DHH’s keynote at RailsConf 2019 “on the topic of open source, markets, debts, purpose, and no less than the meaning of life.” It’s pretty wide-ranging (he discusses Marcus Aurelius and David Graeber, Dostoyevsky and Daniel Pink, and throws a little Kierkegaard in the mix, so you know this is going to be a little off-the-wall) but I like the general point: that “open source” can be viewed through a broader perspective than a market metaphor. Broadly, he argues that thinking purely in market terms can be reductionist (there’s more to it than a spectrum with Bill Gates on the one side and Richard Stallman on the other), and that adopting the MIT license is compatible with seeking “happiness” in the sense of finding meaning and purpose with your work – a goal which is harder to achieve with copyright or the GPL. Whether or not you agree with the conclusion, I think it makes for an interesting read.

https://m.signalvnoise.com/ope ... rket/ view all