Re: plant DB - process

[John Schinnerer <eco_living@yahoo.com>]

Aloha,

--- Richard Morris <webmaster@pfaf.org> wrote:
> What I'd like to do is create a forum where people can 
> exchange this knowledge. 

My interest is, I think, roughly on the same basis as yours.  Let's use
it while we got it, without losing sight of the larger "living"
picture.  And...how can accessability (both in and out) be improved
beyond the tiny fraction of humans with internet access?  Or do we let
that go for now?

> A collaborative plant database could do this
> very well. One very important thing is making it collaborative,
> trying
> to get through the not-invented-here pheromone. Providing appropriate
> credit for info added to a database is very important. But a sense of
> ownership is also vital to make the project work.

For those not already aware of it, the above issues are pretty well
addressed by the "generic" open source development process.  There's a
FAQ or similar somewhere at opensource.org that lays out how they see
it working.  Collaboration, credit for contributions and sense of
ownership are all inherent in the process.  Heck, I've made one comment
on one howto on one product at zope.org and I already feel all three! 
I can't say I've ever gotten that out of any commercial project I may
have contributed far more to...

The more relevant parties actively engaged to the point that they
experience all three benefits, the better for the eventual result, I'd
guess.  So who all ought be involved?
 
> The AAAS project does have a very specific aim which is to stop
> people locking up knowledge/information. We've seen lots of problems
> with  patenting of plants which can go prevent people even using
their
> living knowledge.

Three cheers for that aim!  In such cases I heartily support covert and
overt direct nonviolent action relative to the perpetrators of
bio-piracy and theft of the commons, etc..  The pathologies inherent in
the concept of "intellectual property" are finally becoming apparent to
a wider audience now that the concept is being applied this absurd -
no, make that insane - way.


=====
John Schinnerer, MA
--------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
Food - Shelter - Community
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net

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