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joncr Jun 13, 2012 4:19 PM EDT |
There are quotes around the word "selfish" in that BBC interview. I don't know if Linus wrote his responses or used air quotes, but I interpreted that remark when I read it this morning to suggest that FOSS developers are often motivated by their own interests in building something, the pleasure they take from the creative process, and the rewards they get when they see other people use their work. That seems innocuous enough. I'm pretty sure Linus meant it to be taken in that sense, not in the Mr. Burns sense. That said, I've been told more than once that the purpose I, as a user, serve in the FOSS ecology is to support developers. That point of view is not so innocuous. |
smallboxadmin Jun 13, 2012 5:48 PM EDT |
@joncr You said exactly what I was thinking. Each contributor has thier own set of interests (i.e. being "selfish"). Sharing the result of those interests benefit all of Linux. I think what Linus was eluding to was there is no central mission, but all of the contributions have built something usable and sustainable. Taking him to task for using "selfish" may have read too little into what he was saying. |
montezuma Jun 13, 2012 6:53 PM EDT |
The concept of selfishness is unfortunately a semantical playground. Example: I enjoy helping people and empathizing with them. Does that make me selfish? After-all I am deriving emotional benefit by not being selfish. Taking a narrow view all human activity is selfish. I don't find that a productive definition however. |
vainrveenr Jun 13, 2012 7:51 PM EDT |
Quoting:Each contributor has thier own set of interests (i.e. being "selfish"). Sharing the result of those interests benefit all of Linux. I think what Linus was eluding to was there is no central mission, but all of the contributions have built something usable and sustainable. Indeed. It is also possible that the original poster of this LXer Feature piece never delved further past "Eric Raymond's famous itch scratch concept" in CatB to reach the elaboration of this "selfishness". ESR elaborates upon this type of "selfishness" specifically within the CatB section The Social Context of Open-Source Software: Quoting:Earlier I referred to the ``Delphi effect'' as a possible explanation for Linus's Law. But more powerful analogies to adaptive systems in biology and economics also irresistably suggest themselves. The Linux world behaves in many respects like a free market or an ecology, a collection of selfish agents attempting to maximize utility which in the process produces a self-correcting spontaneous order more elaborate and efficient than any amount of central planning could have achieved. Here, then, is the place to seek the ``principle of understanding''. Perhaps the type of "selfishness" elaborated upon here has already successfully and will continue to successfully "work with FOSS" regardless of the leanings of the original poster of this LXer Feature piece. |
tuxchick Jun 13, 2012 9:11 PM EDT |
Quoting: I enjoy helping people and empathizing with them. Does that make me selfish? After-all I am deriving emotional benefit by not being selfish. Perhaps this is the crux of the disagreements-- selfishness is not an emotional state. It is behavior. vrainveer, I forgot about that bit. It ignores the plain and simple dictionary definition of 'selfish'. |
linuxwriter Jun 14, 2012 1:13 AM EDT |
What's wrong with the "selfish" bit? In the ultimate analysis, all human acts are selfish. Even altruism will only be indulged in if the doer feels good about it. The warm feeling that comes when one does good is the kickback - it does not always have to be something material. Nothing wrong about it, we as a species are built that way. And, BTW, I don't think the BBC put the word "selfish" in. I did an interview with Linus last year [1] and used his replies to my questions verbatim. The BBC text reads exactly like his own writing. He often uses words in quotes himself and his way of expressing himself is so clear and uncomplicated that something would be lost in editing it. [1] http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/44975-... |
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