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Hats off to RMS. Whom I love and respect deeply. Thank you for all have you done for free software. P.S. I am from small third world country. Right now I am

by 0xFFC 9y ago

Hats off to RMS. Whom I love and respect deeply. Thank you for all have you done for free software. P.S. I am from small third world country. Right now I am applying and starting PhD in one of universities in USA and my field is basically OS and File systems. I have said this, to mention one thing created the interest in me to study and persue CS when I was teenager. And it was GNU. I remember first days when I installed GNU operating system when at 2002 when I was 11. The idea and openness of Free software literally changed my life.

jimmies 9y ago
Same here. I am forever indebted to RMS and his crazy vision. May he be with the world for a long time. It has played a big role in turning my life around from a college drop-out to almost getting my PhD in the USA now. If I had just stuck with proprietary software, I don't think I would know what I know today. It is that the idea that you actually could touch and understand the world, given enough time and dedication in a small, hot, dusty corner in a third world country with a cheap computer is extremely, extremely powerful. There is nothing else like it. Especially when I compare to many biologist friends from the same country as mine, they are much more disadvantaged compared to American ones, because of not having the $1M equipment and software they need back home. In the software world, I always feel like I had the level playing field, and the rest was just my dedication. As I am almost done with this stage, I am seriously considering devoting a big part of my life to developing free software so everyone will have the same chance I had. At the same time, I feel the world has moved on, and again social mobility now is not as high as when the PC was the king anymore (but maybe it's just because I am just in a depression now, the world changes alright).
- carussell 9y ago
  Please look into effective altruism. Relevant discussion is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13678952 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13678952
  - jimmies 9y ago
    Thanks for the directions. I will see how I best engage in the community, to be honest, now I don't feel like super enthusiastic about the industry. So I might just take a break some time and write whatever the hell I want.

by 0xFFC 9y ago

jimmies 9y ago

Same here. I am forever indebted to RMS and his crazy vision. May he be with the world for a long time. It has played a big role in turning my life around from a college drop-out to almost getting my PhD in the USA now. If I had just stuck with proprietary software, I don't think I would know what I know today. It is that the idea that you actually could touch and understand the world, given enough time and dedication in a small, hot, dusty corner in a third world country with a cheap computer is extremely, extremely powerful. There is nothing else like it. Especially when I compare to many biologist friends from the same country as mine, they are much more disadvantaged compared to American ones, because of not having the $1M equipment and software they need back home. In the software world, I always feel like I had the level playing field, and the rest was just my dedication. As I am almost done with this stage, I am seriously considering devoting a big part of my life to developing free software so everyone will have the same chance I had. At the same time, I feel the world has moved on, and again social mobility now is not as high as when the PC was the king anymore (but maybe it's just because I am just in a depression now, the world changes alright).

carussell 9y ago
Please look into effective altruism. Relevant discussion is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13678952 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13678952
- jimmies 9y ago
  Thanks for the directions. I will see how I best engage in the community, to be honest, now I don't feel like super enthusiastic about the industry. So I might just take a break some time and write whatever the hell I want.