4 ms·

> Richard Stallman is one of the most influential and respected members of the movement If you really think so, I’d argue that his hardline position is then ju

> Richard Stallman is one of the most influential and respected members of the movement If you really think so, I’d argue that his hardline position is then justified. To me Stallman doesn’t have any specific unfair advantage over anyone who would get on their soapboax and preach for a different approach. You or me could make blogposts and go talk to conferences, and rally people around a different approach. If we were to gain traction, there is no hidden lever for Stallman to pull that throws us in dark cave and nobody hears from us ever. What gives Stallman his influence is that pragmatic approaches have at most kept the status quo, at worse allowed way more encroachment on our software and devices ownership. Even if we don’t reach the 100% free ideal, setting the goal at “a bit freer than now” won’t help in my opinion. More and more the “realistic” approach feels close to accepting cops have some amount of violent abuse, because non abusing cops make 90% of the workforce and we better be in friendly terms with them to make things progress, right ?

KennyBlanken 5y ago
As others have pointed out, the Right to Repair movement has achieved far more practical progress than Stallman has. Stallman can't/won't even defend the GPL in court; others have had to organize outside the FSF to do so because the FSF is only interested in stroking its beards.
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  Right to Repair and the other foundations fighting to defend GPL don't seem to be in conflict with Stallman's position, nor what the FSF does, so your point would be that the FSF is not as efficient as you want it to be ? In my opinion, if Stallman is an hermit that only serves as an anchoring for other people to move toward the right direction, I'd argue it's plenty enough. Now I don't know much about the FSF finances and what we should really be expecting from it.

KennyBlanken 5y ago

As others have pointed out, the Right to Repair movement has achieved far more practical progress than Stallman has. Stallman can't/won't even defend the GPL in court; others have had to organize outside the FSF to do so because the FSF is only interested in stroking its beards.

makeitdouble 5y ago
Right to Repair and the other foundations fighting to defend GPL don't seem to be in conflict with Stallman's position, nor what the FSF does, so your point would be that the FSF is not as efficient as you want it to be ? In my opinion, if Stallman is an hermit that only serves as an anchoring for other people to move toward the right direction, I'd argue it's plenty enough. Now I don't know much about the FSF finances and what we should really be expecting from it.