4 ms·

RMS has been right about so much and continues to be proven right again and again. And he has written and maintained so much software that is the bedrock of the

RMS has been right about so much and continues to be proven right again and again. And he has written and maintained so much software that is the bedrock of the modern internet. I’m bewildered by the prevalent anti-RMS sentiment I see so frequently on “hacker” news. Is he opinionated? Definitely. Vocal and perhaps even forceful about asserting his opinions? Yep! But guess what, this is _his_ software and FSF vision we collectively decided to build so much on top of over the last several decades. He gets to call the shots until he really does step down and until then, we’ll, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Lets stop talking about him like he’s an infirm wingnut who’s past his expiration date now. His message and position has stayed the same since day one and frankly I think more of the people that depend on his work should revere and respect that a bit more instead of the relentless attitude of entitlement he seems to meet so often. There’s a crowd that has complained and continues to do so wrt Linus and it’s just as bad of a look imo.

selestify 4y ago
What bad things do people say about Linus?
- zaik 4y ago
  Anger management issues on the mailing list?
- thrown_22 4y ago
  Unprofessional and contributing to a toxic anti-woman environment in the kernel mailing list.
kentrado 4y ago
I think it is mostly resentment of the rabble. They use morality to strike against powerful men and in turn feel a snippet of power themselves. No need to contribute to free software to the same degree as him to prove him wrong, that's too much trouble. Their contribution shall be retribution. A destructive action, instead of a more commited creative one. "but there is genius in their hatred there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you to kill anybody not wanting solitude not understanding solitude they will attempt to destroy anything that differs from their own not being able to create art they will not understand art they will consider their failure as creators only as a failure of the world not being able to love fully they will believe your love incomplete and then they will hate you and their hatred will be perfect like a shining diamond like a knife like a mountain like a tiger like hemlock their finest art"- Charles Bukowski
userbinator 4y ago
I’m bewildered by the prevalent anti-RMS sentiment I see so frequently on “hacker” news. Look at who many people here work for. Look at the power that Big Tech holds. Look at my dead comments and realise that there's a crucial battle boiling beneath the surface, one that they definitely don't want you to know about. The war on general-purpose computing is continuing and they are going after those taking the side of freedom.
- discardable_dan 4y ago
  I think you'd find most people who work in those companies agree with Stallman at a fundamental level, and broadly support Free Software and the ideas around it. Very few of them support Stallman or think his behavior is helping anything, however.
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    I think you'll find that they actually don't, and are often openly hostile to his ideas and Free Software. Companies generally prefer more permissive licensing. OSI Open Source was designed for them.
- dale_glass 4y ago
  This comment is a few decades late. Big Tech doesn't think of RMS, because he's really irrelevant and doesn't stand in their way. Why? Because he does a bad job in his role of movement leader and made himself irrelevant. He's irrelevant even in niche circles -- how often do places like HN speak of anything related to RMS other than the drama of him being removed and later re-added to the FSF? Compare with the coverage of other prominent figures. For them we typically have regular non-drama news of what they're actually doing. For RMS we mostly have discussions of "is he a dinosaur?" and once in a while, "Stallman was right about something he said 10 years ago".
dale_glass 4y ago
> I’m bewildered by the prevalent anti-RMS sentiment I see so frequently on “hacker” news. Why would it bewildering? The guy created a great thing, but is now one of the main impediments in the way of its success. I'd rather have his principles outlive him. His creation is more important than he is.
- jlkuester7 4y ago
  I appreciate the debate and tension around this issue on HN. I think it is dangerous to consider a situation as complex and multifaceted as RMS to be settled and not worth discussion. That being said, I 100% agree with you! I don't care if everyone considered RMS to be a saint. Free software is about freedom and software, not a cult of personality.

selestify 4y ago

What bad things do people say about Linus?

zaik 4y ago
Anger management issues on the mailing list?
thrown_22 4y ago
Unprofessional and contributing to a toxic anti-woman environment in the kernel mailing list.

kentrado 4y ago

I think it is mostly resentment of the rabble. They use morality to strike against powerful men and in turn feel a snippet of power themselves. No need to contribute to free software to the same degree as him to prove him wrong, that's too much trouble. Their contribution shall be retribution. A destructive action, instead of a more commited creative one. "but there is genius in their hatred there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you to kill anybody not wanting solitude not understanding solitude they will attempt to destroy anything that differs from their own not being able to create art they will not understand art they will consider their failure as creators only as a failure of the world not being able to love fully they will believe your love incomplete and then they will hate you and their hatred will be perfect like a shining diamond like a knife like a mountain like a tiger like hemlock their finest art"- Charles Bukowski

userbinator 4y ago

I’m bewildered by the prevalent anti-RMS sentiment I see so frequently on “hacker” news. Look at who many people here work for. Look at the power that Big Tech holds. Look at my dead comments and realise that there's a crucial battle boiling beneath the surface, one that they definitely don't want you to know about. The war on general-purpose computing is continuing and they are going after those taking the side of freedom.

discardable_dan 4y ago
I think you'd find most people who work in those companies agree with Stallman at a fundamental level, and broadly support Free Software and the ideas around it. Very few of them support Stallman or think his behavior is helping anything, however.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  I think you'll find that they actually don't, and are often openly hostile to his ideas and Free Software. Companies generally prefer more permissive licensing. OSI Open Source was designed for them.
dale_glass 4y ago
This comment is a few decades late. Big Tech doesn't think of RMS, because he's really irrelevant and doesn't stand in their way. Why? Because he does a bad job in his role of movement leader and made himself irrelevant. He's irrelevant even in niche circles -- how often do places like HN speak of anything related to RMS other than the drama of him being removed and later re-added to the FSF? Compare with the coverage of other prominent figures. For them we typically have regular non-drama news of what they're actually doing. For RMS we mostly have discussions of "is he a dinosaur?" and once in a while, "Stallman was right about something he said 10 years ago".

dale_glass 4y ago

> I’m bewildered by the prevalent anti-RMS sentiment I see so frequently on “hacker” news. Why would it bewildering? The guy created a great thing, but is now one of the main impediments in the way of its success. I'd rather have his principles outlive him. His creation is more important than he is.

jlkuester7 4y ago
I appreciate the debate and tension around this issue on HN. I think it is dangerous to consider a situation as complex and multifaceted as RMS to be settled and not worth discussion. That being said, I 100% agree with you! I don't care if everyone considered RMS to be a saint. Free software is about freedom and software, not a cult of personality.