[Wolves] Microsoft has submitted the code to the Linux kernel

[Andy Smith]

Hi Sparkes,

On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 11:59:40AM +0100, Stephen Parkes wrote:
> Big rant coming up so tune out now if easily offended ;)
> 
> I totally ignored the rules when I started the Wolves freecycle
> because they are total bollocks.

I agree they have many strange ideas.

> The idea is anarchist so it makes sense to let each community
> police itself and behave in an autominous fashion.

Unfortunately from what I can see the people in charge of Freecycle
as an organisation (the levels above individual regional contacts)
are extremely prescriptive in their ideas about how things should be
run.  These ideas appear to come down from the very top so it is
hard to argue with their authority even if they don't appear very
sensible.

> Things like Freecycle don't need control they should be an example of
> anarchy in action but some people have to control everything they are
> involved in for their own self esteem and the whole Freecycle system
> seems to be run along those lines which is why I'm not even on the
> local freecycle lists anymore.

The model they have adopted does indeed seem very prone to appealing
to little Hitlers.

> The whole Freecycle thing ephasises the bits of the Free Software
> community I have problems with.   Some people do things for others
> first and themselves second and don't need their name attached to
> things (The late Richard Rothwell was a prime example of doing things
> for the right reasons) and others don't have an altrustic bone in
> their body and everything is done to further their own name or
> careers.

I don't think human nature is as bad as that.  No doubt there are
some like that, but for the most part I think it's just a human need
to fit within a hierarchy and Freecycle certainly provides structure
even if it can be a rather insane structure.

> Some of those guys are still good guys even if you have to try hard
> not to be pissed off with their decisions sometimes it's not
> automatically a bad thing to want to improve your own standing if you
> also do good but others seem to be more concerned with their own
> standing than the community and the Freecycle hierachy with a page
> full of anti competitive and totally unfree rules stuck out as the bad
> kind to me.   A good idea turned away from it's natural home by people
> who have to try and control.

I hope that Kevan is successful, it's good to have a bit of
competition to mix things up.

Cheers,
Andy

-- 
http://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting
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