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Live-blogging from Aspen, Jim Harper of Cato comments on Professor Dale Jorgensen's presentation on IT innovation and economic growth. Harper argues that standard economic analysis may not capture the benefits of FOSS. Its not clear whether Harper means the benefits of FOSS for productivity and economic growth, or societal welfare more generally. A simple reason may be that to its supporters, FOSS just is. I was curious about whether and how open source software was measured in Professor Jorgensen’s data, so I asked him during the break whether it was... Indeed it is, and he mentioned Red Hat as an example of an open source provider that is within the data.
Given that open source software isn’t sold, Professor Jorgensen treats it as “advertising” used to draw people into using service providers like Red Hat. I think that’s a sensible and orthodox approach.
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To use price as a proxy for abstract value, one would think that life hasn’t gotten better in the software area, but this is plainly untrue. Open source is a challenge to the measurement of economic value. Millions of software downloads have brought marginal improvements to billions of lives with no measured economic exchange taking place... Several issues. First, life has gotten better in the software area, although you would not think so listening to the new economy consumer advocates who cry stifled innovation and consumer harm at every twist and turn. If the entire technology industry resembled the FOSS movement, then I'd be worried.
Second, rather than price, what would Harper use to measure FOSS? Options commonly put forth by FOSS supporters include comparing it to the Boston Tea Party, the life sustaining aspects of the Sun, the freedom to tinker, free culture- things that are immeasureable and indicative of FOSS supporters' attempt to avoid scrutiny of the FOSS movement. And to optimize these ends, FOSS supporters like Harper would change regulatory policy, without concern for the effects on tangible things that Professor Jorgensen talks about.
Third, Harper assumes there is any kind of value to be measured in FOSS in the first place. What kind of marginal improvements is Harper talking about? Does Harper see the downloading of technologies as a per se indication of societal benefit? Does Harper consider that transactions without direct monetary exchange can still affect standard economic activity? Has Harper considered whether the full benefits of proprietary technologies are captured in standard economic analysis?
The FOSS movement is no longer new, and its supporters claims that FOSS is simply not well understood nor properly measured are getting old.
posted by Noel Le @ 11:13 AM | Free Culture Movement
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