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Can Open Source Hardware Feed the World?

Posted by Soulskill on from the i-bet-it'd-feed-unicron dept.

jfruhlinger writes "When it comes to food scarcity in the developing world, one of the major problems is production capacity: land that could be arable using modern techniques goes underutilized because locals don't have the ability to build or buy equipment. A group calling itself Open Source Ecology is trying to solve that problem. They've developed a set of open source hardware specs for 50 different industrial machines, which they're calling the Global Village Construction Set."

3 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Stabilize governments first by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I would think giving people the help to be self-sustaining would be the first step in stabalizing the government. It certainly seems like the more corrupt regimes are allowed to flourish because they control what few resources the country has. Take away that control with self-sufficiency and you have a better chance to get rid of the corrupt regimes. It's still going to be hard, but I think the bottom-up changes fare better than the top-down. Especially if the only effective way for a top-down change comes from outside a country's borders.

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  2. Simple answer? No. by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd say, ask Norman Bourlag how it could be done, but he's dead unfortunately. But he had a good plan, and several other good plans. I'm sure crazy greenies and environmentalists will come out whining now, but 'green farming' will never produce enough food. And unless you're going to shovel off 2/3's of the population to die. His ideas will be the future of farming.

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  3. Re:NOT OPEN SOURCE!!! by Crudely_Indecent · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apache Web Server is open source, yet the Apache group doesn't give you a working server, nor do they give you the power to turn the server on. They give you source code and instructions to achieve a working server. You must provide the hardware, power and the time.

    Your comparison to the fishing proverb isn't appropriate.

    Closed source is giving a man a fish (I agree)
    Open source is teaching a man to fish (which I believe would encompass teaching the necessary pole technology)

    Source is knowledge, not product.

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