> 2) Improved access to information -- the source code, and a community > around it. This allows motivated individuals to educate themselves rapidly > about things, and to be empowered to use this information.
"It also allows us to lavish kudos on the fame-tolerant we find there. E.g. Musk, Diamandis, Branson, Dawkins, Tyson, Lady Ada, etc. The more we can turn these unfortunate suckers into role models, the easier it will be to corral the drones." I think it is better to not deprive the drone prone of important existential angst. Make them sit around these people for a few days until they lose their religion. That won't happen if they just watch them on TED, or in carefully produced speeches in the East Room of the White House, or even in university lecture rooms. > 3) A culture that has low tolerance for secrets. "I think you might be slightly off on this one. It's not a low tolerance for secrets so much as a need for _qualified_ secrets. We don't care if you won't answer a question, as long as we're happy with _why_ you won't answer it. The focus is on authenticity rather than openness." If an interface promises to do Y when it sees X, and that is tested and declared `compliant', it doesn't tell me for sure what happens when it sees Z, when Z is never mentioned (e.g. in the documentation). Maybe it will indeed again deliver Y when X is seen again, but meanwhile also deliver X to the Mossad? I want to see the logic that leads to Y, and see exactly how it happens. Otherwise all I have is a sketchy contract and it is up to me to try to break it with Z and whatever other misuse one can think of, or break down the obsfucated artifact (executable) into smaller bits and try to rationalize that. As you point out, that's different than trying to POSIX open(2) a file and being given EPERM. That's a refusal, but it can be checked for consistency with other sorts of queries (e.g. stat(2)). Marcus -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
