[p2p-research] Some context on Josef's FLOSS/COOP alliance project for the UK

[Michel Bauwens]

via
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-social-economy-and-freelibre-and-open-source-software-time-for-an-alliance/2009/12/16
<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-social-economy-and-freelibre-and-open-source-software-time-for-an-alliance/2009/12/16>


<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-social-economy-and-freelibre-and-open-source-software-time-for-an-alliance/2009/12/16>

The Social Economy and Free/Libre and Open Source Software: Time for an
Alliance<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-social-economy-and-freelibre-and-open-source-software-time-for-an-alliance/2009/12/16>

 *Appeal: Social Economy – Free/Libre and Open Source Software: Time of
Alliance*

By *Bastien Sibille*:

*“Two worlds coexist that raise the ramparts against the hegemonic
temptation of capitalism. One is old and has its roots in the 19th century
industrial age – the world of social economy (cooperatives, mutuals,
associations). The other is younger and has its roots in the 21st century
information age – the world of Free/Libre and Open Source Software. If the
Free community and enterprises of the social economy have already rubbed
elbows together for more than a decade, they don’t often see how close their
struggles are. The time has come to speak of the closeness of these
struggles and the urgency of their alliance.*

*Reasons For Alliance*

*For about 20 years communities of computer programmers, as well as
information technology companies, have developed what they call Free/Libre
and Open-Source Software (FLOSS) FLOSS is software that anyone can use
freely, study, modify, and distribute around. It contrasts with proprietary
software in that its code is “open” while that of proprietary software is
“closed”. The openness is technical and legal at the same time. On the
technical side, the source code of FLOSS is “readable” by human beings while
that of proprietary software is distributed in machine code which renders it
unreadable even by computer programmers. On the legal side, FLOSS is
protected by open licenses which assure it can’t ever be privatized and
remains a common good.*

*The Principals surrounding the production, distribution, and usage of FLOSS
display important synergies with the principals of the social economy. One
should first notice a synergy in the connection to the accumulation of
capital between the enterprises of the social economy and the FLOSS
community. A software program, because it is the accumulation of the work of
the women and men who created it, is capital – immaterial capital.
Proprietary licenses arrange remuneration on this immaterial capital: Each
time it is duplicated, and sold, it generates a gain without supplementary
work being furnished. In the case of free software, there is no remuneration
of capital: Only work pays. There you have it, the first trait that places
FLOSS so close to the historic fight of the social economy.*

*Next, the modes of production of FLOSS respects at least three other
fundamental pillars of social economy enterprises. The freedom of entry and
exit : A person enters freely into an association and leaves it just as
freely. This freedom is very present in the philosophy and practice of free
software : Every user who wishes can go into the code, use it, and leave
freely. The democratic principle: one man, one vote. This fundamental
freedom of functioning of associations is at work in free software: Every
user of the code can take part in the creation or the modification of the
code. The user community of free software thus takes part in their
improvement by indicating to the developers the bugs they have repaired.
This stands in contrast to the modes of production of proprietary software,
in which a few programmers decide for all how the software will function.
Lastly,the unsharability of the reserves. When women and men together create
a wealth of software, when they write together the computer code then decide
to protect it with an open licence, it assures that the wealth produced
cannot be privatized : the code stays open to all. No one can appropriate
it. The immaterial wealth placed under open licence can only remain
communal.*

*Urgency of Alliance*

*The alliance of social economy enterprises and FLOSS communities is a
strategic necessity. The intensification of computer use, since the 1980s,
from microcomputing – word processing, spreadsheets, agendas – and, since
the middle of the 1990s, information networks – email, websites, intranet,
facilitation of services and online payments – has driven the enterprises of
the social economy to depend more and more strongly on computer software.*

*Today these programs are primarily produced by capitalist enterprises.
These enterprises obtain a return on their investments by “closing” the
source code, in a way such that*

* * (1) those who want the services of these programs are obligated to buy
them, and*

* * (2) those who want to read files created by these programs are obligated
to purchase the programs.*

