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He has very very little time, so his answers may seem impolite at times. I always hear this but what is it exactly that he is doing that keeps him so busy?

by krelian 16y ago

omouse 16y ago
Living and enjoying life?
Marwy 16y ago
I guess he travels a lot (conferences etc.). Of course one could respond to emails while flying a plane, but, you know, it's rms.
hugh3 16y ago
Answering all these emails, apparently.
jessriedel 16y ago
This is such a bad excuse. Being polite requires extremely little time, and it's a requirement for interacting with humans. In my experience, autistic-ish people (often geeks or nerds) sometimes confuse being polite with being social, which does take time. They then seem to think that if they don't have time (or really, the skill and desire) to be social, then they don't have to be polite. This is a minority of geeks and nerds, of course.
- sprout 16y ago
  Being polite takes very little time. Knowing what constitutes politeness takes a lifetime of study for some people, and when you travel as much as RMS does, that's a lifetime of study for anyone, autistic or no. Can you navigate social norms in every country he's been to (and worked in?) You're really oversimplifying.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - varjag 16y ago
    He communicates mostly in Enlgish, it is certainly possible to learn politesse of your native language. But if he as a human has to have some personal flaws, am fine with sacrificing that.
    - sprout 16y ago
      Possible, but not trivial as Jess considers it. Furthermore, politesse is not a lingual phenomenon. The politesse of a Texan is different from a New Yorker is different from a Minnesotan is very different from a Londoner.
- jemfinch 16y ago
  I think the statement that his answers may seem impolite is more a commentary on many people's inability to distinguish terseness from impoliteness. It's not saying that he's rude.
  - ryanwaggoner 16y ago
    many people's inability to distinguish terseness from impoliteness That's exactly it, though. Politeness and terseness are often diametrically opposed in our society, and since there is no standard of politeness outside what society finds to be "polite", I'm not sure how you can say many people have an inability to distinguish. If you email a long question to someone and they respond with "No.", many people would find this to be impolite or downright rude. It might be the most efficient thing and the hacker-type might think it's OK, but if most people think it's impolite, it is.
    - jessriedel 16y ago
      That's because if it's a long question it generally requires a longish reply to explain to the other person why the answer is "no". Saying simply "no" strongly suggests that the other person's understanding is not worth your time, or that they should accept your answer without understanding it because you are higher status.
  - jessriedel 16y ago
    Maybe. I have indeed seen cases where nice but busy and terse people were incorrectly interpreted as rude. But from what I've read about Stallman, I'm more inclined to think he's kind of a jerk. Often, people who are busy, and especially people who are passionate like Stallman, tend to look down on other who don't share their passion. This isn't the end of the world. I'm kind of a jerk.
- lsc 16y ago
  really? if someone sends me a long message and I respond with a few lines, it's quite difficult to not come across as rude. If you have a four page essay, if I am to reject or accept it in a few lines, I'm only addressing a few of your points. How do I respond politely to a four page essay without spending a significant amount of time on it?
jpablo 16y ago
Mostly replying to mail. You have to see him doing it as a full time job (and still falling behind) to understand why he tries to optimize it so much.
runjake 16y ago
Probably speaking, coding, presenting, traveling, and replying to the massive amounts of email I presume he gets as leader of the Free Software movement. He must get insane amounts of noise vs. signal in his email.
- saratogacx 16y ago
  He actually doesn't do much coding anymore. Due to his schedule he doesn't have time. http://blog.reddit.com/2010/07/rms-ama.html http://blog.reddit.com/2010/07/rms-ama.html (Question 10).

He has very very little time, so his answers may seem impolite at times. I always hear this but what is it exactly that he is doing that keeps him so busy?

by krelian 16y ago

He has very very little time, so his answers may seem impolite at times. I always hear this but what is it exactly that he is doing that keeps him so busy?

omouse 16y ago

Living and enjoying life?

Marwy 16y ago

I guess he travels a lot (conferences etc.). Of course one could respond to emails while flying a plane, but, you know, it's rms.

hugh3 16y ago

Answering all these emails, apparently.

jessriedel 16y ago

This is such a bad excuse. Being polite requires extremely little time, and it's a requirement for interacting with humans. In my experience, autistic-ish people (often geeks or nerds) sometimes confuse being polite with being social, which does take time. They then seem to think that if they don't have time (or really, the skill and desire) to be social, then they don't have to be polite. This is a minority of geeks and nerds, of course.

sprout 16y ago
Being polite takes very little time. Knowing what constitutes politeness takes a lifetime of study for some people, and when you travel as much as RMS does, that's a lifetime of study for anyone, autistic or no. Can you navigate social norms in every country he's been to (and worked in?) You're really oversimplifying.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- varjag 16y ago
  He communicates mostly in Enlgish, it is certainly possible to learn politesse of your native language. But if he as a human has to have some personal flaws, am fine with sacrificing that.
  - sprout 16y ago
    Possible, but not trivial as Jess considers it. Furthermore, politesse is not a lingual phenomenon. The politesse of a Texan is different from a New Yorker is different from a Minnesotan is very different from a Londoner.
jemfinch 16y ago
I think the statement that his answers may seem impolite is more a commentary on many people's inability to distinguish terseness from impoliteness. It's not saying that he's rude.
- ryanwaggoner 16y ago
  many people's inability to distinguish terseness from impoliteness That's exactly it, though. Politeness and terseness are often diametrically opposed in our society, and since there is no standard of politeness outside what society finds to be "polite", I'm not sure how you can say many people have an inability to distinguish. If you email a long question to someone and they respond with "No.", many people would find this to be impolite or downright rude. It might be the most efficient thing and the hacker-type might think it's OK, but if most people think it's impolite, it is.
  - jessriedel 16y ago
    That's because if it's a long question it generally requires a longish reply to explain to the other person why the answer is "no". Saying simply "no" strongly suggests that the other person's understanding is not worth your time, or that they should accept your answer without understanding it because you are higher status.
- jessriedel 16y ago
  Maybe. I have indeed seen cases where nice but busy and terse people were incorrectly interpreted as rude. But from what I've read about Stallman, I'm more inclined to think he's kind of a jerk. Often, people who are busy, and especially people who are passionate like Stallman, tend to look down on other who don't share their passion. This isn't the end of the world. I'm kind of a jerk.
lsc 16y ago
really? if someone sends me a long message and I respond with a few lines, it's quite difficult to not come across as rude. If you have a four page essay, if I am to reject or accept it in a few lines, I'm only addressing a few of your points. How do I respond politely to a four page essay without spending a significant amount of time on it?

jpablo 16y ago

Mostly replying to mail. You have to see him doing it as a full time job (and still falling behind) to understand why he tries to optimize it so much.

runjake 16y ago

Probably speaking, coding, presenting, traveling, and replying to the massive amounts of email I presume he gets as leader of the Free Software movement. He must get insane amounts of noise vs. signal in his email.

saratogacx 16y ago
He actually doesn't do much coding anymore. Due to his schedule he doesn't have time. http://blog.reddit.com/2010/07/rms-ama.html http://blog.reddit.com/2010/07/rms-ama.html (Question 10).