[consulting] Open Source Software: Who Gives and who takes

[Alex Rollin]

I wholeheartedly agree with this.  The ethics of the ecology of contribution
in the context of open source is applicable across society, a set of values
that is not necessarily dogmatic (yes, we use "{}" for code and not
indents).

I read something interesting from a conversation on BarcampTDot Pages at
OpenSourceBusinessModelsBeyondTheCode<http://barcamp.org/OpenSourceBusinessModelsBeyondTheCode>that
I found really interesting.  It seems that philosophical leadership is
really helping to inform how the models are extended beyond simply selfish
or simply altruistic motives so that all organizations and individuals can
play together.  This conversation is a good example.

I work with a number of 'commercial' corporations that have embraced socialy
constructive missions in order to expand their horizons.  In doing so, they
are becoming open to and learning to benefit from the Open Source community
in reciprocal ways, and because they are internalizing the advanced ethics
of the open source community in ways that are appropriate to them I am have
been able to explain quite fully, at least in conversation with them and
sometimes in contract, that their contributions to Drupal or any open source
community serve alongside their organization's mission.  In effect, the
ethics allow them a deeper level of collaboration that benefits everyone.

This approach is becoming more and more relevant.  At the
http://www.personaldemocracy.com/ forum this last monday it was very
apparent that the understanding of software as "political" is creeping into
the mainstream, but more slowly because our work is not always balanced with
a proactive value proposition for corporate or other entities, entities
which we can see are learning to develop an appreciation for authenticity
and transparency in their operational ethics.  Learning, yes, as we all are;
the larger it is, the slower it moves, yes?

Alex Rollin
http://coera.us
"We are in this together, and we can make it work with what we have if we
use what we've got."

On 5/18/06, John Sechrest <sechrest at jas.peak.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> Kieran Lal <kieran at civicspacelabs.org> writes:
>
> % http://www.optimizemagazine.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?
> % articleId=187203341&pgno=1&queryText=
>
> % It seems that big companies contribute through service firms.  Would
> % it be in our interest to publish how contributions are made by big
> % companies so more will do so?
>
>
> Yes, I think that whenever you can celebrate contributions by
> large companies, you help create a wider culture of contribution.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----
> John Sechrest          .         Helping people use
>                         .           computers and the Internet
>                           .            more effectively
>                              .
>                                  .       Internet: sechrest at peak.org
>                                       .
>                                               .
> http://www.peak.org/~sechrest
> _______________________________________________
> consulting mailing list
> consulting at drupal.org
> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>



-- 
Alex Rollin
alex (dot) rollin (at) gmail (dot) com
http://coera.us/alexrollin
skypeto.discursives
415.676.1510.mobile
410.531.0495.office
8630M Guilford Road #215
Columbia MD, 21046
<a href='http://www.rapleaf.com/profile/show/dExCLmSV'><br><img
alt="alexrollin's Rapleaf Score" border="0" src="
http://www.rapleaf.com/sig/dExCLmSV.jpg" /><br></a>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/consulting/attachments/20060518/4d037154/attachment-0001.htm