As a species, I am beginning to wonder if we are capable
of surviving. Several people have interesting proprietary
work they want to pursue. I want to be investigating and
working in this space more than anything, but no one is
funding any of us.
Meanwhile, no one wants to give anything away, because their
only hope for having the freedom to pursue the paths that
need pursuing is to garner revenue for the purpose. (Even
when we *do* share, it's harder than hell to reach agreement
on anything.)
Doug is adamant that open source is the only way to go. He's
right, but where does that leave us? At SRI they are talking
about setting up an open source base technology, and building
revenue-producing IP on top of that. I was one of the first to
say, hey, if someone is going to start generating revenue,
where is mine going to come from? As much as I freely
contribute design ideas at this stage, as soon as we started
talking about a tangible product, I felt myself shifting gears,
looking for my advantage. But do we have time for that?
I guess my point is: If the problems we face really are that
pressing, and we as a society cannot identify and free up the
brains that are capable of finding a solution, then there is
strong possibility that the solutions won't attive in time.
Meanwhile, those of us who have something to contribute find
ourselves lacking either time to do what needs to be done,
or financial incentive to contribute what amounts to our hope
for the future (personal future, that is).
So the question remains: Are we, as a species, in fact capable
of surviving? Or do personal and societal short-sightedness
make it unlikely?
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