3 ms·

While I agree that his tone is wrong and he has problems of getting his message across, try to see it from his perspective. I have the feeling that he is very

by Bjoern 16y ago

While I agree that his tone is wrong and he has problems of getting his message across, try to see it from his perspective. I have the feeling that he is very bitter about this because he cares so (or too) deeply. Free Software is his pet project and he put so much effort into it. Every time people misuse the terms "Linux" and "GNU" it is a reminder for him what went wrong in the past and that people in his view seem to take GNU for granted.

rwl 16y ago
I don't think this is a fair assessment. RMS's insistence on "GNU/Linux" isn't about bitter or wistful emotions. It's about the fact that people accept names very easily as names, but then have a tendency to accept the meanings and values those names imply just as uncritically. GNU is a project specifically aimed at creating a free operating system. So if you call it GNU, you will associate the idea of that operating system with freedom. Linux is not a project that gives the idea of software freedom top priority; it ships non-free code. Yes, some of the reasoning behind "GNU/Linux" is to give credit where credit is due. But I think it's mostly about the power of a name in getting people to accept ideas, which is why the FSF also campaigns to re-label DRM ("digital restrictions management"), the Kindle ("Swindle"), the iPod ("iScrod" -- I heard RMS say this at a talk at Berkeley), and so on. These names may sound silly, but that's just the point: the fact that they sound silly highlights the assumptions and expectations people have about the things they refer to. The FSF is out to change the forces which maintain the status quo. You can't do that without getting people to reflect on the assumptions they're making about the current situation. And one of the best ways to incite that reflection is to insist that people use names that present different values.

by Bjoern 16y ago

rwl 16y ago

I don't think this is a fair assessment. RMS's insistence on "GNU/Linux" isn't about bitter or wistful emotions. It's about the fact that people accept names very easily as names, but then have a tendency to accept the meanings and values those names imply just as uncritically. GNU is a project specifically aimed at creating a free operating system. So if you call it GNU, you will associate the idea of that operating system with freedom. Linux is not a project that gives the idea of software freedom top priority; it ships non-free code. Yes, some of the reasoning behind "GNU/Linux" is to give credit where credit is due. But I think it's mostly about the power of a name in getting people to accept ideas, which is why the FSF also campaigns to re-label DRM ("digital restrictions management"), the Kindle ("Swindle"), the iPod ("iScrod" -- I heard RMS say this at a talk at Berkeley), and so on. These names may sound silly, but that's just the point: the fact that they sound silly highlights the assumptions and expectations people have about the things they refer to. The FSF is out to change the forces which maintain the status quo. You can't do that without getting people to reflect on the assumptions they're making about the current situation. And one of the best ways to incite that reflection is to insist that people use names that present different values.