Open-source News

Steam Deck hitting retail stores in Japan from April 29th, South ...  GamingOnLinux

Proton Experimental for Steam Deck & Linux upgraded with Proton 8  GamingOnLinux

Professional / Community 2023.3.5 | Releases  The Daily Swig

How to install Cinnamon Desktop in Debian 11 or 12 Linux  H2S Media

Linux Server, Wakey, Wakey  Hackaday

The Art of Restarting Debian  Linux Journal

The future of the sharing business model Ron McFarland Fri, 04/21/2023 - 03:00

Younger generations prioritize experiences over assets and quality over quantity in many areas of life, and technology has evolved to help fulfill their desires. That's the position of Arun Sundararajan in his book The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism. According to Sundararajan, these young people do not want to be burdened with owning unneeded things.

Notice these demand changes:

• Young people don't want to stay at a high-rise hotel. They would rather rent on peer-to-peer accommodation platforms like Airbnb.
• Fewer young people are interested in full-time work and needless commuting to isolated office cubicles. They would prefer working at an internet-based freelance or gig job, working anywhere they choose.
• Young people are turning away from owning and storing things they use only occasionally. They would rather create sharing communities that offer item access, virtual currency exchange, and flexible on-demand services when needed.

With new technologies becoming available, this new lifestyle is becoming more achievable. It is a future in which peer-to-peer exchange becomes increasingly prevalent, and the crowd replaces the corporation at the center of capitalism. The sharing economy, as Sundrararajan defines it, is similar to Jeremy Rifkin's Collaborative Commons, as described in The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism. However you define it, these are growing communities aligned with the principles of open organizations.

Crowd-based capitalism

Sundararajan calls the sharing economy "crowd-based capitalism" and identifies its five characteristics:

• Primarily market-based: It has potentially higher and broad levels of economic activity.
   
• High-impact capital: It opens new opportunities for assets, skills, time, and money to be used at levels closer to their total capacity. It puts idle assets to work where, in the current system, they are wasted.
   
• Crowd-based, non-hierarchical networks: Capital, assets, and labor come from decentralized crowds of individuals rather than centralized corporate or state sources. They are governed by distributed crowd-based marketplace systems or platforms rather than by centralized third parties. Distributed control ensures that value is prioritized, not just profit gain.
   
• Blurring lines between roles: Distinctions like personal vs. professional and producers vs. consumers are less meaningful. Sharing that used to be personal is becoming semicommercial. One can be a producer and consumer simultaneously, supplying newly discovered excess wealth-producing assets.
   
• A changing work environment: The differences between fully employed and casual labor, independent and dependent employment, and work and leisure are less clear.

These characteristics illustrate why terms like the "collaborative economy," the "gig economy," the "peer economy," the "renting economy," and the "on-demand economy" are part of the sharing economy. The sharing economy has commercial characteristics, but there is also a gift economy that serves both an economic purpose and social and cultural functions. For example, Collab Fund is a fund that invests almost exclusively in the sharing economy. All investors are angel investors that believe in the purpose of the investment.

Sundararajan maintains that the twentieth century was defined by hyperconsumption, whereas the twenty-first century may become the century of collaborative consumption. Hyperconsumption differs from collaborative consumption in four ways:

• Buying individually on credit vs. collaborative joint purchasing, sharing, and trusted community building
• Mass advertising vs. community interaction
• Individual ownership vs. sharing access to assets
• Global and regional syndication vs. local and virtual face-to-face networking

These patterns fit nicely in situations where open organization principles can play a major role. The sharing economy reflects a shift away from faceless, impersonal twentieth-century capitalism and toward exchange that is more connected and more embedded in a community with a purpose. Within the sharing economy, there are social cues to the importance of trust, reputation, and a digital community facilitating service to others. Exchange includes a gift factor that promotes a feeling of reciprocation and connection. These elements lead to a human bond between the two exchange parties.

This cohesion is central to the sharing economy. It embraces exchanging services and value with others even though payback is not clearly defined. Sometimes, the joy of giving and the good feeling of being generous to a stranger are enough.

