4 ms·

The comments here, are for the most part, incredibly disappointing. I don't understand the point of bashing a guy, however public, for merely stating his prefer

The comments here, are for the most part, incredibly disappointing. I don't understand the point of bashing a guy, however public, for merely stating his preferences: I'm sure people could find some of everyone's preferences equally curious. Whatever the intent in submitting this to Hacker News was, it's turning into pointless bullying and should probably just be killed.

dylangs1030 13y ago
That's a stretch. If he's allowed to post his opinions, we're allowed to post ours. The strength of HN is in the dialectic. He has some clearly strange habits - I wouldn't call him extreme, radical or militant per se, but he obviously doesn't carry himself like most people. I don't think the majority of us are trying to diminish his contributions to the internet community. Rather, we're commenting on how odd he is. That's okay, it's just humorous in a nutty way. RMS takes the cynical beliefs people often think when they hear Christmas music and hate it, and takes it to actually doing it (to provide one example). "Ugh, fuck the holidays. I hate always having to spend money on people I pretend to like." ^Most of us get over it. RMS has the anti-social (I don't mean that in a DSM or pejorative sense) solidarity to actually stop celebrating holidays. It's admirable, just weird.
rtpg 13y ago
Many of the statements he makes in this are implicit value judgments. For example, his closing statement: > When I wait for my baggage in an airport, I always do one of these two. And I notice the people around me, feeling anxious and getting nothing done. What a waste. Even with the benefit of the doubt that he didn't mean this as snarky( I do not know RMS personally, so I cannot judge too much), he imposes his lifestyle decisions (working all the time) as a sort of absolute truth. >None of my shirts carry messages (such as words or symbols). That practice strikes me as lacking dignity, so I won't wear clothing with symbols, not even for causes I support. This is not a matter of ethical disapproval, so I don't mind selling hats and shirts with free software slogans on behalf of the FSF; but I choose not to wear them myself. I get not wanting to have messages on your shirt. Loads of people are like that. But to simultaneously say that it lacks dignity but then act as if this isn't a value judgement is a bit contrarian. I think this is more one of those things that are more annoying than somehow "fundamentally" wrong but the fact that he "doesn't mind" using other people's cell phones or rewards cards is reminiscent of a lot of annoying people I've known in my life. Your personal preferences stop being immune from criticism when they end up imposing things on others.

dylangs1030 13y ago

That's a stretch. If he's allowed to post his opinions, we're allowed to post ours. The strength of HN is in the dialectic. He has some clearly strange habits - I wouldn't call him extreme, radical or militant per se, but he obviously doesn't carry himself like most people. I don't think the majority of us are trying to diminish his contributions to the internet community. Rather, we're commenting on how odd he is. That's okay, it's just humorous in a nutty way. RMS takes the cynical beliefs people often think when they hear Christmas music and hate it, and takes it to actually doing it (to provide one example). "Ugh, fuck the holidays. I hate always having to spend money on people I pretend to like." ^Most of us get over it. RMS has the anti-social (I don't mean that in a DSM or pejorative sense) solidarity to actually stop celebrating holidays. It's admirable, just weird.

rtpg 13y ago

Many of the statements he makes in this are implicit value judgments. For example, his closing statement: > When I wait for my baggage in an airport, I always do one of these two. And I notice the people around me, feeling anxious and getting nothing done. What a waste. Even with the benefit of the doubt that he didn't mean this as snarky( I do not know RMS personally, so I cannot judge too much), he imposes his lifestyle decisions (working all the time) as a sort of absolute truth. >None of my shirts carry messages (such as words or symbols). That practice strikes me as lacking dignity, so I won't wear clothing with symbols, not even for causes I support. This is not a matter of ethical disapproval, so I don't mind selling hats and shirts with free software slogans on behalf of the FSF; but I choose not to wear them myself. I get not wanting to have messages on your shirt. Loads of people are like that. But to simultaneously say that it lacks dignity but then act as if this isn't a value judgement is a bit contrarian. I think this is more one of those things that are more annoying than somehow "fundamentally" wrong but the fact that he "doesn't mind" using other people's cell phones or rewards cards is reminiscent of a lot of annoying people I've known in my life. Your personal preferences stop being immune from criticism when they end up imposing things on others.