4 ms·

RMS is a smart man, but I can never seem to take him seriously. He has the tact of a sixteen year old who's looking to start a flame war. Between his iThings, h

by jjcm 14y ago

RMS is a smart man, but I can never seem to take him seriously. He has the tact of a sixteen year old who's looking to start a flame war. Between his iThings, his Micro$ofts, iBads, and "quotes" all over, I half expect him to end his statements in lol. The cause that he's fighting for is good, but the way he fights just doesn't attract anyone to his side.

mehrzad 14y ago
I actually asked him why he uses those terms. He says it's because he refuses to use their marketing terms and he gets to poke fun at the companies as well.
- MichaelGG 14y ago
  iBad is still obviously using the "marketing term" iPad. If he wanted to not use those terms, he could write "Apple's tablet device" or something to that effect.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    How about "weBad" as a way of bolstering the self confidence?
stcredzero 14y ago
> I half expect him to end his statements in lol. There have been a lot of changes to language on the Internet in Stallman's time. Stuff that was cool just a year ago marks you as an undesirable now. "Micro$oft" used to be perfectly socially acceptable on USENET. I wonder who they paid to get that changed?
- untog 14y ago
  "Micro$oft" used to be perfectly socially acceptable on USENET. I wonder who they paid to get that changed? The level of discourse was raised, MS didn't pay anyone.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    > The level of discourse was raised Uh, I would beg to differ. It's stayed about the same, but there's more a lot more hate motivating everything. Back in 1989, there was still such a thing as civil discourse. Now disingenuously veiled hate speech is the norm, with the noise being louder the more important the issue is to society. If discourse is the lifeblood of our body politic, our body politic is an undead zombie. Sorry. It's just depressing out there. (It used to be that Micro$oft was just a joke. It wasn't until well after HN that it somehow became "offensive.")
    - rogerclark 14y ago
      yes, it was just a joke (depending on your definition of "joke"). but it was never funny. people who still say that are obviously stuck in the past -- in terms of their maturity, argumentative skills, critical thinking abilities, senses of humor, and general cultural awareness. people who say "Micro$oft" are idiots. the existence of people who are humorless and lame enough to say it in the year 2013 -- that's what's offensive. it's not that people give a shit about microsoft or whatever
      - stcredzero 14y ago
        > people who say "Micro$oft" are idiots. the existence of people who are humorless and lame enough to say it in the year 2013 -- that's what's offensive. it's not that people give a shit about microsoft or whatever This sentence contradicts itself through its sheer uninspired humorlessness.
        coldtea 14y ago
        Only the above sentence was never meant to be humorous to begin with. Then again, you find "Micro$oft" funny, so what do you know?
    - hdra 14y ago
      Whenever I see anyone uses "M$" or "crApple" in a discussion, I stopped listening to that person.
- MetaCosm 14y ago
  Using "Micro$oft" is like having a popped collar -- it is exceptionally useful tool for identifying yourself as an out of touch douche-bag.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    Really? I find opinions like this useful proof of people who tend to value signaling over substance. (Because, you know, it's more effort to actually deal with substance.)
- coldtea 14y ago
  >"Micro$oft" used to be perfectly socially acceptable on USENET. I wonder who they paid to get that changed? Microsoft was not that threatening anymore, people moved on, and you can only keep the same BS juvenile joke for so long. M$ == "oh, Microsoft cares about money. A company of all things! How funny". The idea that they paid someone (who, the ...USENET owner?) to have M$ not be that acceptable on USENET is beyond ludicrous. Not to mention it's BS. People still use M$ and Micro$oft all the time, even in USENET (well, they don't use USENET that much, that's true). It's just that people that are 16-22 yo OSS "fans" rooting for the "Linux conquest of the desktop" are less abundant now.

by jjcm 14y ago

mehrzad 14y ago

I actually asked him why he uses those terms. He says it's because he refuses to use their marketing terms and he gets to poke fun at the companies as well.

MichaelGG 14y ago
iBad is still obviously using the "marketing term" iPad. If he wanted to not use those terms, he could write "Apple's tablet device" or something to that effect.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  How about "weBad" as a way of bolstering the self confidence?

stcredzero 14y ago

> I half expect him to end his statements in lol. There have been a lot of changes to language on the Internet in Stallman's time. Stuff that was cool just a year ago marks you as an undesirable now. "Micro$oft" used to be perfectly socially acceptable on USENET. I wonder who they paid to get that changed?

untog 14y ago
"Micro$oft" used to be perfectly socially acceptable on USENET. I wonder who they paid to get that changed? The level of discourse was raised, MS didn't pay anyone.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  > The level of discourse was raised Uh, I would beg to differ. It's stayed about the same, but there's more a lot more hate motivating everything. Back in 1989, there was still such a thing as civil discourse. Now disingenuously veiled hate speech is the norm, with the noise being louder the more important the issue is to society. If discourse is the lifeblood of our body politic, our body politic is an undead zombie. Sorry. It's just depressing out there. (It used to be that Micro$oft was just a joke. It wasn't until well after HN that it somehow became "offensive.")
  - rogerclark 14y ago
    yes, it was just a joke (depending on your definition of "joke"). but it was never funny. people who still say that are obviously stuck in the past -- in terms of their maturity, argumentative skills, critical thinking abilities, senses of humor, and general cultural awareness. people who say "Micro$oft" are idiots. the existence of people who are humorless and lame enough to say it in the year 2013 -- that's what's offensive. it's not that people give a shit about microsoft or whatever
    - stcredzero 14y ago
      > people who say "Micro$oft" are idiots. the existence of people who are humorless and lame enough to say it in the year 2013 -- that's what's offensive. it's not that people give a shit about microsoft or whatever This sentence contradicts itself through its sheer uninspired humorlessness.
      - coldtea 14y ago
        Only the above sentence was never meant to be humorous to begin with. Then again, you find "Micro$oft" funny, so what do you know?
  - hdra 14y ago
    Whenever I see anyone uses "M$" or "crApple" in a discussion, I stopped listening to that person.
MetaCosm 14y ago
Using "Micro$oft" is like having a popped collar -- it is exceptionally useful tool for identifying yourself as an out of touch douche-bag.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  Really? I find opinions like this useful proof of people who tend to value signaling over substance. (Because, you know, it's more effort to actually deal with substance.)
coldtea 14y ago
>"Micro$oft" used to be perfectly socially acceptable on USENET. I wonder who they paid to get that changed? Microsoft was not that threatening anymore, people moved on, and you can only keep the same BS juvenile joke for so long. M$ == "oh, Microsoft cares about money. A company of all things! How funny". The idea that they paid someone (who, the ...USENET owner?) to have M$ not be that acceptable on USENET is beyond ludicrous. Not to mention it's BS. People still use M$ and Micro$oft all the time, even in USENET (well, they don't use USENET that much, that's true). It's just that people that are 16-22 yo OSS "fans" rooting for the "Linux conquest of the desktop" are less abundant now.