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How is the FSF failing? There seems to be far more freedom respecting choices nowadays than in the past and we're now entering the dawn of "free" cpus with RIS

How is the FSF failing? There seems to be far more freedom respecting choices nowadays than in the past and we're now entering the dawn of "free" cpus with RISC-V. I'd also consider that Linux is more widely used than at any time in the past as well. What am I missing?

brodouevencode 4y ago
They are being eclipsed in terms of contributions by the Linux Foundation, AI groups, robotics groups, you name it. There was a lot of squandered potential there. Stallman has spent the majority of the time arguing pedantically about things he has no control over - for instance he would yell at you for saying "Linux" instead of "GNU-Linux". He outlived the utility of being the FSF leader about 30 years ago and should have passed on the baton then.
- ndsipa_pomu 4y ago
  Thanks. I would hesitate to call them "dying", but maybe just becoming less relevant compared to other organisations.
acdha 4y ago
Those things are happening without much involvement by the FSF – Linux, for example, is famously not an FSF project to the point that some activists tried to popularize the “GNU/Linux” label. I’m not saying that the FSF has no role or that some of the software it supports isn’t incredibly widely used (GCC, etc.) but that it’s seemed to be coasting for years, drifting out of the mainstream even for open source developers. That makes their mission harder to accomplish because everyone knows that they don’t speak for a large percentage of the community. This largely comes back to RMS. It’s fairly common for organizations to have trouble surviving the departure of a key founder, and in his case that is especially complicated by having run it for decades as largely a personal vehicle. This was especially glaring when he was invited back after leaving in a cloud: how much does a “so what if he drove people away, he’s been here for years!” message suggest that they’ll become more relevant in the future, especially with the people who saw that and decided never to touch an FSF effort?
- ndsipa_pomu 4y ago
  I see. I must admit to not paying much attention to FSF, but instead other organisations such as EFF seem to be championing consumers' freedoms as opposed to developers' freedoms. I do think RMS has made some very important comments and insights about how technology is being abused by companies, but I'd agree that he's probably not the best person to be running an organisation - maybe keep him around as a consultant.
  - acdha 4y ago
    Yes - the tragedy of this is that the points where RMS has important messages are being actively obscured by his other decisions.

brodouevencode 4y ago

They are being eclipsed in terms of contributions by the Linux Foundation, AI groups, robotics groups, you name it. There was a lot of squandered potential there. Stallman has spent the majority of the time arguing pedantically about things he has no control over - for instance he would yell at you for saying "Linux" instead of "GNU-Linux". He outlived the utility of being the FSF leader about 30 years ago and should have passed on the baton then.

ndsipa_pomu 4y ago
Thanks. I would hesitate to call them "dying", but maybe just becoming less relevant compared to other organisations.

acdha 4y ago

Those things are happening without much involvement by the FSF – Linux, for example, is famously not an FSF project to the point that some activists tried to popularize the “GNU/Linux” label. I’m not saying that the FSF has no role or that some of the software it supports isn’t incredibly widely used (GCC, etc.) but that it’s seemed to be coasting for years, drifting out of the mainstream even for open source developers. That makes their mission harder to accomplish because everyone knows that they don’t speak for a large percentage of the community. This largely comes back to RMS. It’s fairly common for organizations to have trouble surviving the departure of a key founder, and in his case that is especially complicated by having run it for decades as largely a personal vehicle. This was especially glaring when he was invited back after leaving in a cloud: how much does a “so what if he drove people away, he’s been here for years!” message suggest that they’ll become more relevant in the future, especially with the people who saw that and decided never to touch an FSF effort?

ndsipa_pomu 4y ago
I see. I must admit to not paying much attention to FSF, but instead other organisations such as EFF seem to be championing consumers' freedoms as opposed to developers' freedoms. I do think RMS has made some very important comments and insights about how technology is being abused by companies, but I'd agree that he's probably not the best person to be running an organisation - maybe keep him around as a consultant.
- acdha 4y ago
  Yes - the tragedy of this is that the points where RMS has important messages are being actively obscured by his other decisions.