not a commodity.
The essential characteristic of a commodity
is to be
exchanged for
something, normally money.
GNU/Linux is
not exchanged [16] for anything, but
is freely available [17] to all as a good.
The fact that GNU/Linux is not a commodity
has special consequences.
3.2.1 GNU/Linux has Concrete Reasons
As was already said, commodities are
primarily produced for sale. This
means, in particular,
that aspects
such as quality,
longevity,
and
maintainability are secondary, or
even, when the market is monopolistic on
the side of
the
producers,
of no interest at all. The best and
most well-known example of this is
Microsoft [18].
Since GNU/Linux is not primarily
an object of exchange, thus its development
is
not driven by the (abstract)
goal of profit,
only
concrete reasons
can lead to such an activity. There
are two fundamental
reasons here [19].
On the one hand, programming in a
free and autonomous way is a kind
of Selbstentfaltung,
normal for
hobbies. There
is no
doubt that personal
achievement and above
all pride in ones work is one of
the fundamental reasons for the
high quality of
a large part of free software. At
the same time, since production is
free
and autonomous,
there
is no alienation
– which is
always present
in wage
labor
– involved neither in the activity
nor the
product. As a result the abstraction
inherent in wage labor is also overcome.
On the other hand, at the root of
the production of free software are
real
problems faced
by real people [20].
Production
is not
for an anonymous
market
which only
decides with hindsight, based on
volume of sales, whether the production
made
sense or not. The
abstraction which
the production
of commodities
brings with
it also overcome.
3.2.2 GNU/Linux cannot be Taken Over
A large part of GNU/Linux is protected
by licenses which prevent the programs
from
becoming closed
source. This
simple fact
is the basic
reason why it
is impossible to remove this mass
of free software from the public
by privatizing
it in order
to integrate it in the world of
commodities.
This is not affected by the ingenious
commercial undertakings which try
to profit from the
production of free software.
It is possible
that a
few firms
like Cygnus
manage to profit from free software
through secondary effects [21],
but the old saying
(here paraphrased)
still stands:
Only when the last free filter
for a graphic format has been written,
the
last desktop
is conquered
by KDE or
Gnome, only
when GNU/Linux
runs on
the last
most exotic ancient hardware, only
then will it be clear that no profit-oriented
economy
can be built on the basis of the
GPL.
3.2.3 Some Words on Stock Exchange
Hype
After the Internet-related firms,
it is currently the concept of
Linux which
is
making the
speculators hearts
beat faster.
Similar
to the
Internet hype
unleashed by the dot coms this
is no more than a speculative bubble
which
sooner
or later
will have to return to the solid
ground of economic reality. If
there
is a
residue of
real-world
economic sense in
the dot com
hype, there
is no
trace of any at
all in the firms that want to live
from the production of free software.
Naturally, the danger exists in
principle that through such processes
the non-commodity
nature
of parts
of GNU/Linux can be damaged.
But given that
this nature is
precisely what gives GNU/Linux
its advantage, and that integration
in market-led structures
would destroy this advantage immediately [22], I don’t believe this to be a real
danger [23].
3.2.4 Conclusion
GNU/Linux is not a commodity and
cannot come to be one. This property
of GNU/Linux
has
important consequences,
which underlie
its success.
3.3 Then what exactly is GNU/Linux?
So far we have seen that GNU/Linux
is neither a simple product
of a hobby nor
a commodity.
So what
is it?
It is a product:
that much is
clear.
But it is
a very particular product,
for which the methods of production
are very
different from those
of previously known modes
of production. It is exactly
this property
with which the principles of
GNU/Linux can open a door
to a new world
for us.
Given the preceding negative
characterization, now I shall
set out what is positive
in GNU/Linux.
3.3.1 Free Activity Instead
of Labor for the Boss
GNU/Linux is created on a voluntary
basis, unlike any commodity.
No-one tells the
GNU/Linux developers
what
to do, or pays
them in any way [24]
for their
activity. Everything they do
is done through their own initiative
and
for individually
different reasons. No boss
tells them what to do. Even
when they
accept that
a project
must
be coordinated,
this is done
voluntarily
and with
understanding of its necessity.
Its voluntary nature marks
a fundamental difference from
wage
labor, where
volunteering is a welcome
side effect
on the side
of the
employer alone,
but never the goal
of the whole thing. This volunteering
ends the alienation of the
producers from their
work which
is common
in wage labor.
