1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
|
<!--startcut ==========================================================-->
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<title>Software and Plants LG #31</title>
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#A000A0"
ALINK="#FF0000">
<!--endcut ============================================================-->
<H4>
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--===================================================================-->
<center><h1><font color="maroon">A Somewhat Far-Fetched Analogy</font></h1></center>
<center>
<h4>by <a href="mailto: layers@marktwain.net">Larry Ayers</a></h4>
</center>
<hr>
<p>Lately I've been musing about the effects Linux and free software in
general have had upon my world-view. It occurred to me that analogies can
be drawn between the realm of free software and another unrelated pursuit
which intermittently occupies my attention. Growing plants may seem about as
far from the realm of software and computers as it is possible to get, but
I've noticed some parallels.
<p>First, I'll ask why running Linux (and using free software in general) is
satisfying for so many computer users. These factors come to mind:
<ul>
<li>It frees the user from reliance upon unpredictable corporate entities.
<li>It's efficient, modifiable, and develops rapidly.
<li>There is a strong community spirit.
<li>Linux adheres to truly open standards.
<li>Networks well "out of the box", no additional components necessary.
<li>Bugs are usually fixed quickly, partly because
<li>the developers are accessible, responsive, and interested.
</ul>
<p>Open pollinated seeds are seeds which can be planted and yield a plant very
similar to its parents. Hybrid seeds are crosses between species or strains
of plants. Planting a seed from a hybrid plant will give unpredictable and
generally undesirable results. Large seed companies prefer marketing hybrids,
as the customer will have to buy new seed year after year, rather than saving
seeds from productive plants to plant in subsequent years. Beginning to see
where this is headed?
<p>In contrast, a grower who saves seed from open-pollinated plants can exert
an influence on the variety by selecting seed from especially healthy and
productive plants. This evolving strain will eventually become better adapted
to the local soil and climate. Coincidentally enough, someone who keeps a
plant variety alive through the years is referred to as the maintainer of the
variety, and like a maintainer of a free software package, attempts to pass
the responsibility on when he or she is unable to continue the effort.
<p>All too often a favorite vegetable or flower variety is discontinued by a
large seed company; if the plant was a hybrid it's probably gone forever, but
even if the variety comes true from seed it won't survive unless someone
happened to save seed. Ever seen a favorite piece of commercial software
become abandoned by the company which supported it?
<p>If the multinational seed houses have points in common with the large
commercial software firms, there is also a parallel between vendors of Linux
distributions and the growing number of small seed companies which sell
open-pollinated and heirloom seeds. Both of these types of companies service
a niche market, and their customers can duplicate and redistribute the
products sold. The potential for great profit is less than when selling
proprietary and unreproducible goods, but the customer-base in both instances
is growing.
<p>Both the free-software and non-hybrid seed communities exist rather quietly
in society. There is little advertising, especially in the mass media,
because large commercial interests who can afford such publicity aren't
involved. The free software and Linux communities have benefited greatly from
the ubiquity of internet access, while the heirloom plant growers network
through such organizations as the Seed Savers Exchange.
<p>What's really at stake here is the ability to control and mold one segment
of a person's environment, whether that segment is composed of bits or genes.
I think that as society becomes more complex, heavily-populated, and
bureaucratic, the areas of individual autonomy dwindle. These two fringe
realms discussed above, as well as others with similar characteristics, will
surely increase in prominence as time passes.
<p>
<hr>
<!-- hhmts start -->
Last modified: Mon 27 Jul 1998
<!-- hhmts end -->
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, Larry Ayers <BR>
Published in Issue 31 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, August 1998</H5></center>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<A HREF="./lg_toc31.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
ALT="[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]"></A>
<A HREF="../lg_frontpage.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/homenew.gif"
ALT="[ FRONT PAGE ]"></A>
<A HREF="./ayers1.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
ALT=" Back "></A>
<A HREF="./raymond.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/fwd.gif" ALT=" Next "></A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--startcut ==========================================================-->
</BODY>
</HTML>
<!--endcut ============================================================-->
|
