I have to say these last readings were pretty dull. As we have (among other things) been discussing all semester, the development of the internet is an incredible thing, particularly because of the way it allows collective action of one form or another. While I'm sure people like Stallman are brilliant in their respective fields, this stuff is dense with outdated jargon and palpable smugness (and why does that one guy keep talking about hacking?), which is annoying even when it's justified. I'll admit that I'm more or less completely ignorant when it comes to programming, so I may have missed the point completely, but all these just seem like examples of the globalizing force of the internet, viewed from the inside of the machine rather than the outside. Programs become obsolete and are replaced by new models, and so on--I believe the idea of software as text is wonderful, and I hope that the internet really will allow people to connect in a kind of cyberpunk fulfillment of the '60s hippie dream, but I don't see it happening just yet. These articles read like pictures of turning cogs--they will become part of the history of the movement, and remain important, but I don't see how they're enlightening or even particularly interesting to anyone except a mechanic.
Yes, anyway, it's been fun.
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