long but telling article
catherine yronwode
Steve Sawolkin <jge...@stclair.k12.il.us> wrote:
>
> If you go here: http://dxm.org/fm/cookingpot/ you'll find a really
> cool article on the mentality behind the free software movement,
> which could be called "Cooking pot, the battle for your software
> mind," to use some of our code.
Actually, Steve, this article by Rishab Aiyer Ghosh is about MUCH more
than free software. You sell it way short! I am cc'ing this to Ghosh,
because he has asked for comments, and to Barry Carroll because he and i
have been discussing how and if the net (and in particular web
publishing, more than USENET) can "pay" the creator of texts. I am also
posting it alt.lucky.w, because some of the folks who know me best read
that newsgroup and may be interested in the rationale behind my creation
of the free Lucky W Amulet Archive and the commercial Lucky Mojo Curio
Co.
Ghosh's article is actually about the emerging economics of the
internet. He starts by analyzing the barter model of economics as it
applies to USENET. He calls this the "cooking pot" model, and likens
USENET to a stew to which many poeople contribute ingredients. Ghosh is
from India and while shared stew-cooking may be common there, it is not
common in America. A metaphor more familiar or evocative to Americans,
although with a slightly different meaning, would be that of the
"potluck," a community meal to which each guest contributes a prepared
dish. (Should i cross-post this to rec.arts.wobegon and call it the
"Tuna Hot Dish Theory of USENET"? Nah, too obscure a reference ... but
some of you will know what i am talking about.)
Anyway, the "potluck" exchange of opinions, data, information in USENET
is only the beginning of Ghosh's model of internet economics. The
article really puts on steam, in my opinion, with Ghosh's proposed
development of a new (to me) economic theory -- the "economics of
reputation."
Ghosh's example of how Linus Torvalds gave away the Linux operating
system and now has a paying job at a university is inspirational, but it
is not an unusual tale in the realm of academic/governmental subsidy. On
the other hand, the details he gives on how the Internet Movie Database
came into existence as a free "hobby" co-creation -- and how it has
managed to remain a free service while eventually supporting with actual
cash the families of all who create and maintain it -- THAT is a really
new phenomenon, for which Ghosh's "economics of reputation" is the only
competent explanation.
Thanks for the pointer, Steve. And Barry, this is worth reading, if only
so that we can be on the same page in the future when we discuss the
economics of web publishing.
Finally, for all of you, here's a laugh --
I've gotta get offline now and write some stuff about the uses of acacia
leaves in folk-magic and Freemasonic iconography. This information will
be published first in USENET (to alt.lucky.w, alt.folklore.herbs, and
alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic) for "peer review" (potluck barter of
opinions), then made available for free on a Lucky W Amulet Archive web
page (altruistic production and distribution of information for free
consumption) -- and it will also be printed on the packages of real-life
acacia leaves that i gather from my own trees, dry in my little
dehydrator, and sell for $2.00 a packet through my Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
web site (conventional commerce), which web site, of course, people
usually access through pointers at my free Lucky W Amulet Archive site
and via my .sig in USENET posts (economics of reputation). Hah.
catherine yronwode
The Lucky W Amulet Archive: http://www.luckymojo.com/LuckyW.html
Lucky Mojo Curio Co: http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html
lym...@gmail.com
Steven S.