Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: monocultures (Anti-Microsoft sentiment)

Author:Joshua Allen
Posted:9/17/2000; 9:58:48 PM
Topic:Debunking the OSS Bazaar?
Msg #:21453 (In response to 21447)
Prev/Next:21452 / 21454

The monoculture idea is not an argument, and not particular to Microsoft. It pervades a lot of what I say all the time, and stands out particularly every time I complain about the one true way.

I never said it was particular to Microsoft. On the contrary, I think that the monoculture idea is a meme that is becoming more popular and thinking people like to use it to make points. I also am unhappy about people who push "the one true way", as described in Popper's Open Society. But I think that to say that "variety is (always) useful" or "monocultures (always) output less" is an indefensible position. The problem is, most anyone I have seen invoking the phrase monoculture is hoping to slide in the assumptions unchallenged that:

When [there exists a] monoculture, less is created and we are deprived of useful variety.

Monoculture is nearly always equated with "bad". Karl Popper would disapprove; saying that monoculture is always bad is a shortcut in thinking, as I tried to demonstrate in my previous post. Variety is not always useful, and more is not always created by variety. And your argument that a large creative pattern dies when a company folds seems to hinge on the assumption that I swallow the fallacy that monoculture==bad.

-J

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