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I've done a bit of thinking about Mr. Reiser and after reading the message to the mailing list and the like I'm thinking he sounds remorseful but also even if h

I've done a bit of thinking about Mr. Reiser and after reading the message to the mailing list and the like I'm thinking he sounds remorseful but also even if he wasn't the debt he owes society is being paid by his incarceration and I do nothing worthwile to pile on and re-punish him for his crimes. The same goes for my comments about Stallman; I don't care for the man and probably wouldn't hang out with him or entertain his ideas but there's no denying his contributions to open source and the gnu set of things. His relevance now is basically zero and so is Hans's but I don't need to flog either of them anytime their names come up. So my previous comments I apologize for (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39042626&p=2#39045093 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39042626&p=2#39045093). I don't know enough about filesystems or what was maybe planned for v4 v5 and beyond for reiserfs but I am glad we have some really nice filesystems in Linux. I'm stoked to see what I can do with bcachefs and am quite happy with xfs and zfs on my systems.

concordDance 3y ago
> entertain his ideas Any of them or just a specific small subset?
- gigatexal 3y ago
  I think he’s a bit extreme about proprietary software.
codeflo 3y ago
I don’t think Stallman is irrelevant. He’s still in charge of the GNU stuff, he still blocks progress on GCC, he still has donors and an audience, he’s still a pedophilia apologist. Edit: https://www.vice.com/en/article/9ke3ke/famed-computer-scientist-richard-stallman-described-epstein-victims-as-entirely-willing https://www.vice.com/en/article/9ke3ke/famed-computer-scient... https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794 https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec21...
- gigatexal 3y ago
  Maybe if he became irrelevant and we moved on we could find someone that could champion all the benefits of GNU without the Stallman baggage.
  - ta8645 3y ago
    Personally, I think we should stop looking for sinless saviors, and embrace good ideas regardless of their origin.
    - gigatexal 3y ago
      Hard to do. We are humans seeking tribes. If Linus was some unsavory alt right guy with extreme beliefs I’d not align myself with the project he created. Also Stallman is so polarizing and creepy imo that it hurts furthering his ideas of free software. Imagine he took a more mainstream inclusive approach he’d go further.
      - ta8645 3y ago
        You're right, it is hard to do. But a little compassion and empathy goes a long way. Publically calling someone polarizing and creepy might feel good, but it is hurtful and unhelpful.
        codeflo 3y ago
        > hurtful Listen, the man publicly defended Epstein's system of coercion and claimed that his victims were "willing". If you seriously think it's the people pointing that out who are the ones lacking empathy and behaving "hurtfully", there's something very broken with your moral compass.
        ta8645 3y ago
        > If you seriously think it's the people pointing that out who are the ones lacking empathy and behaving "hurtfully", I do seriously believe that, and my moral compass is intact. Empathy is easy to give, for those you understand and identify with. It is more difficult to show empathy and compassion for people with whom you disagree, and don't fully understand. There's every reason to believe that whatever Stallman's statements were, they don't represent the totality of the man, or mean that he's evil to the core. His humanity remains, and can be safely acknowledged, without meaning you agree or support with everything he's done.
yosefk 3y ago
Reiser is a convicted murderer. Stallman is a non-convicted non-criminal. I'm surprised seeing them discussed as 2 somewhat similar cases

concordDance 3y ago

> entertain his ideas Any of them or just a specific small subset?

gigatexal 3y ago
I think he’s a bit extreme about proprietary software.

codeflo 3y ago

I don’t think Stallman is irrelevant. He’s still in charge of the GNU stuff, he still blocks progress on GCC, he still has donors and an audience, he’s still a pedophilia apologist. Edit: https://www.vice.com/en/article/9ke3ke/famed-computer-scientist-richard-stallman-described-epstein-victims-as-entirely-willing https://www.vice.com/en/article/9ke3ke/famed-computer-scient... https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794 https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec21...

gigatexal 3y ago
Maybe if he became irrelevant and we moved on we could find someone that could champion all the benefits of GNU without the Stallman baggage.
- ta8645 3y ago
  Personally, I think we should stop looking for sinless saviors, and embrace good ideas regardless of their origin.
  - gigatexal 3y ago
    Hard to do. We are humans seeking tribes. If Linus was some unsavory alt right guy with extreme beliefs I’d not align myself with the project he created. Also Stallman is so polarizing and creepy imo that it hurts furthering his ideas of free software. Imagine he took a more mainstream inclusive approach he’d go further.
    - ta8645 3y ago
      You're right, it is hard to do. But a little compassion and empathy goes a long way. Publically calling someone polarizing and creepy might feel good, but it is hurtful and unhelpful.
      - codeflo 3y ago
        > hurtful Listen, the man publicly defended Epstein's system of coercion and claimed that his victims were "willing". If you seriously think it's the people pointing that out who are the ones lacking empathy and behaving "hurtfully", there's something very broken with your moral compass.
        ta8645 3y ago
        > If you seriously think it's the people pointing that out who are the ones lacking empathy and behaving "hurtfully", I do seriously believe that, and my moral compass is intact. Empathy is easy to give, for those you understand and identify with. It is more difficult to show empathy and compassion for people with whom you disagree, and don't fully understand. There's every reason to believe that whatever Stallman's statements were, they don't represent the totality of the man, or mean that he's evil to the core. His humanity remains, and can be safely acknowledged, without meaning you agree or support with everything he's done.

yosefk 3y ago

Reiser is a convicted murderer. Stallman is a non-convicted non-criminal. I'm surprised seeing them discussed as 2 somewhat similar cases