-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Armstrong [mailto:eric.armstrong@eng.sun.com]
"Garold L. Johnson" wrote:
>
> > A better alternative, if feasible, would be attributions attached to
> > every phrase in the node....
>
> This is Ted Nelson’s passion. ... Nelson viewed
> the attributed quotation mechanism as the basis for a royalty scheme
> that would pay authors for the amount of their work that was viewed no
> matter what document it was quoted in.
>
Monetary compensation might enter into the picture, of course.
But what we're finding as the prime motivator for
open source tools (beyond having the tool written) is
recognition.
Appreciation, recognition, having a sense of being a valuable
contributor to a community -- call it what you will, as
social primates, it is possibly the most powerful motivator
in our bag, right up there with food, shelter, and a mate.
We're wired so that we do a heck of a lot of things for the
approval of others that just would not make sense any other
way! Football comes to mind. Take the biggest guys you can
find and have them run headlong into each other. Right!
That's not crazy? (And I'm a fan!)
But social acceptance and team approval, and suddenly its a
highly desirable pastime!
But back to the point...
While monetary compensation could be cool, it could also be
a huge damper. Where does the money COME from? If I have to
pay, I probably won't quote anybody (cheap bastard that I
am). Hell, I'm not good enough right now at acknowledging
all the people that give me ideas. Hate to think what it would
be like if I (and others) had to pay to do it.)
So, while I agree that attribution is 100% necessary, I
disagree entirely with the notion of tying it to monetary
compensation. It runs counter to the social mores of
academia where "building a name" is deemed laudable, and
where complete and accurate attribution is deemed a
necessity.
[Garold L. Johnson] Money or no money is totally not the point. The point is
that the technology for tracking and propagating attribution was something
that Ted Nelson worked out in Xanadu. What you do with the “points” that add
up is completely irrelevant to the technology needed to support the
accounting. I am simply suggesting that there is little chance of starting
from scratch and successfully second guessing an effort that took several
decades in development. Even if the only point of attribution is
traceability to originating source, the required technology is the same.
Thanks,
Garold (Gary) L. Johnson
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 24 2000 - 18:39:59 PST