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Experts in specific areas develop blindness to problems in certain areas of their solution. Usually the framework they use to approach the problems makes certai

by ntoshev 18y ago

Experts in specific areas develop blindness to problems in certain areas of their solution. Usually the framework they use to approach the problems makes certain simplifying assumptions, and these assumptions become their blind spots. These frameworks solve the hard problems they are designed to solve, so the biggest remaining problems remain hidden under these assumptions. Examples: Economists assume rationality. Java developers don't notice all the boilerplate. Lisp developers don't notice the brackets). Stallman doesn't notice all the sysadmin burden.

tjpick 18y ago
But that's not true in Stallman's case. He openly acknowledges it by stating that we should choose freedom over convenience. He recognizes the burden and encourages people to choose it anyway because freedom is worth fighting for. That's at the core of his message. Its not in the article unfortunately but he does say this at his talks.
- sabat 18y ago
  Why not have choices? Cloud computing for those who don't want a bunch of admin work (me), and pure freedom for those who want it? Why does it have to be black-or-white?
  - jodrellblank 18y ago
    You have the choice - Stallman is just encouraging you to chose the bunch of admin work that you don't want, arguing that the freedom is worth more than the admin work costs.
    - tjpick 18y ago
      or choose to pay someone to do that admin work for you. There is always a cost: your time, your money, or your freedom. Your choice.
- ntoshev 18y ago
  Is this a true choice? I am choosing convenience, if I need freedom later I can pay the price and get it. For example, I am developing on the closed Google App Engine. If what I'm doing becomes successful and I hit limitations of the platform, I can reimplement the whole thing on an open source stack. But I don't want to pay that cost up front. Edit: Thanks for clarifying what Stallman offers.

by ntoshev 18y ago

tjpick 18y ago

But that's not true in Stallman's case. He openly acknowledges it by stating that we should choose freedom over convenience. He recognizes the burden and encourages people to choose it anyway because freedom is worth fighting for. That's at the core of his message. Its not in the article unfortunately but he does say this at his talks.

sabat 18y ago
Why not have choices? Cloud computing for those who don't want a bunch of admin work (me), and pure freedom for those who want it? Why does it have to be black-or-white?
- jodrellblank 18y ago
  You have the choice - Stallman is just encouraging you to chose the bunch of admin work that you don't want, arguing that the freedom is worth more than the admin work costs.
  - tjpick 18y ago
    or choose to pay someone to do that admin work for you. There is always a cost: your time, your money, or your freedom. Your choice.
ntoshev 18y ago
Is this a true choice? I am choosing convenience, if I need freedom later I can pay the price and get it. For example, I am developing on the closed Google App Engine. If what I'm doing becomes successful and I hit limitations of the platform, I can reimplement the whole thing on an open source stack. But I don't want to pay that cost up front. Edit: Thanks for clarifying what Stallman offers.