Private scientific/medical/military research is the most patented, secretive business there is. The academic scientific community is as you describe, with the ideas freely floating, and being developed in an "open source" manner. Even there, there are complaints that academic research is stifled and controlled by the sponsors and people handing out the grants.
I can only think of a few genuinely "open source" scientific projects. The Human Genome project springs to mind - but there, major corporations pumped in huge amounts of money and resources, and pulled dozens of patents out as a result. Open source? Only partly....
But you could be right - maybe the only hope for someone like me is to join the academic community. But it's poorly paid, there are no openings at the moment, and you have to deal with those pesky students ;-)
(By the way, I strongly agree with your last comment - if all the idiots writing crap code and screwing up system administration were fired, there would be jobs for the rest of us. Unfortunately, competence (or even genius) is rarely an attribute that will get you a job.) |
