[p2p-research] P2P Ideology

[Matt Cooperrider]

I'm forking this out from the discussion "Is the P2PFoundation a Shill for
Proprietary  Software?"  The question of whether P2P is an ideology needs
discussing.

-----

Athina wrote:

> It seems this raises again the issue of ideology I think in p2p which so
> far has been a bit conveniently thrown under the carpet, especially in
> relation to the commercialization and promotion of the open source and
open
> products in general.
>
>

Kevin wrote:

I don't think it's been thrown under the carpet at all.  Upon close
inspection, the notion of a general ideology in p2p itself is a nonsensical
concept.  P2P is a phenomenon / process.  Participants may have diverse
ideologies (e.g. profit-only vs freedom-only), but as long as they agree on
the basic principles of production, that doesn't impact the process.
Ideological differences can and do impact organizations participating in p2p
production, and that has come up regularly (e.g. Wikipedia).

-------

I don't have much of an argument, but I wanted to invite others to discuss
(particularly to invite Athina to rebut, and Kevin to expand on his close
inspection).

I agree with Kevin that there is no "general ideology in p2p itself", but
the notion of "p2p itself" brackets the historical context.  Employing p2p's
"basic principles of production" in 2009 has potentially huge political and
social implications.  Those of us who work to advance "p2p alternatives" do
so because p2p processes (maybe not in every case, but when considered
together) privilege certain outcomes that we prefer.  Our preferences need
to be examined.

Best,
Matt

-- 
Matt Cooperrider, Consultant
SITE: http://mattcoop.com
SITE: http://collabforge.com
TWITTER: @mattcoop
PHONE: 774.487.8152
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