4 ms·

No, he's reasonable enough to explain why and how long it takes to respond to the massive amount of mail he must receive daily.

sdegutis 11y ago
Early in my professional career, I learned something: nobody in the professional world wants to hear what anyone else has to say, unless money is involved (e.g. one of you is the other one's client or customer), and even then they want to hear as little as possible. I had to learn how to professionally communicate with my employers and clients, which means learning to say as little as humanly possible while still mostly getting the point across.
- lolidaisuki 11y ago
  Except people email RMS specifically because they want to hear what he wants to say. Professional field and the hacker and activist cultures are very different in nature.
- chucksmash 11y ago
  So you optimize for communicating with that sort of person if you need money from them. Never having met the guy, that doesn't really sound like rms' MO.
adrianN 11y ago
He also has rather complex rules about inviting him for a talk https://groups.google.com/a/mysociety.org/forum/#!msg/mysociety-community/zkyZpOXjgoQ/_8xyXSxv9zYJ https://groups.google.com/a/mysociety.org/forum/#!msg/mysoci... To people who think like rms, these rules are very helpful, but I think many people will get the impression that he is being very rude by having a long document with his preferences.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 11y ago
  Reminds me of the infamous "no brown M&M's" rider...
  - shawn-furyan 11y ago
    Those sort of riders are a sentinel to signal that the venue read the contract carefully, not diva behavior, as is commonly assumed. If they caught the brown M&M's thing, they probably got all the stuff about rigging safety, so you don't have to grill them on those things. Otherwise, you'd better double check.
    - mamon 11y ago
      Honestly, I think that such clauses can have opposite effect. I mean: how can you treat the other party seriously if they put such ridiculous, childish demands like 'no brown M&M" in contract?
      - simoncion 11y ago
        > ...how can you treat the other party seriously if they put such ridiculous, childish demands like 'no brown M&M" in contract? If you don't know what you're doing, you won't treat the other party seriously. This is a strong signal to the other party that you don't know what you're doing and SHOULD be avoided. If -however- you do know what you're doing, then you take the other party seriously even when you come across such demands because (as shawn-furyan said): > Those sort of riders are a sentinel to signal that the venue read the contract carefully... If they caught the brown M&M's thing, they probably got all the stuff about rigging safety, so you don't have to grill them on those things. Otherwise, you'd better double check.
        ascagnel_ 11y ago
        I'm not sure if this is accurate, but the brown M&M thing started after Van Halen performed at a college gymnasium and their stage setup inflicted tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to a facility that, if the organizers had read the rider, was never fit to host such a show. http://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-van-halen-brown-mms-rule/ http://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-van-halen-brow... This applies to RMS -- when he's on the road, he's often at the mercy of the event organizer for transportation and lodging arrangements (either directly or indirectly by them providing information). If they mess up, he's in real trouble.

sdegutis 11y ago

Early in my professional career, I learned something: nobody in the professional world wants to hear what anyone else has to say, unless money is involved (e.g. one of you is the other one's client or customer), and even then they want to hear as little as possible. I had to learn how to professionally communicate with my employers and clients, which means learning to say as little as humanly possible while still mostly getting the point across.

lolidaisuki 11y ago
Except people email RMS specifically because they want to hear what he wants to say. Professional field and the hacker and activist cultures are very different in nature.
chucksmash 11y ago
So you optimize for communicating with that sort of person if you need money from them. Never having met the guy, that doesn't really sound like rms' MO.

adrianN 11y ago

He also has rather complex rules about inviting him for a talk https://groups.google.com/a/mysociety.org/forum/#!msg/mysociety-community/zkyZpOXjgoQ/_8xyXSxv9zYJ https://groups.google.com/a/mysociety.org/forum/#!msg/mysoci... To people who think like rms, these rules are very helpful, but I think many people will get the impression that he is being very rude by having a long document with his preferences.

tgsovlerkhgsel 11y ago
Reminds me of the infamous "no brown M&M's" rider...
- shawn-furyan 11y ago
  Those sort of riders are a sentinel to signal that the venue read the contract carefully, not diva behavior, as is commonly assumed. If they caught the brown M&M's thing, they probably got all the stuff about rigging safety, so you don't have to grill them on those things. Otherwise, you'd better double check.
  - mamon 11y ago
    Honestly, I think that such clauses can have opposite effect. I mean: how can you treat the other party seriously if they put such ridiculous, childish demands like 'no brown M&M" in contract?
    - simoncion 11y ago
      > ...how can you treat the other party seriously if they put such ridiculous, childish demands like 'no brown M&M" in contract? If you don't know what you're doing, you won't treat the other party seriously. This is a strong signal to the other party that you don't know what you're doing and SHOULD be avoided. If -however- you do know what you're doing, then you take the other party seriously even when you come across such demands because (as shawn-furyan said): > Those sort of riders are a sentinel to signal that the venue read the contract carefully... If they caught the brown M&M's thing, they probably got all the stuff about rigging safety, so you don't have to grill them on those things. Otherwise, you'd better double check.
      - ascagnel_ 11y ago
        I'm not sure if this is accurate, but the brown M&M thing started after Van Halen performed at a college gymnasium and their stage setup inflicted tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to a facility that, if the organizers had read the rider, was never fit to host such a show. http://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-van-halen-brown-mms-rule/ http://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-lee-roth-van-halen-brow... This applies to RMS -- when he's on the road, he's often at the mercy of the event organizer for transportation and lodging arrangements (either directly or indirectly by them providing information). If they mess up, he's in real trouble.