From: Christian Weisgerber (naddy@mips.inka.de)
Date: Sat Sep 16 2000 - 16:32:34 MDT
[Non-member submission]
Nick Bostrom <nick.bostrom@yale.edu> wrote:
> I'm planning to talk about virtual reality: how teleworking may become
> popular when VR gets good enough that you can get those social
> interactions with office mates that seem to be so essential.
Hmm.
I'm a bit involved in the Open Source scene. (From what I read on
this list I gather that for most participants here the Open Source
movement is rather obscure.) Collaborative projects there are
typically developed by teleworking only. Social interaction in
the flesh just isn't an option, so it works without.
As an example, let's consider the OpenBSD project, which provides
a full-fledged unix operating system widely considered to be the
most secure one around. There are a few dozen developers, i.e.
people with write access to the source tree, who are spread all
over the globe.
Communication is done synchronously by way of a private chat system
and asynchronously by E-mail. Occasionally, developers bump into
each other at trade shows and have a beer together. Once or twice
a year, some developers manage to meet somewhere for a few days to
hack (i.e. develop) together. But for practical purposes, and when
compared to usual office interactions, developers simply don't meet
each other in person, and many never ever do.
Despite these circumstances, work progresses.
Of course, Open Source projects are hardly representative of the
common workplace. We're dealing with highly motivated and highly
qualified people who *want* to collaborate, rather than a set of
so-so employees who do the minimum required to get the next paycheck.
The personal distance introduced by teleworking may also have
advantages. There's little gossip. Who's sleeping with whom isn't
an issue and doesn't alienate co-workers. Some people still can't
work with certain others--it would be interesting to see whether
personal contact would lead to the same groupings.
-- Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de
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