Expanding the transaction-to-gift spectrum

Sundararajan writes, "Gift exchange tends to be an economy of small groups, of extended families, small villages, close-knit communities, brotherhoods, and, of course, tribes." Today's sharing economy scales behaviors and forms of exchange long familiar in such communities to a broader, loose-knit digital community of semi-anonymous peers. These exchanges are on a continuum between the gift economy and a market-transaction economy, with very few at the ends of the spectrum and many more at some point in between. Consider the Couchsurfing platform. You join this platform by setting up an account; to do that, you must verify your identity. Once becoming a member, you can sleep on other members' couches, and they can sleep on yours. There is no financial exchange. No one monitors whether you offer your couch or use other members' couches more.

Users say they are attracted to this platform primarily by the opportunity to meet people or make new friends—a representation of the open organization principle of community or network building. Finding a place to stay is of secondary value. Hospitality and a desire to connect with other human beings drive the Couchsurfing platform. Sometimes a Couchsurfing member contacts another member in a strange city just to socialize without a stay, simply to interact with a local person within an unfamiliar community. This human interaction results in positive experiences, resulting in favorable reviews, which could result in finding accommodations more easily in the future.

Expanding the sharing business model in the future

What social factors promote sharing? One is the continuing growth of the global urban population. People are physically becoming closer and, therefore, can more easily share underused assets. There will be continued growth of megacities with a population of over 10 million worldwide. Forecasts suggest that all future population growth will be in urban areas, particularly these megacities. Consider: People in cities share public parks, transportation, and apartment buildings without a thought. No one would consider purchasing and individually owning any of these public assets. The more densely populated an area is, the more sharing will happen naturally. Furthermore, with less space, people will not want to fill their space with things unless those things are in great need and regular use. These factors lead to more peer-to-peer sharing and less individual ownership.

In the book Peers, Inc, Robin Chase gives many examples of how the supply of many goods and services that used to come from corporations and the government may come from peers in the community. Chase writes that emerging practices such as the sharing economy, crowdsourcing, collaborative production, and collaborative consumption create more peer-to-peer, peer-to-business, and peer-to-government projects, and more small-business-to-big-business interaction. With this growth, open organization principles will become increasingly important.

All the above will improve the Human Development Index, which measures factors like global education and health. Worldwide, people will be able to buy goods and services they could never have afforded before. Prices will become lower than the market requires. People will have more disposable income. Platforms will be able to match product features to exactly what users need and want, so they needn't buy a lot of add-on features. Skills and tasks are already being performed more efficiently through platforms, so you can buy the specific task instead of paying randomly assigned hourly rates.

Platforms' importance in the growth of sharing projects

Durable goods for short-term use have mainly been provided by rental or leasing equipment companies. The problem for rental companies is they may not want to purchase something if there is not strong enough continual rental demand. Durable goods that last a long time are likely to have idling capacity. Anyone who owns them can get into the durable goods rental business if the transaction and marketing costs are low enough. Consider camping equipment, like tents, camping stoves, or sleeping bags. These could be rented out when not needed if the effort required were easy enough.

This is where platforms come in. A person could buy more than enough camping equipment for the family with the idea of renting it out when not used themselves, using a particular platform. This strategy could be financially rewarding and, more importantly, could build a friendly camping community. This could also apply to skills: A person's low utilization day can support another person's overly high utilization day. One person keeps busy while pressure is taken off of an overworked person.

Regulation and consumer protection

Peer-to-peer platforms create new and different regulatory challenges. Standardized regulations may make sense on a large scale but are not suited to small person-to-person arrangements. The question is, can trust and consumer protection be established and enforced without putting too much restriction on small, vulnerable microentrepreneurs? One approach is to form a guild within the community that can act as arbitrators of disputes. These guilds have experts and experienced members who can fairly address most issues. They can act as third-party mediators. Peers.org is a collective action platform that can start petitions and collective actions when there is improper behavior in private or public institutions. A platform like this could monitor and respond to digital, virtual, and physical issues within a given community.