*Proprietary software programs are trojan horses of the capitalist economy
placed in the heart of the social economy. Their utilization by social
economy enterprises is extremely worrying. First because it signifies that
the structures of the social economy depend, for a large proportion of their
activities, on software tools that, by their mode of production and their
architecture, do not correspond to their values. Then because it makes
organization of the social economy dependant on capitalist enterprises. This
dependence is worrying beyond just the discrepancy in values. It signifies,
for example, that all the information stored (files, text, images,
spreadsheets) by social economy enterprises depends for its future use, on
the survival or the goodwill of the capitalist enterprises that produce the
software.*

*Today, the independence of social economic organization vis-à-vis the
capitalist editors of computer code is possible. FLOSS offers to the
structures of the social economy a powerful alternative. It is powerful
first because the open code is a perpetual code: it can always be taken,
reworked, remodeled, in order to mirror best the needs of the structures
that deploy it. It is also powerful because the open code is a solid code:
in that when it is open, all competent actors in the free community
participate in its improvement. This is the assurance that the weaknesses
are quickly identified and corrected. It is powerful next because the open
code is a united code : The programs developed by some organizations of the
social economy could benefit others. In having the possibility to freely
distribute the programs that they use, social economy organizations
facilitate their electronic communications with partner organizations and
notably with those partners who would not have the means to buy the
programs. It is powerful finally because it permits the social economy
organizations to use, in their daily actions, information tools that are
coherent with the values for which they fight. In the same way that social
economy enterprises equip themselves with specific financial and legal
instruments, it is urgent that they equip themselves with computerized
instruments that respect their principals.*

*An alliance is necessarily a movement in two senses. The reasons that
encourage FLOSS communities to form an alliance with the social economy are
no less strong than those that push the structures of the social economy to
adopt FLOSS.*

*To equip social economy enterprises with FLOSS, is to equip enterprises
whose way of functioning and work are closely related to the model of
production of FLOSS : the cooperation, the working in a network, the
volunteer work are elements particularly present in the daily structure of
the social economy. FLOSS in social economy enterprises therefore presents
an opportunity for intensive usage by users who are quicker than others to
report bugs to the community so they can realize benefits from improvements
to the software. The quality of FLOSS is bound to increase substantially if
it is largely used by the structures of the social economy. Additionally,
the computing strength of the social economy enterprises is considerable.
Numerous social economy enterprises mobilize computerized services that are
important for the number of computer programmers who work there as for the
development that they produce. In allying with the social economy, the free
communities can count on their computing firepower.*

*Free software and the social economy are emancipation movements. In allying
with the social economy, the free movement joins a force of progress and
justice sensitive to the move toward new horizons ; it joins an ancient
historic fight, deeply entrenched in our societies, capable of mobilizing
extended and varied networks. Otherwise said, in allying with the social
economy, the free movement integrates with a larger movement which it can
rely on to continue to construct its legitimacy. That is not all. The free
communities are today at a turning point : the quality of their software
production drives them to be more and more at the heart of strategies of
very large computer enterprises. The freedom of yesterday is not the freedom
of today, and the spirit of the pioneers may soon not be there as an
influence, except marginally. The capitalist stakes start to leave a
noticeable mark on open source projects : the risk is that the success of
the free does not lose its potential as emancipator. Here, the alliance of
free communities with the social economy structures takes full dimension -
it assures that the success of the free will not be used to the detriment of
their deepseated politics.*

*Stakes of the Alliance*

*In the end, it is imperative to say that taking a strong position in favour
of open software licenses marks, for the allies, engagement in a much larger
debate. In a world where the modes of production are turning more and more
toward immaterial goods, the socio-political stakes linked to intellectual
property become crucial and do not stop with software. Patenting of plant
and animal genomes, of active molecules of medicines, or increasing the
duration of author’s rights applicable to works of art are examples of the
violence of the current mechanisms of the privatization of the immaterial.
Intellectual property is thus at the heart of the present and future fight
in fields as varied as agriculture, health, or art. By taking a clear
position in favour of open source software, open licenses and modes of
production and the diffusion of products in the spirit that they organize,
FLOSS communities and the social economy enterprises engage themselves in a
contest that is larger than the individual domain of computers : it is the
winning back of common goods. This combat is crucial for the future of our
societies.”*

*More information:*

Contact the author via bastien.sibille AT gmail.com

(Translation: Brendan C. Jones, brendan.colin.jones at gmail.com)


-- 
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