Rise of Homo Superior article- slightly bumping Godwin's law

[Drashner1]

Also, why would a genetics company give out "source code" for genetics they designed?

Why does Google (since you mentioned them) design their Android operating system such that users can hack it and customize it to their individual preferences to one degree or another (assuming they have the will and the skill).?

And why would a Terran corporation align themselves with small orbitals and lunar states? That would be like Google praising North Korea and Iran so as not to be dependent on the United States.

This is a flawed analogy. Just because a particular orbital or lunar state might have been small says nothing about what kind of culture it might have had or how it might have treated its citizens or how it might have interacted with other nation-states of the time. North Korea and Iran have bad relations with much of the rest of civilization for various reasons pertaining to the points mentioned above - but they hardly represent the only model for small nation-states to follow. Consider Costa Rica or Switzerland or Monaco.

Beyond that, and to address the other part of your question, why do Google and Apple and Microsoft all allow and encourage individuals or small groups to develop and market apps compatible with their operating systems for use on their products instead of just developing them all internally themselves?

Also, how were the Orbital Alliance maintain able to maintain a near-monopoly on interplanetary travel?

Presumably in much the same fashion that various organizations and groups (commercial or otherwise) have been able to maintain near-monopolies on various things throughout history. There isn't a lot written about the Alliance it appears, but one short article I came across mentions that it was a literal alliance of different groups and organizations rather than a single centrally run government or the like. Think NATO or the WTO or the various other NGOs more than IBM or England. Consider also how some such groups work to try to maintain a monopoly on nuclear weapons or other things.

This is not to say that the article wouldn't benefit from some review and possible polishing/refining. But I don't consider massive rewriting to be a viable option unless a very compelling new narrative is presented. And I consider getting rid of the name 'Superior' - in particular due to RL notions of 'political correctness' to be a total non-starter.

Todd