Two companies have presently the world market for computer chips in an iron grip: Intel/AMD and ARM. Inspired by the success of the open software movement, an open source hardware technology, called RISC-V, is now challenging this monopoly. My guess is that it will be successful, not least because more and more countries are worried about the monopolization. That is obviously the case for China and Russia, but India, Brazil and EU are also betting on RISC-V.

We know from history that cooperation among small producers in cooperatives under certain circumstances can beat commercial private companies. But within software, another type of cooperation has appeared during the last decades. The whole thing was started by hobbyists who liked what they were doing and were cooperating which each other, despite that there was no economic benefit in it. In some areas it has proven extremely effective in challenging monopolies and bringing down excess costs for the user.

We are told by liberals, and in particular economists, that humans are selfish, and by being selfish, they are contributing in the best way to the common good. This is scientifically incorrect. Humans are of course looking for their own interests, but they are genetically also disposed for being cooperative and with a capacity of self-sacrifice – also called altruism.