[AktiviX] Re: activist-geek co-op

[j.martin.pedersen]

hi all,

i'd be interested in such a co-op. I am mainly doing theoretical things,
such as philosophy, economy, and in terms of paid work in co-op context
i'd be interested in doing assessments: ethical considerations and
reaons/justifications for migrations etc.

could imagine that we could affiliate with the Free Software Consortium
as a co-op, be listed in their database as an entity operating in
whatever geographical sphere and competences we might cover. That would
bring us close to Public Sector work, which is likely to be a new market
looking for local companies (co-ops should get in tehre first and
subvert the market before it grows really big and corporate!!).

just ideas....... there are also the possibilities of academic projects
- which these days, in EU contexts, are multisectorial, that is to say
that there needs to be consortium of participants in the proposals, so
new small companies, often set down by academics or their friends, are
becoming IT infrastructure providers for academic research projects
(websites w/ discussion fora etc etc.)

...also a good irregular source of income. WEll paid, -overpaid,
really,needless to say. Better us than them, though - is what I think.

I think that we can use this point of intervention well: infiltrating
the public sector with free software, at their own expense and also
claim from the corporate world these new markets. One of the main
economic justifications for FLOSS, as they call it, is a "microeonomic"
idea of stimulating the local economy and increase employment by
directing license money from Redmond/Microplot to local companies.

The trains is leaving. We could get on it with a radical vision.


/m


On Fri, 2003-11-21 at 13:41, max wrote:
> Hello all!
> 
> got a few responses from the last email about an geek collective or co-op, 
> mostly asking for clarification, so here goes :-)
> 
> at the aktivix we were talking about forming a collective of campaigners who 
> are doing paid work on linux things. personally i'm looking to be involved in 
> / start up some kind of collective (could be as loose as a mutual-aid 
> network, or something like a proper workers' co-op)  of people who are doing 
> Free Software IT work. The idea is that we could provide support to other 
> members if and when needed.
> 
> Just as an example: I'm thinking of doing paid work around linux 
> (installation, migration, training etc), but would like to have contacts with 
> ppl who may be able muck in (for a fair share of the fees) if, for example, i 
> got a really big contract that i couldn't deal with on my own, and needed 
> help for a few days. obviously the help would work in all directions, and i'd 
> be available for other members to call on for support.
> 
> I can see a loose network fulfilling this function well - every time we felt 
> we needed help we could just send out a shout to the network, and negotiate 
> from there. But if ppl are interested in taking this further and making it a 
> proper co-op (ie run it as a distinct business) then i'd be interested in 
> that too.
> 
> If anyone else is interested it would be great if they could drop me a line
> 
> cheers
> 
> max
> 
> 
> 
> On Thursday 09 Oct 2003 10:37 am, you wrote:
> > Hi all
> >
> > at the aktivix we were talking about forming a collective of campaigners
> > who are doing paid work on linux things.
> >
> > I'm still interested in this idea, and i was wondering:
> >
> > - who else is interested?
> >
> > - what is the purpose of the collective, how closely can/will we work
> > together?
> >
> > - if enough people are into such a collective, perhaps we should meet up
> > (next aktivix? or earlier on irc?)
> >
> > max
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> 
-- 
j.martin.pedersen
-
ethical committee
free software consortium
www.fsc.cc
mp at fsc.cc
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