Linux Mafia
Nothing more stupid than to ascribe evil powers to a group of users. Enderle, however, tries unsuccessfully, in his article at Technology News, comparing Linux knowledge workers to a mafia that is slowly awakening, with untold powers.
It is a stupid article, dumb to the point of being humorous. It is full of FUD and erroneous facts and exaggerated claims.
But I link to it because, in a sense, it is also true.
Compare that distributed group to that organization that, truly, has
Enderle uses these words to attack Linux and Open Source proponents, but what he describes is what could be Microsoft, Oracle and the like: powerful organized entities that can, and do, affect entire companies, governments and media. These are the ones that have access to your banking accounts and your passwords: these are the companies that know what you write and where you live; these are the companies that could, if they so desired, exert a great deal of control over your life and decisions. To an extent, they do already.
The power of the linux and open source movement lies in that it devolves power to the individuals, who, through disagreement and discussion, reach decisions that benefit the majority. It is very difficult to have hidden agendas while discussing all in the open.
So, there is no Mob, but a distributed thinking group that reaches decisions with complexity and in an inefficient manner, but that allows for a greater good - the group itself polices its own identity and direction. It has its own specialists, scouts, thinkers, pioneers, but they are as much a part of the group as anybody else, and in the same place as others. Their power resides in the group, thus making the open source syndicate, if anything, the most democratic, just and egalitarian un-organization in the world.
Via /.