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I think it is really tough for younger people to realize that technology can be seen as a highly dangerous in different forms. Instead of trashing his principl
by mrtron 15y ago
I think it is really tough for younger people to realize that technology can be seen as a highly dangerous in different forms.
Instead of trashing his principles, perhaps try to see the motivation behind them. I respect anyone who establishes their own code and adheres firmly to it. RMS meets this criteria. He is also very open and honest about his views which I find refreshing.
I also think that this type of boycotting/selectively using technology will become far more common with physical hardware as it rapidly develops. Robots will not smoothly integrate with everyone's tastes.
Consider a highly sophisticated sex robot not noticeably different from a normal human. I can imagine there will be a strong division of people for and against this type of human intimacy replacement.
- ktizo 15y agoI just started idly wondering from your comment what sort of restrictions Stallman would place on a sex robot. Please don't inspire me to think of such things again.
- billpatrianakos 15y agoThat's the thing. You said it. Not many will see his motivations unless he spells it out and the man is an awful communicator in that he can't go two words without putting someone off. Unfortunately he's a bit of an extremist. At least that's how he presents himself. So I doubt younger folks will get where he's coming from. I'm 25 and I've read about Stallmam for only the past five years and I can tell you that what he stands for sounds great in theory but unfortunately he's not too good at showing us how to reconcile that theory with reality. I don't think kids younger than me will ever get Stallmam. As far as I see he becomes more irrelevant in the eyes of each passing generation. Not that he's irrelevant, just that he's seen that way as you go younger. And I'd totally be willing to try out the first sex robot.
- bobsil1 15y agoHe sounds like a religious fundamentalist, or an Amish farmer. What a limiting worldview.
- bootload 15y ago"... He sounds like a religious fundamentalist, or an 'Amish farmer'..." I quite like the Amish Farmer [0] analogy to technology. Select the good bits of technology, ignore the ones that are "better left alone". [0] Jamie Sharp, "The Amish: Technology Practice and Technological Change" ~ http://www.shawcreekgeneralstore.com/amish_article1.htm http://www.shawcreekgeneralstore.com/amish_article1.htm
- mrtron 15y agoHe is an extremist and puts many people off with what he says. That is the point. He doesn't need to change his approach or principles. His actions are still in line with what he says.
- billpatrianakos 15y agoWell you're kind of making my argument. There's a misunderstanding. I'm talking about young people. Stallman doesn't need to change his approach or principles but what I'm saying is that I have a feeling that one day all the people like you who "get" it will die and very few if any of today's young people will be on board with his views. They'll probably think Stallman was the father of Open Source and not be able to tell the difference between Free Software and Open Source software. If only there was a more moderate, more palatable version of Stallman then maybe the message would reach more people. And I'm not saying Stallman's views are right or wrong. They just are.
- thejteam 15y agoI think your points about young people are right on the money. To be more specific, there is a history to his views. They have evolved over time in reaction to specific events, just like everybody's ideas. People who have not experienced the same events will not understand how his views are shaped without this background being explained. In order to understand how the building is made you need to see the scaffolding. Many times Stallman's(and others) views are presented without the proper narrative in place.
- maxerickson 15y agoIt seems likely to me that many of the possible more moderate versions of Stallman would end up advocating "Open Source where it makes sense".
- orblivion 15y agoI think that's totally fine. He doesn't have to influence everybody. He just has to influence enough moderate people to in turn influence the rest of us. I argue this happened with the "Open Source" movement he hates so much. I think he's got to hold the goal post, to define the ideal, so we know what to aim for at least.
- ceol 15y ago> Unfortunately he's a bit of an extremist. That's my personal problem with him. The world, to him, seems black-and-white. There is good and evil, and if you don't agree with him, you're evil. He believes his views are perfect. I also find him inconsistent. He goes so far as to view web pages by fetching them through an email account, but then uses ATMs and kiosks with non-Free software on them. He also isn't as anti-Google as he is anti-Facebook despite Google being arguably worse in terms of privacy violations. Hopefully that's not coming off as a tone argument.
- gbog 15y ago> I respect anyone who establishes their own code and adheres firmly to it. You shouldn't. I'm sure there are many despicable people who did so on the wrong principles. You need to add that those principles are compatible with yours.
- borism 15y agoSo if "their" principles are compatible with ones equally "wrong" principles, then both of them are somehow right?