Guardian article, arguing briefly that the open source model, and the hacker ethic, are a model for social services. Finnish hackers are so successful because Finnish public services are very, very socialist and liberal.
"The cascade of free-software applications that have come out of Finland ... emerge from a specific social context. To explain it, you need to look how the Finns deploy their power and money in public services"
the Greek root of the word scholar - shkole - means "the ability to organise your own time, and not learn like a slave"
'"We don't pick winners," a government futurist told me. "We give people the competence to exercise their freedom."'
In Finland, education is not therefore a matter of churning out qualified grunts, but of encouraging people to find their field and work in it at their leisure. MAs can take up to ten years to complete, as there are no deadlines, and all education, at all levels, is free.
References:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,464604,00.html
