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> He would be just another programmer if he keeps coding. Wouldn't that be better than being just a gadfly? At least that's my impression; RMS will appear on s
by flomo 16y ago
> He would be just another programmer if he keeps coding.
Wouldn't that be better than being just a gadfly? At least that's my impression; RMS will appear on some group or maillist, drop a bomb, tell everyone they're doing it wrong, and then disappear while the flamewar blazes, accomplishing nothing constructive in the process.
And, in this community, everyone's status is based primarily on their programming, including Richard Stallman's.
- nkassis 16y agoHis status has been earned. RMS did incredible programming work in the 70s,80s that I think entitles him to make comments (even if they are wrong).
- iuguy 16y ago> RMS did incredible programming work in the 70s,80s No he didn't! He wrote a text editor, a compiler and a library. It's not like he's the only person ever to do that. He also had a lot of help from others. He isn't the sole author of EMACS, GCC or glibc.
- imd 16y agoYou're only counting his Unix stuff. He's credited on the chine nual[0], he wrote bit-twiddling hacks, he published an AI paper with Sussman, etc. His WP page mentions a bunch of stuff. [0]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/two_pi_r/264672507/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/two_pi_r/264672507/
- nkassis 16y agoYep and He also was a one man reverse engineering army during the lisp machine war. His programming skills are really good. His personality is another thing.
- kragen 16y ago> Wouldn't that be better than being just a gadfly? Perhaps you should ask Socrates.