Thursday, November 18, 2010

Colonizing seed project

Basic idea:  to advocate a Linux type creation that will be result in the seed that
I wrote about lately.  This seed will grow into a colonizing seed that enables our
escape from the earth's gravity and spread humanity throughout the solar system
and beyond.  It has to have an organizing principle for its development.  I think
that could be the Linux open source model.  Anybody could make contributions as
per Linux.  It would be open source.  Nobody "owns" it.  Everybody can benefit
from it.

Basic concepts:

Richard Stallman's concept of copyleft:

copyleft is a general method for making a program (or other work) free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well.  ...Copyleft type licenses are a novel use of existing copyright law to ensure a work remains freely available.
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. 
Prominent free software programs licensed under the GPL include the Linux kernel



The basic idea comes from reading the book "After the Software Wars" by Keith Curtis.
Curtis makes the case for free software based upon Stallman's concept of copyleft.
I suggest taking that one step further.  Make the entire seed project open source.  
Invite people who may be interested in this to contribute to the seed.

They would be able to contribute to it like contributions are made to Linux and
Wikipedia.  These contributions would become the DNA of the seed.

In earlier posts, I said that a Mars mission is too complex.  Rather than do this,
use the money saved from not doing that project and do this instead: develop and
"plant" the seed on the moon.  The benefits derived would be greater than a mission
to Mars, and in fact, can be duplicated on Mars at a more suitable time.

Since the seed would be open source, its development would not require an
expenditure from Congress.  But if it were to reach critical mass of support, it
could then be shaped into an actual program that can be funded and executed by
the government.

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