Left alone, market practices can produce inefficient, inequitable, or insufficient outcomes, which economists call market failure. This can happen when there is an imbalance in knowledge between provider and user. Sundararajan offers three suggestions to mitigate this problem:

Peer regulation

Recommendations, referrals, suggestions, and product reviews among third-party peers are compelling. They can build or destroy a business's reputation and social capital. A sharing community sets standards and works collectively to ensure those standards are maintained. With today's technology, a platform can develop the appropriate community and regulatory framework. eBay has its Power Sellers, for example, and BlaBlaCar offers an explicit certification of trust based on driving reputation. In microfinancing, your reputation can substitute for credit history. Yelp started as a restaurant rating platform but now rates many things. Third-party certification can also help maintain acceptable standards. Furthermore, to build a trusted business relationship early, paying more than the market requires and keeping early transactions small enough to avoid heavy losses might be wise.

Self-regulation

Platforms want to reduce market failures that would create a bad reputation and deter people from using their services. In response, they create platform volunteers that educate and inspect the activities of people using it. Profiles on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn can also form a digitally verified ID. Some websites also offer criminal background checks and driving histories. These could be voluntarily provided if there is a concern.

Furthermore, self-regulation could happen through building coalitions (self-regulatory organizations or SROs). Coalitions can be like self-governing bodies or guilds. They define standards, monitor them, and govern specific industries or professions, not just individuals. They rate each agent and determine trustworthiness. Within the sharing economy, Sundararajan believes these guilds must:

• Establish credibility early
• Demonstrate strong enforcement
• Be perceived as independent
• Take advantage of participants' reputational concerns and social capital

Community trust can be built to form long-term relationships. More than one transaction will be required for a lifetime career. The successful completion of one transaction leads to future transactions. The community must have communication networks that monitor successful transactions. Lastly, consideration must be given to those that don't use the service, like an Airbnb host's neighbors. It may be wise to join local co-op associations, condominium boards, or homeowner associations.

Open Organization resources Download resources Join the community What is an open organization? How open is your organization? Regulation through data

Technology can provide governance, from simple devices like taxi-metering equipment to advanced algorithms. Many websites mine data from their users, which must be carefully used with both the suppliers' and users' permission. If they grant permission, communities can monitor much information about satisfaction. In addition, digital security systems can detect and block fraudulent activities swiftly. Even cameras that detect repeated lack of smiles can identify signals to point out concerns.

Sundararajan does not argue that government safety laws and regulations are not required. However, community-based and internal regulation is more powerful in many countries than existing laws. Governments will have to play a supporting role in making this business model more successful: Legal standards would be helpful, and industrial guidelines and inspections could make these services more reliable.

The time to start is now

This article, and earlier articles in the series, illustrate how the sharing economy can do a better job of putting to greater use what is now available, including our skills. The sharing economy is here to stay. Anyone able to develop platforms should consider sharing economy ideas very seriously.

Online platforms enable the sharing economy and create an entry point for developers.

Image by:

Opensource.com

The Open Organization Business What to read next The sharing economy and the open organization Real-world examples of the sharing economy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Register or Login to post a comment.

How I teach Python with open source tools Don Watkins Fri, 04/21/2023 - 03:00

I love to teach Python. I start by beginning where the learner begins. My first question is, "How would you like to learn Python?"

They usually answer, "What's Python?"

That's when I give them some examples of websites built with Python they might already be familiar with. I also provide examples of using Python in data science, engineering, web development, and, most recently, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Most folks are intimidated when you try to introduce computer programming because their first efforts failed or someone told them programming is difficult. I show them a simple print statement that easily demonstrates how much the Python syntax is like the language they speak.

>>> print("Hello World") Hello World

Unless they are Linux or macOS users, they might need help installing Python on their computer. I guide them through downloading Python from the Python.org website and installing it on their computer. Next, I help them set up a development environment. For many users this is IDLE.

