←back to thread

Accountability sinks

(aworkinglibrary.com)
493 points l0b0 | 2 comments | 19 Oct 24 23:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.404s | source
Show context
aeturnum ◴[20 Oct 24 02:00 UTC] No.41892326[source]▶
When I was a grad student in STS I was considering doing a project on how software can function as an "agency adjuster" where individuals come to bear the risks of something (generally an economic transaction) and the majority of the profits go to the owner of the software. In many ways Uber & related services are about allowing individuals to take on very low-probability high-acuity downside risk for a small fee.
replies(2): >>41892437 #>>41892522 #
gradschoolfail ◴[20 Oct 24 02:26 UTC] No.41892437[source]▶
Hmm, the analysis with respect to FOSS could also interesting. might make less sense to consider profit/compensation. Might be more useful to think of responsibility flows.. (or sources as well as sinks)
replies(1): >>41896493 #
1. aeturnum ◴[20 Oct 24 16:29 UTC] No.41896493[source]▶
Yah - I think there's value there too. I am a huge fan of FOSS ofc - and also it's good to look at how FOSS allows companies to avoid hiring developers because they can use FOSS products. The first benefit I think of is trying to come up with FOSS approaches that would convince or coerce companies to contribute back to the projects they use at least a little.
replies(1): >>41899587 #
2. gradschoolfail ◴[21 Oct 24 00:11 UTC] No.41899587[source]▶
I’d seen situations where companies were forced to debug FOSS that caused problems in their proprietary setups.. that counts as persuasion, I presume?