Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Mapping the patterns of the GNU GPL Onto the Material World

[Patrick Anderson]

> if the product were a power wheelchair,
> which has both hardware and software, comes in
> a variety of sizes, and has a cushion by a different
> vendor which may not be open, how would things work
> with what you propose?

Think of the extreme limitations of the GNU project
when it first began.

All the tools and supporting infrastructure (editors,
compilers, text-wrangling, etc.) had to be built
from the ground up.

We will not immediately have Free as in Freedom
factories, and can assume current manufacturers
will not help, so creating a wheelchair may take
quite a long time at first.

Also, according to the patterns in the GNU GPL,
we may not want to mix a proprietary cushion with
a Free wheelchair, but I am not so sure this is
absolutely necessary, as long as we apply the
"Terms of Operation" to creating future instances
of such Objects...

On the other hand, considering the popularity of
so-called "fab labs", there is a chance we could
design and implement a GNU kind of wheelchair
within a fairly short time using off-the-shelf parts.

So if you were to buy such a Free as in Freedom
wheelchair, if any of the Price you paid was more
than the real Costs of construction (where wages
are a part of Costs), then you would receive some
shares of ownership in the growth of that fab-lab,
and in doing so, would have access to the Material
Means of Production, thereby allowing you, or
anyone you choose, to repair or modify your
wheelchair, or to build another one.