The producers
take control
of their
own actions [25] in a way impossible
in wage labor.
3.3.2 The Pleasure Principle
Replaces Meaningless Drudgery
Thus the creation of a useful
product on this voluntary basis
can only
be explained by the
developers’
pleasure in producing
GNU/Linux.
Such
pleasure can be spread
across very different areas.
Pleasure in
programming [26] can be assumed
to be a motivation for all
developers, but also
the pleasure
of
communicating with
other
developers, and of cooperating
with
them, the pleasure of being
responsible for
an important
project,
the delight in
giving
others a useful present
–
the individual
reasons can be really diverse [27].
However, this pleasure in doing
things has no more place in
wage labor than
does free
will [28].
By definition,
the
main characteristic
of wage
labor is
that the
employees do not ask questions
about the content of their
work nor about
their working
conditions [29].
As
the wage
is the decisive
(abstract)
motivation
for
their activity, it is simply
not necessary to make the (concrete)
content of the
work or the working conditions
comfortable. For wage labor,
it
is quite enough
if the
lack
of involvement
of
the workers [30] does
not make
them seriously
unproductive.
For the developers of free
software this pleasure in their
own activity
is the
motivation that
makes them
create useful
things
for others,
while at
the same
time a source of personal satisfaction.
In this type of activity, there
further reward
is not
intrinsic, and therefore
– and
that is important
– the principle
of exchange has been overcome.
3.3.3 Self Organization Instead
of Working by Command
Though it may be obvious after
everything that has been said,
it should be
emphasized again
that the
activity for GNU/Linux
is organized
by
the developers
themselves.
To accomplish this, they are
not only able but forced to
find suitable
ways
of organizing [31]
their collective
activity.
It
has been proven
this way that
without
any instructions from outside,
and across political and
cultural borders, people can
work together, have
fun together, and
even create generally
useful things.
3.3.4 Utility Instead of Market
Share
As GNU/Linux is not sold by
its developers, there are no
monetary
reasons for
developing GNU/Linux.
If now
we do
not look at
the producers but
the product,
only the use of the product [32] remains as the motive for its
production.
Only under
these
circumstances is it
possible that quality in
all its aspects becomes the
central criterion [33].
When a commodity is produced,
it has to attain a level of
quality just good
enough
not to
prevent [34] itself
from being
sold –
a relative quality,
in other
words.
Seen from a marketing point
of view, it would actually
be counterproductive
to
build, for
example, longevity
into a
product. So in producing
for a market there
is absolutely no reason to
produce something like absolute
quality.
However, the reasons that lead
to GNU/Linux can really create
just
such an absolute
quality, as the delight
of creating
something as good as
possible is surely one
of the most important motivations
for many developers.
3.3.5 Cooperation Instead of
Competition
All these aspects mean that
in GNU/Linux competition is
only
useful in very
limited ways. While
in the world of
commodities,
an inestimable
number of
more-or-less equal products
have to be made distinguishable
artificially [35],
it is not
common for widespread competition
to
establish itself
in the GNU/Linux scene. In
many cases, similar, competing
products gradually
disappear [36] –
and
be it
only because
nobody cares about them anymore [37].
This is not a coincidence,
as the developers too do not
compete
against
each other.
On the contrary,
it
is more
favorable
for everyone involved
if the
developers work together and
stimulate each other – and
consequently realize
the advantages
of cooperation.
3.3.6 Users Instead of Consumers
But even the attitude of the
users is different from the
consumer behavior, typical
for
commodities. Simply
because
the users
are aware of not
being fundamentally different
from
the
developers, their demands
too tend to differ [38]. As they
know
that the product was created
on a voluntary basis, it
is unlikely that
they will
have the same demanding
attitude
here, as they
would have
towards a
bought product.
Instead, they might even
try to
help towards further development
– be it only by reporting
bugs they
have noticed, or by requesting
new features.
3.3.7 Summary
The aspects mentioned above
positively distinguish
GNU/Linux from other
products. In their sum,
they form a completely
different mode of production
than the
one we know from the world
of commodities. As we have
seen,
this has far-reaching
consequences for
the producers,
as
well as the
product,
and in a limited
sense also for the users.
It is also important that
all these aspects are tightly
interwoven
and therefore
cannot be separated.
