I went to an open source conference, and the rep from Red Hat was quoting Alexis de Toqueville.
He said something along the lines of: The sum of the efforts of (many or smart)* individuals amounts to something greater than what the government can provide.
* some adjective was lost here
His idea was that the combined effort of the open source community has more potential than any regulated agency. I had always associated the open source movement with liberals, but maybe is more conservative than I thought.
Red Hat lists Toqueville books on the web site. http://www.redhat.com/solutions/info/books/
Uh, the Alexis de Tocqueville book listed on the Red Hat website is the original book written by the actual, historical person Alexis de Tocqueville, whom most Americans learn about in high school history class. He was a writer whose early proto-anthropological observations about America became a classic and oft-cited study of American society. The quote you cite is also by the historical de Tocqueville.
The Alexis de Tocqueville Institute has no historical or formal relationship to the actual Alexis de Tocqueville. It is an intellectually bankrupt fraud factory that took de Tocqueville's name in order to lend itself an air of reputability.
Thus, your comment inadvertently points out the contrast between Red Hat, whose founders take inspiration from Alexis de Tocqueville, and Microsoft, which employs the "Alexis de Tocqueville" Institute.
You are, however, correct that there is nothing inherently "liberal", in the current usage of the word, about open source software.
I went to an open source conference, and the rep from Red Hat was quoting Alexis de Toqueville.
ReplyDeleteHe said something along the lines of:
The sum of the efforts of (many or smart)* individuals amounts to something greater than what the government can provide.
* some adjective was lost here
His idea was that the combined effort of the open source community has more potential than any regulated agency. I had always associated the open source movement with liberals, but maybe is more conservative than I thought.
Red Hat lists Toqueville books on the web site.
http://www.redhat.com/solutions/info/books/
-K
Uh, the Alexis de Tocqueville book listed on the Red Hat website is the original book written by the actual, historical person Alexis de Tocqueville, whom most Americans learn about in high school history class. He was a writer whose early proto-anthropological observations about America became a classic and oft-cited study of American society. The quote you cite is also by the historical de Tocqueville.
ReplyDeleteThe Alexis de Tocqueville Institute has no historical or formal relationship to the actual Alexis de Tocqueville. It is an intellectually bankrupt fraud factory that took de Tocqueville's name in order to lend itself an air of reputability.
Thus, your comment inadvertently points out the contrast between Red Hat, whose founders take inspiration from Alexis de Tocqueville, and Microsoft, which employs the "Alexis de Tocqueville" Institute.
You are, however, correct that there is nothing inherently "liberal", in the current usage of the word, about open source software.