8 ms·

My funniest memory of Richard Stallman is once he was invited to give the commencement speech at my local university, Lakehead University. He was pretty oblivio

My funniest memory of Richard Stallman is once he was invited to give the commencement speech at my local university, Lakehead University. He was pretty oblivious to the fact he was at a graduation, and not at any point in his speech did he address the students and their future. All he talked about was free software, how copyright was bad, and that the university should be using free software. Most of the students were pretty pissed off at him because he ruined one of the most significant moments in their life. He didn't even say, congratulations well done on graduating, or even a simple "hello." He only spoke about free software. I think the video is still up on the university's website somewhere. If you're interested in it, I could try to find it and post it.

0x12 15y ago
But you do remember the talk and you are still willing to promote it, so from his point of view that's mission accomplished.
- joshaidan 15y ago
  You see, that's the problem. His mission was to promote free software, instead of the mission the university hired him for: sending the graduates off on their next journey.
  - 0x12 15y ago
    You don't hire a missionary with a vision to pat yourself or your audience on the back. That's like expecting Sylvester Stallone to do higher mathematics or Mother Theresa to do an arms deal for you. Some people are what they are and their environment/audience will have to accept them as they are. The problem lies squarely with the person that hired him, the abstract of the speeches listed should have adequately explained what they were going to get. That's exactly what that rider exists for in the first place, to avoid misunderstandings like that. I highly doubt if RMS could even tailor his speech to the occasion, he must know it by heart by now except for the Q&A part. What I found interesting on reading the 'rider' is that he still refers to the GNU operating system as though it is in daily use. I've yet to see a HURD based system do anything useful in production but half the world wide web seems to run on Linux these days. Of course linux is 'merely a kernel'. But if you write free software the you also give away the right to name that software, after all, a fork is under no obligation to be named after the parent. So RMS holding on to insisting to call Linux GNU/Linux looks to be against the self-imposed freedoms.
    - pork 15y ago
      ...or like expecting Steve Jobs to give a great graduation speech.
    - BrandonM 15y ago
      > What I found interesting on reading the 'rider' is that he still refers to the GNU operating system as though it is in daily use. I've yet to see a HURD based system do anything useful in production but half the world wide web seems to run on Linux these days. Of course linux is 'merely a kernel'. Considering that glib, libc, gcc, emacs, the vast majority of the Unix utilities, bash, grub, autoconf, make, readline, gzip, tar, screen, wget, and Gnome are all GNU projects[0], I would say that GNU is most definitely in daily use. The Linux kernel isn't much use without the software on top of it, and it's nothing at all without the compiler that turns it into machine code. [0] See https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html#allgnupkgs https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html#allgnupkgs for the full list.
      - icebraining 15y ago
        The Linux kernel isn't much use without the software on top of it, and it's nothing at all without the compiler that turns it into machine code. Or without the its own license, the GNU GPL.
      - metabrew 15y ago
        I think I have more KDE code on my computer than GNU code. Both are undeniably useful, but no one is insisting on calling it KDE/Linux.
        BrandonM 15y ago
        I wasn't referring to the name GNU/Linux; I was specifically refuting the comment I quoted. The funny thing is that the comment effectively justifies RMS's insistence on using GNU/Linux. Because so many refer to the entire distribution as Linux, a lot of people fail to realize the hugely-important role that GNU software plays in Linux systems. Linux is still useful without KDE, but the functionality provided by GNU is critical and would require a large effort to replace.
  - flatline 15y ago
    Just to offer a counter perspective, I'm sure that RMS honestly believes that the most important thing for your future is the use and advocacy of free software, and that being the case, there would be little point discussing anything else, no? Software increasingly pervades everything we depend on in life. The ownership and control of our futures rests to a large extent on who owns and controls the software we are using. The recent trend has been toward closed platforms behind opaque service interfaces, which is a problem of increasing difficulty for the free software movement. That, and he does tend to be brusk.
  - gnubardt 15y ago
    The topics he's willing to speak about are clearly listed in his rider, and graduation isn't one of them.
mistermann 15y ago
I'd definitely like to see that!!
- joshaidan 15y ago
  See my comment above... I posted link to the speech on YouTube.
joshaidan 15y ago
Okay, I found the speech on YouTube, it's in three parts and it's over 30 minutes long: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbsifBoI_0E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbsifBoI_0E Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APb1tNxvGMY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APb1tNxvGMY Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukQURxJ2QYc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukQURxJ2QYc If you're looking for a quick laugh, listen to part 2 where he starts off going on a rant about how the university is using Windows Media Player to stream the convocation and forces users to use Windows. He tells the audience to "throw Windows out of the computer, or the computer out the Window." He did get a lot of cheers for that remark though.
- ndespres 15y ago
  Thanks for posting this. The laugh in here for me was watching the person to the right of the podium try to hold in their giggles.
deadcyclo 15y ago
You can't blame that on Stallman. He has always been completely clear and up front about what he will and will not speak about. And he always agrees on the topic ahead of time with who ever is arranging the event. In other words. Who ever arranged this graduation obviously did a horrible job, and is the person you should blame.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- maximusprime 15y ago
  I think it's fair to assume most people have basic "people" skills, humility, manners etc. Unfortunately that isn't the case with Stallman. He's an obsessive fundamentalist only concerned with one topic.
  - Duff 15y ago
    That fact is well known. If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian, would you be upset at the speaker, or the idiot who hired him?
    - hugh3 15y ago
      It's well known within a certain rather narrow community of people. The folks who booked him may just have read his name on a list of "vaguely important people who are willing to give speeches".
    - fleitz 15y ago
      If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian but spit in people's faces when they extended their hand for a handshake, would you be upset at the speaker or the idiot who hired him? RMS lacks basic social graces. He preaches to the choir but somehow still manages to piss them off with pedantic shit like GNU/Linux. Why doesn't he just copyright it so he can plaster the GNU logo all over everything and be done with it.
      - 15y ago
Homunculiheaded 15y ago
I've both planned some fairly large events with speakers and worked closely with well known but 'eccentric' personalities similar rms. It's really a mixed bag as to who is to blame. On the one had the committee coming up with this should have done some research (and asked themselves "why hasn't rms done any convocations before?"). I've known organizations entertaining the idea of rms as a keynote, and it almost immediately gets shot down by anyone how has actually watched him speak. But undoubtedly the committee in charge of this event was mix, and rms on paper does sound like a good idea. At the same time, I know rms is passionate about his cause, but it is a dick move to not at least pay some superficial lip service to the event you're speaking at. In fact he'd do a much better service to his cause if he just made a good speech connecting graduation to free software. Look what a fantastic speech Steve Jobs gave, but certainly promoted both his personal image and apple as well.
- hcayce 15y ago
  It's really a mixed bag as to who is to blame. On the one had the committee coming up with this should have done some research (and asked themselves "why hasn't rms done any convocations before?"). I've known organizations entertaining the idea of rms as a keynote, and it almost immediately gets shot down by anyone how has actually watched him speak. Yeah. It seems like ordering squid at a restaurant: if you order squid or someone orders it for you, you shouldn't complain that you don't like seafood. And you can't really blame the squid.
  - ugh 15y ago
    I think you should have read the whole comment you were responding to. Dead squids don’t have brains. rms does.
    - sneak 15y ago
      I believe that the plural of squid is squid.
njharman 15y ago
> Most of the students were pretty pissed off at him because he ruined The Univ, specifically whoever booked Stallman (in obvious ignorance), is who ruined their moment. Don't invite a Lion Tamer to fix your sink.

