4 ms·

I groan at iGroan because it's a bad pun, but Stallman's position seems more or less sound. DRM sucks. This article from the EFF is too brief and poorly annot

by 9999 15y ago

I groan at iGroan because it's a bad pun, but Stallman's position seems more or less sound. DRM sucks. This article from the EFF is too brief and poorly annotated to really lead me to any conclusions on its own. I would like to read a fully fleshed out position paper/article on the deficiencies of the PROTECT IP act. Anyone know of one? edit: Found this from the EFF themselves: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/05/plus-ca-change-protect-ip-domain-name-system-and https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/05/plus-ca-change-protect... They link to the bill itself which is only 30 pages. It is pretty poorly thought out.

redthrowaway 15y ago
I don't have a problem with Stallman's positions, just his tactics. He marginalizes himself and the FSF by behaviour that appeals only to his most devoted followers. As a hacker, he should realize that his solution is suboptimal and find ways to improve it. Instead, he brushes off those who criticize him as being in league with the forces of oppression, or at least not caring enough about freedom to see why he's right. He presents a false dichotomy: either you agree with me and my methods, or you agree with Apple and theirs. He ignores the obvious majority opinion amongst hackers: I agree with you, but I find your methods distasteful and ineffective. For that reason, I can't support you or your organization.
- mquander 15y ago
  I don't think that the majority opinion amongst "hackers" (as in, the general programmer audience here) agrees with Stallman in a meaningful sense. A majority might sort of prefer free software, but don't care to fight for it very much; how many people use and develop for & on proprietary software and locked-down hardware anyway because they care more about convenience and utility than freedom? RMS calls it like he sees it.
- 9999 15y ago
  The FSF's cause is by its very nature already marginalized in the wider world. Members of the software developing communities and computing hobbyist communities, probably find the iGroan stuff particularly cringe inducing, but there may be a useful tradeoff there in that at least they are memorable for politicians, random passersby, etc. They may not be memorable in a positive way (and I would say they probably are not...), but given how incredibly little understanding there is of their issues in general, gaining any awareness of the issues at hand is kind of a win for them even if they're perceived as lunatics.

by 9999 15y ago

redthrowaway 15y ago

I don't have a problem with Stallman's positions, just his tactics. He marginalizes himself and the FSF by behaviour that appeals only to his most devoted followers. As a hacker, he should realize that his solution is suboptimal and find ways to improve it. Instead, he brushes off those who criticize him as being in league with the forces of oppression, or at least not caring enough about freedom to see why he's right. He presents a false dichotomy: either you agree with me and my methods, or you agree with Apple and theirs. He ignores the obvious majority opinion amongst hackers: I agree with you, but I find your methods distasteful and ineffective. For that reason, I can't support you or your organization.

mquander 15y ago
I don't think that the majority opinion amongst "hackers" (as in, the general programmer audience here) agrees with Stallman in a meaningful sense. A majority might sort of prefer free software, but don't care to fight for it very much; how many people use and develop for & on proprietary software and locked-down hardware anyway because they care more about convenience and utility than freedom? RMS calls it like he sees it.
9999 15y ago
The FSF's cause is by its very nature already marginalized in the wider world. Members of the software developing communities and computing hobbyist communities, probably find the iGroan stuff particularly cringe inducing, but there may be a useful tradeoff there in that at least they are memorable for politicians, random passersby, etc. They may not be memorable in a positive way (and I would say they probably are not...), but given how incredibly little understanding there is of their issues in general, gaining any awareness of the issues at hand is kind of a win for them even if they're perceived as lunatics.