As
a result it is not
possible to reintegrate
GNU/Linux
into the world of commodities
without
destroying its success.
All this combined is already
very exciting. The success
of GNU/Linux,
compared
with products created the
usual way,
turns the principles
of GNU/Linux
into a serious alternative
to the classic mode of
production [39]. As
a result,
GNU/Linux is a milestone
on the
way to a new society
–
the GPL Society!
4 init 6: The GPL Society
After these more analytic
considerations, now a
vision of the GPL Society [40]:
It’s about a
society, which
is based on
the
principles that make
GNU/Linux successful, some of the
most important have already
been
described above.
The main point
is that the GPL Society
is one in which the needs
of people move into the
focal
point, so that blind
mechanisms [41]
like
the market
no longer
oppress
the people
instead of serving them.
Instead of this, people
will be free
to arrange their relations
to each
other and to things consciously
and by
free decision.
After the description
of this vision, which
is intended
to
show the potential
of the
principles of GNU/Linux,
some considerations
about
the transition
to this society will
follow.
4.1 Have a Lot of Fun...
So, what would a world
based upon the principles
of GNU/Linux
look
like?
Well, of course,
we cannot point
out the final
result, yet
– too much
is uncertain
and some points will
have to be seen from
a different
angle
as
soon as
new developments
occur. However,
the things
described in the two
following
sections
could form
important parts of
the GPL Society.
4.1.1 Supply of Goods
Like GNU/Linux already
today, in a GPL Society,
material
goods in
general
would
be available,
whether stored [42]
or produced
when needed. Goods
that can be produced
quickly, easily,
and without complications
– for example
exclusively by using
machines – would
probably
not
need to be stored [43] anymore. The produced
goods
would be accessible
for free by everybody
who
needed them.
If one
of todays
super markets were
to be used as a distribution
center,
the
first thing
would be to
remove the cash desks.
The available goods
would, like GNU/Linux,
be of
high quality.
This quality
would apply to
all aspects
of
a good. Not
only would direct
quality criteria,
such
as usability, flexibility
or maintainability [44] play a role,
but others such as
ecological criteria
like longevity
and
the consumption
of resources
during
production
and use could be
appropriately considered.
Like GNU/Linux, the
goods would be designed
based
immediately on the
potential users’
[45] need. The
producers would
determine these
needs
by getting directly
into contact [46]
with the users, so the
needs would
not have
to be mediated
after the
event by an
anonymous instance
like the market.
That point
would also concern
the variety of available
goods.
As with GNU/Linux
today, the available
goods
would allow
the user to handle
them independently
and
responsibly. The
strict separation
of
the producer
on the one
hand, who has control
of production, and
the consumer
on the other
hand, who can
only passively
consume
prefabricated things,
would
be loosened
this way.
Furthermore, production
machines would be
available
to
a broad community [47], because with their
assistance, people
could
manufacture goods
completely on their
own.
4.1.2 Delight and
Freedom
People would work
autonomously and
voluntarily, the
same way as they
work on GNU/Linux,
today. Depending
on their
motivation
and
also on
present necessities [48], they would either
do leisure or
useful activities [49]. Often, both could
be combined,
so that the separation
between spare time
and work time would
disappear.
The machines would
have to be changed
in a number
of
aspects [50], since
orientation to production
of commodities
has a strong
effect on the
construction of
machines. Production
machines would have
to be
built which can either
operate without human
assistance, or which
can be
used with pleasure.
Not being forced
anymore to compete
against
each other [51],
people could take the freedom
to cooperate
as they
please. Similarly
as with GNU/Linux,
parallel
developments
are possible, but
co-operation between
different people
or
groups of people
would dominate.
So, competition –
and thus a permanent
center
of conflict
– would no
longer be built into
the social system
as
it is
today. Nevertheless,
the
quality of
the
produced goods would
not suffer from it,
since it would
no longer be
the need to market
the
product, impossible
without competition,
driving production,
but personal
wishes.
On the basis of cooperation
for a common goal,
people would –
and not
only in
the area of
production –
be able to return
to
humane
relationships,
ones which
are not determined
by money. Recognition
for
special
achievements will
be experienced directly,
and
not only by larger
sums of money. People
who
are
not forced anymore
to waste most of
their
time with meaningless
work, but
are free
to participate autonomously
in meaningful
activity
have
much
less need
to abandon themselves
to any vicarious
satisfaction.