0x12 15y ago

But you do remember the talk and you are still willing to promote it, so from his point of view that's mission accomplished.

joshaidan 15y ago
You see, that's the problem. His mission was to promote free software, instead of the mission the university hired him for: sending the graduates off on their next journey.
- 0x12 15y ago
  You don't hire a missionary with a vision to pat yourself or your audience on the back. That's like expecting Sylvester Stallone to do higher mathematics or Mother Theresa to do an arms deal for you. Some people are what they are and their environment/audience will have to accept them as they are. The problem lies squarely with the person that hired him, the abstract of the speeches listed should have adequately explained what they were going to get. That's exactly what that rider exists for in the first place, to avoid misunderstandings like that. I highly doubt if RMS could even tailor his speech to the occasion, he must know it by heart by now except for the Q&A part. What I found interesting on reading the 'rider' is that he still refers to the GNU operating system as though it is in daily use. I've yet to see a HURD based system do anything useful in production but half the world wide web seems to run on Linux these days. Of course linux is 'merely a kernel'. But if you write free software the you also give away the right to name that software, after all, a fork is under no obligation to be named after the parent. So RMS holding on to insisting to call Linux GNU/Linux looks to be against the self-imposed freedoms.
  - pork 15y ago
    ...or like expecting Steve Jobs to give a great graduation speech.
  - BrandonM 15y ago
    > What I found interesting on reading the 'rider' is that he still refers to the GNU operating system as though it is in daily use. I've yet to see a HURD based system do anything useful in production but half the world wide web seems to run on Linux these days. Of course linux is 'merely a kernel'. Considering that glib, libc, gcc, emacs, the vast majority of the Unix utilities, bash, grub, autoconf, make, readline, gzip, tar, screen, wget, and Gnome are all GNU projects[0], I would say that GNU is most definitely in daily use. The Linux kernel isn't much use without the software on top of it, and it's nothing at all without the compiler that turns it into machine code. [0] See https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html#allgnupkgs https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html#allgnupkgs for the full list.
    - icebraining 15y ago
      The Linux kernel isn't much use without the software on top of it, and it's nothing at all without the compiler that turns it into machine code. Or without the its own license, the GNU GPL.
    - metabrew 15y ago
      I think I have more KDE code on my computer than GNU code. Both are undeniably useful, but no one is insisting on calling it KDE/Linux.
      - BrandonM 15y ago
        I wasn't referring to the name GNU/Linux; I was specifically refuting the comment I quoted. The funny thing is that the comment effectively justifies RMS's insistence on using GNU/Linux. Because so many refer to the entire distribution as Linux, a lot of people fail to realize the hugely-important role that GNU software plays in Linux systems. Linux is still useful without KDE, but the functionality provided by GNU is critical and would require a large effort to replace.
- flatline 15y ago
  Just to offer a counter perspective, I'm sure that RMS honestly believes that the most important thing for your future is the use and advocacy of free software, and that being the case, there would be little point discussing anything else, no? Software increasingly pervades everything we depend on in life. The ownership and control of our futures rests to a large extent on who owns and controls the software we are using. The recent trend has been toward closed platforms behind opaque service interfaces, which is a problem of increasing difficulty for the free software movement. That, and he does tend to be brusk.
- gnubardt 15y ago
  The topics he's willing to speak about are clearly listed in his rider, and graduation isn't one of them.

