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I don't think Stallman's a very effective activist in some ways. Stallman and the FSF could benefit from looking at the history of social justice movements to s

by autarch 15y ago

I don't think Stallman's a very effective activist in some ways. Stallman and the FSF could benefit from looking at the history of social justice movements to see what made them effective. Of course that's no reason to treat him with disrespect.

lambda 15y ago
Hmm. There are a few aspects of the FSF's strategies that I have never quite been a fan of, but I must say that Stallman has, in general, been much more effective at promoting free software than almost anyone else I can think of. Look at the GNU project, at Emacs, at GCC, look at how widespread the GPL is. Look at how many people know and care about what free software is, and what qualifies as free software (and despite the different name and different reasons given, the term "open source" is seen as meaning pretty much the same thing). That seems pretty effective to me. What do you think he could do that would make him more effective? Compromise his position, say that maybe, sometimes, it might be OK to recommend non-free software? What value would he be providing then? While using a fully free software stack may not be for everyone today, the fact that he has pushed hard enough that it is possible is inspiring, and created benefits for people beyond just those who use entirely free software.
omouse 15y ago
He's not an activist; that's what makes him effective. The history of "social justice" movements is full of examples where some people were in favour of revolution as opposed to mere reform. There are a lot of people that want to live in a world where free software can be used and sold alongside proprietary software; Stallman and other revolutionaries envision a world where proprietary software is seen as a horrible social evil that the only common sense choice is to write free software. However, he doesn't want to force you to that; he's simply talking about and discussing his alternative and hoping that you realize that it's better than the current situation. Stallman doesn't need to waste his breath if there are many others who want to talk about reformist approaches.
doki_pen 15y ago
Anyone can step in and do what they want with the "movement". I don't think RMS has a monopoly on speaking about free software and would probably welcome anyone who wanted to be an activist. But even if he didn't, it matters little. If you can do a better job then step in and do it.

by autarch 15y ago

lambda 15y ago

Hmm. There are a few aspects of the FSF's strategies that I have never quite been a fan of, but I must say that Stallman has, in general, been much more effective at promoting free software than almost anyone else I can think of. Look at the GNU project, at Emacs, at GCC, look at how widespread the GPL is. Look at how many people know and care about what free software is, and what qualifies as free software (and despite the different name and different reasons given, the term "open source" is seen as meaning pretty much the same thing). That seems pretty effective to me. What do you think he could do that would make him more effective? Compromise his position, say that maybe, sometimes, it might be OK to recommend non-free software? What value would he be providing then? While using a fully free software stack may not be for everyone today, the fact that he has pushed hard enough that it is possible is inspiring, and created benefits for people beyond just those who use entirely free software.

omouse 15y ago

He's not an activist; that's what makes him effective. The history of "social justice" movements is full of examples where some people were in favour of revolution as opposed to mere reform. There are a lot of people that want to live in a world where free software can be used and sold alongside proprietary software; Stallman and other revolutionaries envision a world where proprietary software is seen as a horrible social evil that the only common sense choice is to write free software. However, he doesn't want to force you to that; he's simply talking about and discussing his alternative and hoping that you realize that it's better than the current situation. Stallman doesn't need to waste his breath if there are many others who want to talk about reformist approaches.

doki_pen 15y ago

Anyone can step in and do what they want with the "movement". I don't think RMS has a monopoly on speaking about free software and would probably welcome anyone who wanted to be an activist. But even if he didn't, it matters little. If you can do a better job then step in and do it.