Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Forthcoming Book: The Art Of Community

[Brian Bartholomew (bb]

I don't think the human interaction lessons within open source
software development has all that much applicability to cohousing.

The most fundamental difference is that software does not behave like
property.  If a faction of an open source software development group
gets too unhappy, they can make a complete copy of the whole project
and go off and do their own thing.  This is called a project "fork",
and is named after an operating system call which behaves similarly.
But, in cohousing, you cannot make a trivially cheap copy of the
common house so that the two instances can be managed differently.

The next most fundamental difference is that the political system of
open source software development is nonexistent -- it is an anarchy --
there is no politics or government.  Developers are physically
scattered all over the Internet in different legal jurisdictions, and
no developer can force another developer to do anything; developers
only have control of their own actions.  But, in cohousing, you can
get the police to forcibly impose an outcome at gunpoint.

Other differences are that software developers are by aptitude good at
analyzing how systems of rules work.  An appreciation of rule failure
leads them to be overwhelmingly libertarian-ish, and to stay as far
away from common ownership as possible.  A commons never works well,
and only works at all for small groups with family-type bonds.

Instead, I think of cohousing as similar to co-owning a boat.  It is
an expensive asset which they are all trying to share the cost and
enjoy, the nature of the asset keeps them in physically close contact,
everybody has strong opinions, there are many reasonable ways to do
things which yet are incompatible, and everybody has to get along or
nobody will have any fun.  I like the book Crusing Rules:

        "Cruising Rules" is a playful, engaging collection of stories
        about relationships at sea. These richly illustrated tales
        come from the author's years of experience sailing along the
        coast of Maine. The accompanying "rules" highlight the norms
        of personal behavior necessary for individuals to stay on
        speaking, even friendly, terms while confined in close
        quarters for an indefinite period. The perfect companion for
        anyone on a boat, in a relationship, or both.

        http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Rules-Relationships-at-Sea/dp/0965446700


                                                        Brian