4.2 Tickets into
the GPL World
The realization of
this – maybe quite
daring
– vision
depends,
of course,
whether the
the principles
of
GNU/Linux can
be generalized. If
the principles of
GNU/Linux are actually
suitable
as the basis for
a new
form
of society
beyond
money and
the
market,
then these
should
automatically
establish
themselves because
of their superiority,
at
least up to a certain
degree.
Thus it
has to
be
observed whether
the principles of
GNU/Linux do gain
similar significance
within
other
areas than
software development.
For this it makes
sense
to differentiate
between
information
goods and material
goods.
4.2.1 Let’s rock!
An interesting phenomenon
shows up these
days in the music
industry. Here,
several factors
interact.
First,
a basic
invention [52]
was made, i.e. effective
and highly
qualitative [53]
compression algorithms for
audio data, of which the
best known is
MP3.
Obviously equally
important was that
the algorithm
was widely
available [54].
At least the decompression
algorithm
is freely
available, so decoders
for all relevant
operating systems
had been written
within
a short
time. Concerning
the
compression,
at
least its
fundamental principles
are freely available,
so that
meanwhile there
are
also free encoder
implementations [55], which meanwhile
achieve comparably
high quality standards.
And there is, of
course, the Internet,
which
makes possible
the global,
easy and inexpensive
distribution
of music
in the MP3
format. There
are already
whole Web sites,
which are dedicated
exclusively
to
the spreading
of MP3 encoded
music.
These three interlinking
developments release
dynamics which
are similar to
those
of GNU/Linux. A
new way of distributing
music is arising
which
can be
considered
a serious competition [56] to conventional
–
and thus market-like
– ones.
So the music industry
as the
main beneficiary
of the past marketing
system immediately
gets into a panic
and
tries everything
to stop this development
[57], or, if that is
not possible,
at
least to control
it. However, having
the development
of GNU/Linux
in mind,
it can be expected
that these
regulation
efforts will not
be successful.
It is also exciting
to see, how differently
musicians as other
important beneficiaries
of the past
marketing system
look at
this development.
While some adopt
the view of the
music industry
and demonize the
development, others
begin to
use this new form
for
their aims. Among
them are
stars
such as David Bowie
or
Die
Toten Hosen (a
German punk band)
but
mainly
countless unknown
musicians, which
see
this as a simple
way of bringing
their pieces
of
art [58] – also
free of charge
– to the major
public. Here one
can see
clear parallels
to GNU/Linux [59],
too.
Well, the last
battle in this
argument
has not begun
yet,
and the starting
situation is of
course a different
one
in the
music world
than it has
been in the software
world. But there
are quite interesting
parallels
and if a free MP3
continues to push
forward, then
this
is a further
step
into the direction
already
so successfully
demonstrated
by GNU/Linux and
thus a further
building block
for the GPL Society.
4.2.2 Internet
Contra Profits
Many interested
parties claim –
and persistently
believe
– that
the Internet
has released
a new breakthrough
in profits [60].
It is generally
assumed
that the Internet
will not only create
(net)
new
jobs,
but also that outstanding
business
will be made possible.
The faithful
are not even concerned
by facts such as
the permanent
financial
losses of
the majority of
Internet
companies.
However, the reality
does not prove
this faith –
at least
for now.
Apart from
a few exceptions [61] there
are no examples
which
prove
that the Internet
has
created independent
commercial offerings [62]. The well-known
book stores, as
e.g. amazon.com
or bol.de,
operate on the
Internet only
in addition
to their traditional
business fields [63]. So no business
is known yet,
for which the Internet
is the indispensable
basis [64].
The reason why
the Internet, which
made
possible the
non-commercial
GNU/Linux, rejects
commercial
efforts
so much is neither
the inability of
the participants
nor a
lack of infrastructure.
Rather
there is a fundamental
reason, which makes
it
so hard
to integrate
the Internet
into the process
of trading,
that such
efforts are practically
impossible.
You see, the Internet
is globalization
in its purest
form [65]. In the
Internet, all world-wide
providers
of a commodity
are literally
only
one mouse-click
away from each
other. This extreme
globalization
has
crucial consequences.
On the one hand,
by this globalization
the competition
between different
providers is
intensified so
much that very
soon only a zero
price [66]
is competitive.
