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Stallman on Harry Potter: > I don't say you shouldn't read these books. That I leave to the author. I only urge you not to pay for them. Quite the upstanding

by laureny 13y ago

Stallman on Harry Potter: > I don't say you shouldn't read these books. That I leave to the author. I only urge you not to pay for them. Quite the upstanding citizen. His justification for this is even more bizarre, he accuses JK Rowling of something hypothetical: > Suppose that the mistakenly sold Harry Potter books had been ebooks: then instead of ordering her fans not to read her books, Rowling could have ordered them erased. and then demanding she apologizes for something she never did: > I think we should forgive Rowling (or her publisher) when she (or it) > Recognizes that this injunction was wrong. > Promises not to do anything like it again.

pjscott 13y ago
At least link to the page you're quoting snippets from, for context: http://stallman.org/harry-potter.html http://stallman.org/harry-potter.html
icebraining 13y ago
> I don't say you shouldn't read these books. That I leave to the author. I only urge you not to pay for them. Quite the upstanding citizen. What's your issue with it? Is it wrong to read without paying for it, now? Personally, I like libraries.
leephillips 13y ago
"Quite the upstanding citizen." In the very next sentence, Stallman suggests that you borrow one from someone, and in the sentence after that that you use a public library. I think your out-of-context quote is a dishonest attempt to portray Stallman as suggesting something he did not. Dishonest, childish, and thoroughly contemptible. I'm not a Stallman fan by any means [0], but I doubt he would stoop to this level of dishonesty to attempt to discredit anyone. The rest of your comment is also wrong and confused, but I can't tell if it's also from dishonesty or simply stupidity. (If I must: he is suggesting an apology would be appropriate for a real injunction that her lawyers actually got, not for "something she never did". For example.) [0] http://lee-phillips.org/StallmanOnFinkelstein.html http://lee-phillips.org/StallmanOnFinkelstein.html
- laureny 13y ago
  Fair enough, but I still find the philosophy behind it repulsive. "Don't pay for it, just use the one that somebody else paid for". He follows the same idea with cell phones, and with food (I've also interacted with him at bars after conferences and he hardly pays for his drinks either). If a friend of yours starts showing such behavior, you will quickly cut them off and think they are jerks. And rightfully so.

by laureny 13y ago

pjscott 13y ago

At least link to the page you're quoting snippets from, for context: http://stallman.org/harry-potter.html http://stallman.org/harry-potter.html

icebraining 13y ago

> I don't say you shouldn't read these books. That I leave to the author. I only urge you not to pay for them. Quite the upstanding citizen. What's your issue with it? Is it wrong to read without paying for it, now? Personally, I like libraries.

leephillips 13y ago

"Quite the upstanding citizen." In the very next sentence, Stallman suggests that you borrow one from someone, and in the sentence after that that you use a public library. I think your out-of-context quote is a dishonest attempt to portray Stallman as suggesting something he did not. Dishonest, childish, and thoroughly contemptible. I'm not a Stallman fan by any means [0], but I doubt he would stoop to this level of dishonesty to attempt to discredit anyone. The rest of your comment is also wrong and confused, but I can't tell if it's also from dishonesty or simply stupidity. (If I must: he is suggesting an apology would be appropriate for a real injunction that her lawyers actually got, not for "something she never did". For example.) [0] http://lee-phillips.org/StallmanOnFinkelstein.html http://lee-phillips.org/StallmanOnFinkelstein.html

laureny 13y ago
Fair enough, but I still find the philosophy behind it repulsive. "Don't pay for it, just use the one that somebody else paid for". He follows the same idea with cell phones, and with food (I've also interacted with him at bars after conferences and he hardly pays for his drinks either). If a friend of yours starts showing such behavior, you will quickly cut them off and think they are jerks. And rightfully so.