I have been listening to Jerry Fiddler the Windriver owner. Very interesting on the whole direction of the future. Intersection of biology and engineering. He mentions Steven Webber Success of Open Source 
– a Political Scientist from Berkeley who is saying that Open Source is a new mode of production.
I think I have said that here on the blog a few times, but I recently also though how public works are a very similar mode. To create something all capitalists benefit from, but none could really own, at least initially, the state steps in: space, roads, education and so on.
It seems that Open Source creates those things that may be like that – Linux for example competes with MS but is really a sort of road for many enterprises who should & could not just use proprietary roads, they need to share roads.
Still, it is a different mode of production. But not one that is necessarily going to create a new revolutionary class, as new modes such as industrialisation did.
(I will tidy these email posts up later) – Tuesday, 25 January 2005 — now done!