In Oracle v. Google, a Nerd Subculture Is on Trial
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/in-google-v-oracle-the-nerds-are-getting-owned
The problem with Oracle v. Google is that everyone actually
affected by the case knows what an API is, but the whole
affair is being decided by people who don't, from the normals
in the jury box to the normals at the Supreme Court--which
declined to hear the case in 2015, on the advice of the
normals at the Solicitor General's office, who perhaps did not
grasp exactly how software works. In a world where Silicon
Valley is coming into dominance, Oracle v. Google is an
unusual instance in which the nerds are getting totally owned
by the normals. Their judgment on the technologies they have
birthed is being overridden by old people in black robes;
their beloved traditions and mythologies around free and open
source software are being scoffed at by corporate stiffs in
suits as inconsistent hippie nonsense.
- - -
Three points: (1) I think Oracle's case sucks. (2) A disclaimer: My
name came up extremely peripherally in the original Oracle/Google
trial, and I'm assuming it won't come up in this one.
And now, (3) It's mostly our own fault that we have so much trouble
being understood and paid attention to in situations like this. We've
raised technical lingo to the status of cliquish religious liturgies.
Our user interfaces are all too frequently dismissive of ordinary user
needs, much less the needs of the rapidly expanding segments of the
population with special visual or other requirements. Our
documentation in general is still written way above the heads of large
percentages of our users. Overall, our industry's attitude is cavalier
and disdainful at best -- contemptuous at worst. What are users called
behind their backs in the lingo of our industry?
You know the answer: LUSERS. I rest my case.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently
doing so -- my opinions expressed here are mine alone.
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