The Evolution of Free and Open Source Software

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The first real battle was between free and open source softwere proprietary softword. And commons is a socialist philosophy, or at least i think in its best version. If we don't want to be the slaves of micro sot independent on them,. Anti dependency is an anti colonial thing, right? But then the rise of cloud computing platforms and big data changed the game. They kept some proprietary stof they brought in free Open Source software but now there's been a huge explosion of teething problems with how people use their technology. It's just so interesting to see that kind of division between what is actually happening and the kind of narrative that is deployed in order to justify it.

Paris Marx is joined by Michael Kwet to discuss how digital technologies are used to entrench the power of the United States and its dominant corporations at the expense of the Global South.

Michael Kwet is a Visiting Fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. He got his PhD in Sociology at Rhodes University in South Africa. Follow Michael on Twitter at @Michael_Kwet.

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Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

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Also mentioned in this episode:

Michael wrote about digital colonialism and the need for a Digital Tech Deal.
Bill Gates wrote a notorious letter in 1976 opposing the sharing of software as it conflicted with Microsoft's business model.
Tech companies export content moderation, training AI, call center, and even more labor to the Global South.
Gabriel Winant criticized the dominant liberal perspective on antitrust action.

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