mistermann 15y ago

I'd definitely like to see that!!

joshaidan 15y ago
See my comment above... I posted link to the speech on YouTube.

joshaidan 15y ago

Okay, I found the speech on YouTube, it's in three parts and it's over 30 minutes long: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbsifBoI_0E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbsifBoI_0E Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APb1tNxvGMY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APb1tNxvGMY Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukQURxJ2QYc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukQURxJ2QYc If you're looking for a quick laugh, listen to part 2 where he starts off going on a rant about how the university is using Windows Media Player to stream the convocation and forces users to use Windows. He tells the audience to "throw Windows out of the computer, or the computer out the Window." He did get a lot of cheers for that remark though.

ndespres 15y ago
Thanks for posting this. The laugh in here for me was watching the person to the right of the podium try to hold in their giggles.

deadcyclo 15y ago

You can't blame that on Stallman. He has always been completely clear and up front about what he will and will not speak about. And he always agrees on the topic ahead of time with who ever is arranging the event. In other words. Who ever arranged this graduation obviously did a horrible job, and is the person you should blame.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
maximusprime 15y ago
I think it's fair to assume most people have basic "people" skills, humility, manners etc. Unfortunately that isn't the case with Stallman. He's an obsessive fundamentalist only concerned with one topic.
- Duff 15y ago
  That fact is well known. If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian, would you be upset at the speaker, or the idiot who hired him?
  - hugh3 15y ago
    It's well known within a certain rather narrow community of people. The folks who booked him may just have read his name on a list of "vaguely important people who are willing to give speeches".
  - fleitz 15y ago
    If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian but spit in people's faces when they extended their hand for a handshake, would you be upset at the speaker or the idiot who hired him? RMS lacks basic social graces. He preaches to the choir but somehow still manages to piss them off with pedantic shit like GNU/Linux. Why doesn't he just copyright it so he can plaster the GNU logo all over everything and be done with it.
    - 15y ago

Homunculiheaded 15y ago

I've both planned some fairly large events with speakers and worked closely with well known but 'eccentric' personalities similar rms. It's really a mixed bag as to who is to blame. On the one had the committee coming up with this should have done some research (and asked themselves "why hasn't rms done any convocations before?"). I've known organizations entertaining the idea of rms as a keynote, and it almost immediately gets shot down by anyone how has actually watched him speak. But undoubtedly the committee in charge of this event was mix, and rms on paper does sound like a good idea. At the same time, I know rms is passionate about his cause, but it is a dick move to not at least pay some superficial lip service to the event you're speaking at. In fact he'd do a much better service to his cause if he just made a good speech connecting graduation to free software. Look what a fantastic speech Steve Jobs gave, but certainly promoted both his personal image and apple as well.

hcayce 15y ago
It's really a mixed bag as to who is to blame. On the one had the committee coming up with this should have done some research (and asked themselves "why hasn't rms done any convocations before?"). I've known organizations entertaining the idea of rms as a keynote, and it almost immediately gets shot down by anyone how has actually watched him speak. Yeah. It seems like ordering squid at a restaurant: if you order squid or someone orders it for you, you shouldn't complain that you don't like seafood. And you can't really blame the squid.
- ugh 15y ago
  I think you should have read the whole comment you were responding to. Dead squids don’t have brains. rms does.
  - sneak 15y ago
    I believe that the plural of squid is squid.

njharman 15y ago

> Most of the students were pretty pissed off at him because he ruined The Univ, specifically whoever booked Stallman (in obvious ignorance), is who ruined their moment. Don't invite a Lion Tamer to fix your sink.