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Let's hope he can write better than he speaks. edit: Oh come one downvoters. Stallman has done great things, and his scriptures are as interesting as the next

Let's hope he can write better than he speaks. edit: Oh come one downvoters. Stallman has done great things, and his scriptures are as interesting as the next guy. But he should stop trying to give conferences in French (and probably conferences as a whole). See the open letter someone wrote him recently - it was spot-on.

gwern 15y ago
Your comment is maliciously intended and adds nothing to any conversation. Further, if you genuinely wondered as to whether he is a better prosodist than speaker, Stallman is a prolific author with many essays and articles available online which you could read & judge. (My own take, having read the originals of both books covered by the OP, is that Stallman is a perfectly readable writer. He will never win awards for his style, but he does not grate on the ear.)
- nddrylliog 15y ago
  ma·li·cious /məˈliSHəs/ Adjective: Characterized by malice; intending or intended to do harm. I don't think my comment qualifies as malicious. It might be an uncomfortable truth, that he's really not that fit for public speech and that his time is better spent writing programs and literature. (Also, what does http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prosody http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prosody has to do with writing free software ideology? Last time I checked, he wrote in prose.)
  - gwern 15y ago
    Your comment was not meant in a spirit of helpful critique, saying either that Stallman could work on his oratory or should optimize and spend his time writing more. I'll quote your original comment: "Let's hope he can write better than he speaks." (As for 'prosody', yes, my bad. I was misled by 'poesy' and 'prose'.)
    - nddrylliog 15y ago
      Well, you do make a point. My original comment would've been funny to anyone having seen him give a speech in French. But it wasn't really helpful indeed. The open letter from Alexey, though was helpful http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath - but it's not like Richie is going to listen anyway (his response was a pirouette, and not subtle at that: http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath) Oh, also, for people downvoting me purely because I'm touching their idol, fuck you. Fanaticism is harmful and I have no sympathy for it. Of all the people you could've chosen to adore, he's really not the best choice. Some of his ideas about freedom are interesting, indeed, but the man himself is the opposite of tolerance, doesn't listen to anyone, and is generally a wreck to manage (truth be told: when he comes to give conference, he has at least one person dedicated to "managing" him. I understand celebrities have that treatment but he's unnecessarily picky about things like temperature, air flow, etc., etc. You should really see his list of conditions..) When he came to Geneva in a panel of speakers he kept interrupting everyone, eating pretty much anything while he spoke and correcting people everytime they said "closed source" instead of "proprietary"... he's done a lot of good to the software community but maybe it's just time he retires?
- GeneralMaximus 15y ago
  Don't forget: he has written tons of documentation for several GNU projects.
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gwern 15y ago

Your comment is maliciously intended and adds nothing to any conversation. Further, if you genuinely wondered as to whether he is a better prosodist than speaker, Stallman is a prolific author with many essays and articles available online which you could read & judge. (My own take, having read the originals of both books covered by the OP, is that Stallman is a perfectly readable writer. He will never win awards for his style, but he does not grate on the ear.)

nddrylliog 15y ago
ma·li·cious /məˈliSHəs/ Adjective: Characterized by malice; intending or intended to do harm. I don't think my comment qualifies as malicious. It might be an uncomfortable truth, that he's really not that fit for public speech and that his time is better spent writing programs and literature. (Also, what does http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prosody http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prosody has to do with writing free software ideology? Last time I checked, he wrote in prose.)
- gwern 15y ago
  Your comment was not meant in a spirit of helpful critique, saying either that Stallman could work on his oratory or should optimize and spend his time writing more. I'll quote your original comment: "Let's hope he can write better than he speaks." (As for 'prosody', yes, my bad. I was misled by 'poesy' and 'prose'.)
  - nddrylliog 15y ago
    Well, you do make a point. My original comment would've been funny to anyone having seen him give a speech in French. But it wasn't really helpful indeed. The open letter from Alexey, though was helpful http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath - but it's not like Richie is going to listen anyway (his response was a pirouette, and not subtle at that: http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath http://alexeymk.com/dear-dr-stallman-the-aftermath) Oh, also, for people downvoting me purely because I'm touching their idol, fuck you. Fanaticism is harmful and I have no sympathy for it. Of all the people you could've chosen to adore, he's really not the best choice. Some of his ideas about freedom are interesting, indeed, but the man himself is the opposite of tolerance, doesn't listen to anyone, and is generally a wreck to manage (truth be told: when he comes to give conference, he has at least one person dedicated to "managing" him. I understand celebrities have that treatment but he's unnecessarily picky about things like temperature, air flow, etc., etc. You should really see his list of conditions..) When he came to Geneva in a panel of speakers he kept interrupting everyone, eating pretty much anything while he spoke and correcting people everytime they said "closed source" instead of "proprietary"... he's done a lot of good to the software community but maybe it's just time he retires?
GeneralMaximus 15y ago
Don't forget: he has written tons of documentation for several GNU projects.

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