1 Theory

SOFTWARE is not about code or algorithms; these, along with things like features, dev cycles, user count, tech stack, tech debt... are merely logistical concepts that we're forced to reckon with, due to the inadequacies of our computing infrastructure.

Software is about one thing: the mind. Specifically, extending the mind, and/or restricting it. The border between extension and restriction isn't blurry; but like an infinite coastline, it grows new sections that contrast the two in unforeseen ways: hence, the historic struggle for Cybernetic Sovereignty [0].

As personal computing came of age, Open Source and its canon, originating with UNIX, rose to stand for Cybernetic Sovereignty of the code-literate: programmers, developers, engineers, to this day, all rely on this Body Software [1] to be free and equal in the eyes of the machine.

Now, as machines themselves become code-literate, billions of code-blind humans stand to reach new levels of Cybernetic Sovereignty: technology now exists to establish them as shapers of their own software-mind. So what will be their UNIX? And what philosophies and aesthetics, like the UNIX mantra of "everything is a file," or its command line puritanism, will characterize this new culture of empowerment and creativity?

The LivingSoft Theory contends that the key to this new paradigm is Software as a Living Material. From the earliest days of computing, users have dreamt of a "living software" - and for good reason; software grows, replicates, and evolves; it thrives by benefitting its environment, like plants and animals. But until recently, it was not self-aware.

[0] "Cybernetic Sovereignty" refers to the power of individuals or groups to shape and determine their own digital environments and mental extensions. It means having true personal agency over one's software and digital experiences — the ability to alter, adapt, and own the systems that mediate thought and activity, much as political sovereignty is the right to self-governance in a physical domain.

[1] "Body Software" is a broader term that includes operating systems, but is not limited to them. When people say "browsers are operating systems," they are recognizing that both are body software - software bodies that channel human attention to grow, evolve, and acquire new capabilities, like organisms developing limbs.