With a price of
zero however
no business can
be built, except
by an indirect
financing
by
advertisement or
by
mixing financings.
On the other hand,
the world-wide
availability and
practically
unlimited capacity [67] of the Internet
enables a company
to be available
to
potential
costumers, in
a way which is
inconceivable
in the conventional
market.
This leads
to
the situation that
very few companies [68] are necessary
in order
to satisfy
the
world-wide demand [69] with the products
they offer.
Under these conditions,
independent commercial
products in the
Internet are permanently
only possible for
providers of a
world-wide unique
product. So,
the Internet
itself may be one
of the most important
bases for
the GPL
Society.
4.2.3 Status of
Industrial Production
Unemployment, which
has to be understood
as a
profound crisis
in our current
form of society,
is in large
part caused by
the level
of automatization
of industrial production
already achieved [70]. So, already
today,
we can see that
fewer and fewer
people are needed
for the production
of useful
things.
Besides that, the
activities of the
people still
employed in industry
are moving
away from stupid
and monotonous
work towards
not only
monitoring and
controlling, but
also administering,
planning and scientific
activities [71].
Especially in the
software area,
the
activities [72]
already extend
into the
artistic area.
Industrial production
has thus already
achieved a
level of
development, which
lets production
almost without
human intervention
appear
possible [73].
At the same time,
the character
of the
remaining
activities changes
to those which
can be executed
with
pleasure.
The conditions
for a transition
to the GPL
Society have thus
already been maturing
for some
time.
4.2.4 GPL Products
An important step
on the way into
the GPL
Society
would
be the transfer
of
the GPL
to other products
than software.
While this
transfer already
happens
for
all kinds of
information products [74] and
by nature is
also relatively
easy, such
a step
for material
products
is still
to be achieved [75].
The transfer
to material products
is much
more difficult,
because they
cannot
be
copied as
easily as information [76]. More exactly
said, the
production of
a material good
is
not copying an
already existing
product,
but a material
good
is manufactured
with
specialized tools
by
using special
algorithms. Thus,
the process
of the
production of
material goods
differs substantially
from
the process of
abstract copying
as with a cp
instruction,
which duplicates
a file of
any content [77].
So if the copyability
of digital information
has
made GNU/Linux
even possible,
then a transfer
of
the principles
of GNU/Linux
to material
products would
require their
ease of being
copied
or produced.
While
the “multi-duplicator” can
be found in various
Science Fiction
utopias, today,
technical development
is still
far from implementing
the operational
principles of
such a machine.
However, a step
in this direction
could
be the
building of
universal machines
which can manufacture
almost
any piece
under computer
control. First
developments
within this area
actually already
are in operation.
So, there
are already machines,
which produce
a three-dimensional
piece by using
a laser
and special materials
fully automatically;
these pieces
can
then
be further build
on.
Such a machine
is thus something
like
a universal materializer [78] of parts.
With
such a machine,
the characteristics
of information
crucial
for
the GPL
Society can be
transferred to
material goods [79], so
that such
machines
could be
the base
of production
in a GPL Society.
4.2.5 Information
Society Adjusted
to its Concept
For years the
term information
society
has haunted the
media, with the
variant name
of post-industrial
society.
Unfortunately,
especially
with
the latter
term, it remains
strangely open
what exactly
the crucial characteristic
of this society
should be. The
GPL
Society and its
principles could
now fill
this term with
content.
In the preindustrial
agrarian societies
subsistence production
of goods
for immediate
living needs
was the crucial
constant. In
industrial
society, this
agrarian-social
constant was
replaced by
more general
material production
of commodities,
and the production
of goods for
immediate
needs
became increasingly
just an appendage
of industrial
production [80].
The entire society
was
so crucially
shaped by
this change in
the mode of
production that
we must speak
of it
as a change
in historical
epoch.
In the GPL, or
information,
Society, the
production
of goods becomes
in turn the
bare appendage [81] of the production
of
information.
Society would
thus
be determined
by the principles
of the production
of information
– whose
first
example is GNU/Linux.
Such a change
would
indeed be
a new
change of
epoch of truly
historical
dimensions.
Notes
1) Here, the term our societies relates to the
forms of societies that are fully developed in Western Europe,
North America, and
Japan. [back]
2) Throughout | 