Jan 22 – Early Hardware and Software
- All to often those with the knowledge are not in a position to make the decisions.
- The definition of success is up to you. I like to think of success as being able to accomplish that which you set out to do.
- Collaboration can lead to great success.
Jan 27 – Big Names & Primary Players
- Avoid dishonesty and situations that create barriers to honesty.
- While being competitive can be good, being competitive to the point of actively working to damage others to succeed is not.
- Be aware of the signs of ethical decay.
Jan 29 – The Rise of Silicon Valley
- Ironic that Steve Jobs accuses Microsoft of stealing after admitting he steals his ideas.
- I believe it is better to be right (honest/ethical) than to be successful.
- Sometimes your own ego can lead to your demise.
Feb 3 – The Open Source Movement
- Seems strange that the proponents of free software claim they are supporting freedom when they also say that all software should be free software, as long as it follows their definition of free. If I’m free shouldn’t I have the choice?
- Trust others, but don’t be naive.
- Be open to the ideas of others.
Feb 5 – Ethics Review
- Effective communication is key to being able to achieve goals.
- Always take time to be aware of the issues around you and the history of those issues.
- According to the free software foundation would it be unethical for me to prevent distribution of a computer virus?
Raw Reading Notes:
Definition of free software:
“…makes the program an instrument of unjust power.” -> Pretty strong words. Since I work for a company that makes proprietary software does that mean I’m a wielder of unjust power, a tyrant?
“…we consider them all equally unethical.” are they really unethical? If I create something shouldn’t I have the right to govern it’s use. Could it be considered unethical that the GNU license spreads like a virus, forcing projects that use a GNU licensed library to also use their license, or not use the software.
Would they consider it unethical for me to prevent distribution of a virus?
Would they consider it unethical for me to modify an system so others couldn’t modify the system and install the programs they want? For example if I have a small child that I want to limit what they can do, or a corporate environment where users could install backdoors or open the system to exploitation.
Turns around and says that copyleft licenses protect the freedom of free software, after saying that any sort of restriction on the distribution of software is bad.
Basically says that you must use free software, as long as it follows our rules about what free is.
Cathedral Bazaar
Point 10 – My company tends to treat QA as little more than button pushers, leading them to not be a valuable resource.
Argues that hoarding software (closed source) is not morally wrong, but instead just means the program will evolve slower.
Often seen the failure of projects due to it not being what the users want.