4 ms·
> There was a time when some of the things he talks about mattered (1980s), and that time has long gone. On the contrary. RMS's extreme views on software freed
by exDM69 15y ago
> There was a time when some of the things he talks about mattered (1980s), and that time has long gone.
On the contrary. RMS's extreme views on software freedom are more relevant than ever before.
In the 2000's we have seen computers turn from general purpose programmable machines into walled gardens where you need a permission from the manufacturer to write and sell programs that run on them. That's pretty much the opposite of free software.
- mibbitier 15y agoSoftware. Hardware. The difference is not relevant. I also can't easily modify my toaster to fry sausages, because of the toaster company not releasing the design schematics and moulds. It's not free hardware!
- mpusr 15y agoThe toaster lets you open it, the toaster lets you modify it, it has standard screws and doesn't explicitly lock you out. It gives you no help in modifying it, but you are permitted to do so, and there are no mechanisms in place to stop you from doing it. If someone were to make a tool that lets you modify the toaster, that would not be illegal, and I highly doubt the toaster company would take issue with it.