4 ms·

I love how rms has been preaching for decades, while most of the tech community snidely ignored him. And yet, in the end, everything he warned about turned out

I love how rms has been preaching for decades, while most of the tech community snidely ignored him. And yet, in the end, everything he warned about turned out to be right.

kaolinite 13y ago
Such as? I've heard this said a lot but not heard any examples of non-obvious statements that he predicted, which have turned out to be true.
- metaleks 13y ago
  He predicted eBook DRM in the 90s: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
- Decade 13y ago
  Sometimes the obvious needs to be said. Most obvious: In 1997, Stallman wrote an essay in which the protagonist requires a copyright holder's permission to read a book. In 2009, Amazon remotely pulled "1984" out of Kindles. From the beginning, Stallman has said that closed software holds users hostage. In 2003, Stallman started saying that Windows spies on users. Now, besides the features Stallman was complaining about, we find out that the NSA works to make software less secure, Microsoft actively gives vulnerabilities to the NSA, and Apple is tardy about applying security updates. Both Microsoft and Adobe are trying to get users to switch to unwanted annual subscriptions instead of traditional license ownership. Stallman has also said that cell phones spy on users. That is increasingly apparent, with cell phone records available for the taking and fake cells to do individual stings.
  - mikevm 13y ago
    > Stallman has also said that cell phones spy on users. That is increasingly apparent, with cell phone records available for the taking and fake cells to do individual stings. I used to work for a phone company. They had a very simple to use web app that lets you input anyone's phone number and _instantly_ locate him on the map. None of that Hollywood "keep him on the line" bullshit.
roel_v 13y ago
This is said so often, but it's plain not true. In the late 1990's he was considered much more of a hero than nowadays, as in the first decade of the 21st century people (not coincidentally, imo, after the first dot com bust) people starting to realize that he's just a religious fanatic with no clue on how to effectuate meaningful, practical change.

I love how rms has been preaching for decades, while most of the tech community snidely ignored him. And yet, in the end, everything he warned about turned out to be right.

kaolinite 13y ago

Such as? I've heard this said a lot but not heard any examples of non-obvious statements that he predicted, which have turned out to be true.

metaleks 13y ago
He predicted eBook DRM in the 90s: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Decade 13y ago
Sometimes the obvious needs to be said. Most obvious: In 1997, Stallman wrote an essay in which the protagonist requires a copyright holder's permission to read a book. In 2009, Amazon remotely pulled "1984" out of Kindles. From the beginning, Stallman has said that closed software holds users hostage. In 2003, Stallman started saying that Windows spies on users. Now, besides the features Stallman was complaining about, we find out that the NSA works to make software less secure, Microsoft actively gives vulnerabilities to the NSA, and Apple is tardy about applying security updates. Both Microsoft and Adobe are trying to get users to switch to unwanted annual subscriptions instead of traditional license ownership. Stallman has also said that cell phones spy on users. That is increasingly apparent, with cell phone records available for the taking and fake cells to do individual stings.
- mikevm 13y ago
  > Stallman has also said that cell phones spy on users. That is increasingly apparent, with cell phone records available for the taking and fake cells to do individual stings. I used to work for a phone company. They had a very simple to use web app that lets you input anyone's phone number and _instantly_ locate him on the map. None of that Hollywood "keep him on the line" bullshit.

roel_v 13y ago

This is said so often, but it's plain not true. In the late 1990's he was considered much more of a hero than nowadays, as in the first decade of the 21st century people (not coincidentally, imo, after the first dot com bust) people starting to realize that he's just a religious fanatic with no clue on how to effectuate meaningful, practical change.