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muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml

Can anybody recommend good reading material on the nature of software from a Marxist perspective? (lemmygrad.ml)

submitted 2 years ago by AlbigensianGhoul@lemmygrad.ml to c/technology@lemmygrad.ml

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Lots of the classical writing on property and capital are from a pre-software era, which doesn't make it wrong, but I see many things that are so extremely exacerbated with software that have been peeking my interest lately.

For instance, I'm not aware of any other profession in history that can, as the software companies themselves call it, "turn pizza into code". Such low costs to producing what is essentially brand new capital that requires marginal labour to operate are unprecedented AFAIK. If I were to speculate, that is exactly why software developers are so exalted in the capitalist media and market, even though a lot of their work is either useless or discarded (just look at google graveyard) despite their disproportional salaries. They literally turn food and electricity into intangible and scalable capital.

(I'm generally from the field, if it looks like I hold it against y'all lol)

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[–] fruitywelsh@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

This is one reason opensource (bit more copyleft and libre) software is important to me. It makes the difference between capital entrapped by corporations and a public good to be utilized by all. The real lack I see is getting this software and truely great tools in everyday peoples lives.

[–] sparkingcircuit@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I believe the Revolutionary Technical Committee has some reading material, though I haven't gotten around to it as of yet.

[–] SovietPasiune@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

We don't really have much written on the economic characteristics of software. Our previous attempt to engage in an analysis of software as a commodity led to what we later identified as a legalistic deviation from Marxism. We have been occasionally consulting with advanced members of communist parties to create a workable definition, but nothing has come out of it until now.

[–] sparkingcircuit@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 2 years ago

I see, thank you for your response!