More Python resources What is an IDE? Cheat sheet: Python 3.7 for beginners Top Python GUI frameworks Download: 7 essential PyPI libraries Red Hat Developers Register for your free Red Hat account Latest Python articles A good Python IDE

For a young student, I introduce Mu, a great development environment for elementary and middle school students. Adults and older students might use VSCodium.

Python REPL

I often introduce new users to the REPL so they can execute their code easily. Then I show them how to write a simple program with a print statement print("Hello World") and save it as a text file with a .py extension. I explain that the .py extension is necessary for Python to recognize the program.

Turtle

Then I introduce them to Python fundamentals, including variables, strings, numbers, and basic operations. I suggest Python libraries like the Turtle, which even adults find fascinating. I start simply in the REPL:

import turtle turtle.forward(100) turtle.right(90)

This example demonstrates how easy it is to write code in Python and how just a few lines can produce a graphic on their display. Then I show how to draw a square:

import turtle turtle.forward(100) turtle.right(90) turtle.forward(100) turtle.right(90) turtle.forward(100) turtle.right(90) turtle.forward(100) turtle.right(90)

Then I cover control structures like the if statement, elif, for, and while. I demonstrate drawing that same square quickly and easily with a for loop:

import turtle for x in range(4): turtle.forward(100) turtle.right(90)Teaching Python is a gift

When you teach, it's important to begin where the learner is and engage them in their own edification. This approach has them leaning in for more information, ensuring they gain skill and competency.

Your local public library might be a great place to find students who would like to learn Python. Most libraries would be very happy to have you volunteer to help their patrons.

Teaching Python to others is easy with these open source tools and techniques.

Image by:

Opensource.com

Python Education What to read next How I teach Python on the Raspberry Pi 400 at the public library How my students taught me to code This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Register or Login to post a comment.

The post Autojump – Quickly Navigate Directories and Linux File System first appeared on Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides .

Those Linux users who mainly work with Linux command Line via console/terminal feels the real power of Linux. However, it may sometimes be painful to navigate inside the Linux Hierarchical file system, especially for

The post Autojump – Quickly Navigate Directories and Linux File System first appeared on Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides.

The post bd – Quickly Go Back to a Parent Directory Instead of Typing “cd ../../..” Redundantly first appeared on Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides .

While navigating the file system via the command line on Linux systems, in order to move back into a parent directory (in a long path), we would normally issue the cd command repeatedly (cd

The post bd – Quickly Go Back to a Parent Directory Instead of Typing “cd ../../..” Redundantly first appeared on Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides.

IBM starts renting cloudy bare metal Linux almost-mainframes  The Register

The post Gogo – Create Directory “Bookmarking” in Linux first appeared on Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides .

Gogo is an impressive way to bookmark directories inside your Linux shell. It allows you to create shortcuts to long and complicated paths in Linux. This way, you don’t have to type or remember

The post Gogo – Create Directory “Bookmarking” in Linux first appeared on Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides.

<p>Within <em>inventory management</em>, perfect order refers to the ability to deliver the correct product to the customer, in the right quantity, at the right time, in the right condition, with the right documentation and at the right cost. Essentially, it means meeting customer demand without errors or delays to the highest degree possible. Inventory management encompasses procedures and processes that directly or indirectly affect the bottom line ordering, receiving, storing, tracking and accounting for all of the goods a business sells. It is a ke

Rust 1.69 is out today as stable as the newest update to this increasingly popular programming language that has become passionate to many open-source developers for its memory safety guarantees and other principles...

Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar Lobster scuttles into public view  The Register

Intel i219-LM Had Only Been Running At ~60% Of Maximum Speed ...  Phoronix

If you rely on an Intel I219-LM Gigabit Ethernet adapter, you will want to look forward to upgrading your Linux kernel build soon... A fix was committed today after Intel engineers discovered this particular Ethernet chipset had only been running at around 60% of its maximum speed due to a regression introduced back in 2020...

System76 brings Intel Raptor Lake chips to more Linux laptops  Liliputing

Choice of Linux and Windows OS with Dubai VPS Server Hosting by ...  Digital Journal

AMD Posts New Linux Patches Enabling Dynamic Boost Control  Phoronix