4 ms·

Could you try to refrain from insults like "coo coo for cocoa puffs"? Stallman is trying his best to live up to his ethical principles. What is the point of yo

• dogma1138 11y ago
  Sorry i don't see this exactly as an insult, yes there is quite a bit of abnormality in there probably with a slight touch of insanity, if you fail to see that well that's your problem, not every thing is criticism, some are just observations.
  • mbrock 11y ago
    "Criticism" might be too lofty a word for your accusations of "abnormality" and "insanity" in this level-headed personal page. Please reconsider the value of sharing your subjective and uncharitable "observations."
    • dogma1138 11y ago
      "Teaching children to use Windows is like teaching them to smoke tobacco..." You should read some of his essays :)
      • mbrock 11y ago
        Here's a more complete quote, for anyone interested: "Teaching children to use Windows is like teaching them to smoke tobacco—in a world where only one company sells tobacco. Like any addictive drug, it inculcates a harmful dependency. (Bill Gates made this comparison in a 1998 issue of Fortune Magazine.) No wonder Microsoft offers the first dose to children at a low price. Microsoft aims to teach poor children this dependency so they can smoke Windows for their whole lives. I don’t think governments or schools should support that aim." http://new.bostonreview.net/BR33.6/stallman.php http://new.bostonreview.net/BR33.6/stallman.php
        • dogma1138 11y ago
          With a small issue that Bill Gates have never said it, the entire quote is by RMS. Bill Gates made a comparison on the fight against big tobacco and the anti-trust campaign against MSFT in the mid to late 90's in that issue, but this isn't even quote mining, it's a complete distortion of the facts.
          • mbrock 11y ago
            Bill Gates said in an interview together with Warren Buffett that people in China who were using pirate copies of Windows would get "sort of addicted" and that Microsoft would "somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade." That's what RMS is referring to; it's not a fabrication.
            • dragonwriter 11y ago
              RMS characterization of it is a fabrication. Gates did not make the comparison that RMS says he did. RMS could have accurately described the characterization Gates made, and then launched into how that related to the criticism RMS would like to have made, but choose instead to be dishonest to get a little more rhetorical impact with audiences unfamiliar with the truth (or already committed blindly to the cause) at the expense of his credibility with others.
              • mbrock 11y ago
                I disagree with your charge of dishonesty. Gates said that cheap copies of Windows would ensure that many people in China get "sort of addicted" to Microsoft technology. Stallman's "characterization" of the comparison says that Gates likened Windows to an addictive drug. That is not incorrect. Your claim that he is fabricating is itself a rhetorical point intended to discredit Stallman as a liar.
  • istvan__ 11y ago
    Yeah he also supports other very questionable things: https://stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html https://stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html "05 June 2006 (Dutch paedophiles form political party) Dutch pedophiles have formed a political party to campaign for legalization. I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children. The arguments that it causes harm seem to be based on cases which aren't voluntary, which are then stretched by parents who are horrified by the idea that their little baby is maturing."
    • simoncion 11y ago
      Expressing scepticism of a clam of harm is not the same thing as supporting those who perform the alleged harmful activity.
      • LLWM 11y ago
        That's not the problem. The problem is how he expresses it - especially the phrasing "voluntary pedophilia". It's very similar to the hullabaloo about Todd Akin's statements where he spoke about "legitimate rape victims".
        • simoncion 11y ago
          So, you're saying that there is a problem with saying: "I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children."? If so, what is the problem and why is it a problem? If not, then what are you saying?
          • LLWM 11y ago
            The problem is exactly what I said. The use of the phrase voluntary pedophilia. It is a problem because it implies that such a thing actually exists.
            • simoncion 11y ago
              History is littered with accounts of people consummating marriages at ages far below 16. In many jurisdictions, this would be considered pedophilia. Keeping in mind that -other than overall improvements in health- a man from Ancient Greece is physiologically no different from a man from Today's Greece, Is it your position that the husband or wife in these socially acceptable ancient marriages was a pedophile? Either a "yes" or a "no" is a totally acceptable answer here. I'm interested in an earnest discussion; I'm not trying to lead you down a garden path or anything.