From 9effd10a89abf7cda19102edf3581cbc48510fdb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Owen Jacobson
This is a form of collective action, as implemented by someone who thinks of unions and organized labour as something that software could do better. The -usual lens for critique of the GPL is that GPL'd software cannot be used in +usual lens for critique of the GPL is that GPL‘d software cannot be used in non-GPL systems (which is increasingly true, as the Free Software Foundation -catches up with the "as a Service" model of software deliver) by developers, -but I think there's a more interesting angle on it as an attempt to apply the +catches up with the “as a Service” model of software deliver) by developers, +but I think there‘s a more interesting angle on it as an attempt to apply the collective bargaining power of programmers as a class to extracting a concession from managerial -- business and government -- interests, instead. In that reading, the GPL demands that managerial interests in software avoid -behaviours that would be bad for programmers (framed as "users", as above) as a +behaviours that would be bad for programmers (framed as “users”, as above) as a condition of benefitting from the labour of those programmers.
-Sadly, Stallman is not a labour historian or a union organizer. He's a public +
Sadly, Stallman is not a labour historian or a union organizer. He‘s a public speaker and a programmer. By attempting to reinvent collective action from first principles, and by treating collective action as a special case of software development, the GPL acts to divide programmers from non-programming computer users, and to weaken the collective position of programmers vis-à-vis -managerial interests. The rise of "merit"-based open source licenses, such as +managerial interests. The rise of “merit”-based open source licenses, such as the MIT license (which I use heavily, but advisedly), and the increasing pervasiveness of the Github Resume, are both simple consequences of this mistake.
-I'm pro-union. The only thing worse than having two competing powerful -interests in the room is having only one powerful interest in the room. The GPL -should be part of any historical case study for the unionization of -programmers, since it captures so much of what we do wrong.
+I‘m pro-organized-labour, and largely pro-union. The only thing worse than +having two competing powerful interests in the room is having only one powerful +interest in the room. The GPL should be part of any historical case study for +the unionization of programmers, since it captures so much of what we do wrong.
diff --git a/wiki/dev/gnu-collective-action-license.md b/wiki/dev/gnu-collective-action-license.md index c70a4af..b273115 100644 --- a/wiki/dev/gnu-collective-action-license.md +++ b/wiki/dev/gnu-collective-action-license.md @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ The GNU Public License presents a simple, legally enforceable offer: in return for granting the right to distribute the licensed work and its derivatives, the GPL demands that derivative works also be released under the GPL. The _intent_, as derived from -[Stallman's commentaries](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.en.html) +[Stallman‘s commentaries](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.en.html) on the GPL and on the social systems around software, is that people who _use_ information systems should, morally and legally, be entitled to the tools to understand what the system will do and why, and to make changes to those tools @@ -25,27 +25,27 @@ as they see fit. This is a form of _collective action_, as implemented by someone who thinks of unions and organized labour as something that software could do better. The -usual lens for critique of the GPL is that GPL'd software cannot be used in +usual lens for critique of the GPL is that GPL‘d software cannot be used in non-GPL systems (which is increasingly true, as the Free Software Foundation -catches up with the "as a Service" model of software deliver) _by developers_, -but I think there's a more interesting angle on it as an attempt to apply the +catches up with the “as a Service” model of software deliver) _by developers_, +but I think there‘s a more interesting angle on it as an attempt to apply the collective bargaining power of programmers as a class to extracting a concession from managerial -- business and government -- interests, instead. In that reading, the GPL demands that managerial interests in software avoid -behaviours that would be bad for programmers (framed as "users", as above) as a +behaviours that would be bad for programmers (framed as “users”, as above) as a condition of benefitting from the labour of those programmers. -Sadly, Stallman is not a labour historian or a union organizer. He's a public +Sadly, Stallman is not a labour historian or a union organizer. He‘s a public speaker and a programmer. By attempting to reinvent collective action from first principles, and by treating collective action as a special case of software development, the GPL acts to divide programmers from non-programming computer users, and to weaken the collective position of programmers vis-à-vis -managerial interests. The rise of "merit"-based open source licenses, such as +managerial interests. The rise of “merit”-based open source licenses, such as the MIT license (which I use heavily, but advisedly), and the increasing pervasiveness of the Github Resume, are both simple consequences of this mistake. -I'm pro-union. The only thing worse than having two competing powerful -interests in the room is having only one powerful interest in the room. The GPL -should be part of any historical case study for the unionization of -programmers, since it captures so much of what we do wrong. +I‘m pro-organized-labour, and largely pro-union. The only thing worse than +having two competing powerful interests in the room is having only one powerful +interest in the room. The GPL should be part of any historical case study for +the unionization of programmers, since it captures so much of what we do wrong. -- cgit v1.2.3