5 ms·

He walks the walk and talks the talk. People may think he’s backwards or annoying but he’s consistently maintained his philosophy that software should be free.

by awake 7y ago

He walks the walk and talks the talk. People may think he’s backwards or annoying but he’s consistently maintained his philosophy that software should be free. The fact that he has to use absurd measures to consume what everyone else does is a statement about the limitations of free software not a statement about his workflow preferences.

saas_sam 7y ago
Does he think every written product should be free, or just software? Or is he just against paying people for their time?
- bunderbunder 7y ago
  It's probably best to get that from the horse's mouth: https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.en.html https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
  - saas_sam 7y ago
    Thank you! Very helpful.
- geophertz 7y ago
  This answer would require to explain the whole free software ideology. If you want to know more, just type Richard Stallman on Youtube to see one of his talks. Or you can go to the free software foundation: https://www.fsf.org/ https://www.fsf.org/ EDIT: the moment I posted this I wasn't aware someone had already replied
- camgunz 7y ago
  Maybe just google even a little bit about the FSF.
- catacombs 7y ago
  > Or is he just against paying people for their time? He definitely has no problem collecting speaker fees from conferences and universities all over the world.
  - DonHopkins 7y ago
    Just don't buy him a parrot! https://gizmodo.com/please-do-not-buy-richard-stallman-a-parrot-and-other-r-5853729 https://gizmodo.com/please-do-not-buy-richard-stallman-a-par... >If you can find a host for me that has a friendly parrot, I will be very very glad. If you can find someone who has a friendly parrot I can visit with, that will be nice too. >DON'T buy a parrot figuring that it will be a fun surprise for me. To acquire a parrot is a major decision: it is likely to outlive you. If you don't know how to treat the parrot, it could be emotionally scarred and spend many decades feeling frightened and unhappy. If you buy a captured wild parrot, you will promote a cruel and devastating practice, and the parrot will be emotionally scarred before you get it. Meeting that sad animal is not an agreeable surprise. https://github.com/ddol/rre-rms https://github.com/ddol/rre-rms >Richard Stallman's rider has been a cause of amusement, bemusement and confusion for many conference and lecture organisers who have hosted him. It has even drawn the attention of the press[0]. >But what is the story behind this complex beast? When were certain clauses added, and why? We hope that with enough data regarding when modifications were made, we may be able to shed some light on the why's. https://stallman.org/articles/extreme.html https://stallman.org/articles/extreme.html >A parrot once had sex with me. I did not recognize the act as sex until it was explained to me afterward, but being stroked on the hand by his soft belly feathers was so pleasurable that I yearn for another chance. I have a photo of that act; should I go to prison for it? https://stallman.org/parrot-love.jpg https://stallman.org/parrot-love.jpg [NSFW!!!]
sdegutis 7y ago
It's good to live strictly by a philosophy, and I admire anyone who does this. I can't say I agree with Stallman's philosophy, because it places too high of an importance on communist principles which are inherently flawed and unjust. There is nothing evil about closed-source software or proprietary licenses. Yes, it can be abused by greedy people, as can pretty much anything including water. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that all software must be open source as a step in humanity reaching its ultimate goal of perfection.
- mercer 7y ago
  I'm not a communist for various reasons but I'm curious what makes you describe it as unjust. Could you elaborate?
  - sdegutis 7y ago
    My reasons are whatever the Catholic Church's reasons are. The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a little more to say about it[1]: > (2425) The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with "communism" or "socialism." She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of "capitalism," individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor. Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for "there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market." Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended. [1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2... (This book, online free at that link, is an immensely helpful resource on a huge variety of topics.) And here's the Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on Communism: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04179a.htm http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04179a.htm
    - mercer 7y ago
      thanks for the detailed response!
Shorel 7y ago
He is just a professional contrarian. We are lucky he went against big software corporations and his contributions to Open Source licenses are groundbreaking. But many others managed to provide screenshots while using free software. He, a great man in many other ways, he is also backwards and annoying.

by awake 7y ago

saas_sam 7y ago

Does he think every written product should be free, or just software? Or is he just against paying people for their time?

bunderbunder 7y ago
It's probably best to get that from the horse's mouth: https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.en.html https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
- saas_sam 7y ago
  Thank you! Very helpful.
geophertz 7y ago
This answer would require to explain the whole free software ideology. If you want to know more, just type Richard Stallman on Youtube to see one of his talks. Or you can go to the free software foundation: https://www.fsf.org/ https://www.fsf.org/ EDIT: the moment I posted this I wasn't aware someone had already replied
camgunz 7y ago
Maybe just google even a little bit about the FSF.
catacombs 7y ago
> Or is he just against paying people for their time? He definitely has no problem collecting speaker fees from conferences and universities all over the world.
- DonHopkins 7y ago
  Just don't buy him a parrot! https://gizmodo.com/please-do-not-buy-richard-stallman-a-parrot-and-other-r-5853729 https://gizmodo.com/please-do-not-buy-richard-stallman-a-par... >If you can find a host for me that has a friendly parrot, I will be very very glad. If you can find someone who has a friendly parrot I can visit with, that will be nice too. >DON'T buy a parrot figuring that it will be a fun surprise for me. To acquire a parrot is a major decision: it is likely to outlive you. If you don't know how to treat the parrot, it could be emotionally scarred and spend many decades feeling frightened and unhappy. If you buy a captured wild parrot, you will promote a cruel and devastating practice, and the parrot will be emotionally scarred before you get it. Meeting that sad animal is not an agreeable surprise. https://github.com/ddol/rre-rms https://github.com/ddol/rre-rms >Richard Stallman's rider has been a cause of amusement, bemusement and confusion for many conference and lecture organisers who have hosted him. It has even drawn the attention of the press[0]. >But what is the story behind this complex beast? When were certain clauses added, and why? We hope that with enough data regarding when modifications were made, we may be able to shed some light on the why's. https://stallman.org/articles/extreme.html https://stallman.org/articles/extreme.html >A parrot once had sex with me. I did not recognize the act as sex until it was explained to me afterward, but being stroked on the hand by his soft belly feathers was so pleasurable that I yearn for another chance. I have a photo of that act; should I go to prison for it? https://stallman.org/parrot-love.jpg https://stallman.org/parrot-love.jpg [NSFW!!!]

sdegutis 7y ago

It's good to live strictly by a philosophy, and I admire anyone who does this. I can't say I agree with Stallman's philosophy, because it places too high of an importance on communist principles which are inherently flawed and unjust. There is nothing evil about closed-source software or proprietary licenses. Yes, it can be abused by greedy people, as can pretty much anything including water. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that all software must be open source as a step in humanity reaching its ultimate goal of perfection.

mercer 7y ago
I'm not a communist for various reasons but I'm curious what makes you describe it as unjust. Could you elaborate?
- sdegutis 7y ago
  My reasons are whatever the Catholic Church's reasons are. The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a little more to say about it[1]: > (2425) The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with "communism" or "socialism." She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of "capitalism," individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor. Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for "there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market." Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended. [1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2... (This book, online free at that link, is an immensely helpful resource on a huge variety of topics.) And here's the Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on Communism: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04179a.htm http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04179a.htm
  - mercer 7y ago
    thanks for the detailed response!

Shorel 7y ago

He is just a professional contrarian. We are lucky he went against big software corporations and his contributions to Open Source licenses are groundbreaking. But many others managed to provide screenshots while using free software. He, a great man in many other ways, he is also backwards and annoying.