[E-Lang] A Metaphor

[Dan Bornstein]

Maybe I'm a couple light years behind the rest of you in my thinking, but I
recently had an insight that I think helps explain the difficulty of
sufficiently communicating the usefulness of capability patterns, as
opposed to, in particular, ACLs.

ACLs are about differentiating insiders from outsiders, and attempting to
make sure that outsiders stay out, while insiders get the full benefits of
group membership.

Capabilities are about defining non-trivial relationships with outsiders.

In the ACL mindset, one has no use for strangers. In the capability
mindset, on the other hand, not only are strangers useful, but they are
essential.

Most people are inherently xenophobic.

However, I bet, to the extent that the members of this group have (in
general) recognized the usefulness of the capability style, we are also
that much less xenophobic than the rest of the world. Having this trait in
common means that it doesn't generally come up as an "issue" to discuss, so
we've largely ignored it.

-dan