Linux Is Capitalist!

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Thu, 18 May 2006 10:14:22 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

Manuel Lora and Juan Ramón Rallo at LewRockwell.com - Microsoft's Steve Balmer has accused the free software community of being communist. Not so, say Mr. Lora and Mr. Rallo. Not even close. Free software is made by entrepeneurs freely donating their time and ingenuity. No central planning committee in sight. [lew]

Linux is not socialist. The organization and development process of free software is nothing but people acting freely to satisfy their intellectual needs. Economic science has nothing to say regarding any individual plan itself. Whether that plan is accurate for achieving the end is something that will only be revealed ex post; ex ante, all the plans upon which human action is based are the best ones for the agent. This Misesian insight is crucial when understanding the nature of human action. It serves to propel the idea that whenever an individual reaches his proposed goal, he increases his welfare. In other words, human welfare is the result of human actions, and not necessarily a monetary magnitude. Welfare is related to an increase in utility, one which is purely subjective, and not necessarily with the profits of a company.

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