4 ms·
minor nit: i don't think rms is a "Dr.", since he didn't get a Ph.D. (unless he has a secret M.D.) From wikipedia: "Stallman then enrolled as a graduate studen
by pgbovine 16y ago
minor nit: i don't think rms is a "Dr.", since he didn't get a Ph.D. (unless he has a secret M.D.)
From wikipedia:
"Stallman then enrolled as a graduate student in physics at MIT, but abandoned his graduate studies while remaining a programmer at the MIT AI Laboratory. Stallman abandoned his pursuit of a doctorate in physics in favor of programming."
perhaps he has an honorary doctorate?
- roadnottaken 16y agoFrom the same wikipedia article: 1996: Honorary doctorate from Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology [85] 2001: Honorary doctorate, from the University of Glasgow [89] 2003: Honorary doctorate, from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel [91] 2004: Honorary doctorate, from the Universidad Nacional de Salta. [92] 2007: Honorary doctorate, from the Universidad de Los Angeles de Chimbote. 2007: Honorary doctorate, from the University of Pavia [93] 2008: Honorary doctorate from the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, in Peru 2009: Honorary doctorate, from Lakehead University [94][95] RTFA :)
- cgray4 16y agoI don't think an honorary doctorate entitles one to be referred to as Dr. In fact, most people with doctorates that I know would rather not be referred to as Dr. In the case of this article, it seems like the author is trying to be overly-formal in the manner of a Keith Olbermann rant.
- yahelc 16y agoSeems like he's referred to frequently as 'Dr. Stallman', including on gnu.org. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22Dr.+Stallman%22+site%3Agnu.org&aq=f&aqi=&aql=f&oq= http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22Dr....
- cgray4 16y agoYuck.
- cookiecaper 16y agoWhile I know that the regular practice is to refrain from calling recipients of honorary doctorates "doctor", I think that in some cases it's reasonable. Stallman is definitely more deserving of the title than many "real" Dr.s that you'd find. Maybe universities need a new class of degree called "honorary doctorate and we mean it for this guy".
- vacri 15y agoMy old supervisor hated using 'Dr' for PhDs and said that the only use the honorific had for him was in getting a nicer table at a restaurant.
- 3am 16y agoOther people who have honorary doctorates: Bill Cosby, Bob Hope, and Oprah. (edit: and Bob Barker, Tim Allen... obviously, RMS has accomplished more than many PhDs, but you shouldn't refer to a holder of an honorary doctorate as "Dr.")