6 ms·

Because they realised that Richard Stallman isn't just eccentric, he is crazy. The easier and more rational option would be to just institutionalize Stallman.

by w00pla 17y ago

Because they realised that Richard Stallman isn't just eccentric, he is crazy. The easier and more rational option would be to just institutionalize Stallman. Unfortunately some people are opposed to that because of sentimental reasons.

doki_pen 17y ago
And what, exactly, is your evidence that his is legally insane? Everything I've heard and read from him seems extremely sane. More sane that what I've heard from the opposing camp. Is it because he eats toe cheese? I admit it's pretty strange, but so what? Judge his words and writings. Let his principles stand alone. Then tell me he's insane.
- jacquesm 17y ago
  > Is it because he eats toe cheese? If that is your way of presenting the case that Stallman is perfectly sane it somehow falls short of the mark. It's a bit like the defense councilor stating to the judge that the defendant may have a habit or two that is out of the ordinary but otherwise he's a perfectly normal human being. Don't we all, you know, deep down inside. I'm not sure of Stallmans' dietary habits but I would definitely count that one against him. I can't begin to fathom where you dug up this nugget of highly relevant information though, if you didn't just made it up.
  - stevejohnson 17y ago
    For the record, he didn't make it up. There's Youtube evidence.
    - timtadh 17y ago
      Steve ::shakes head:: it disturbs me that you just know this. I mean did you really search youtube for RMS eating toe cheese. Gross. (alternatively i suppose it could have just popped up on google, but that makes this fact more disturbing for the internet as a whole.)
      - randallsquared 17y ago
        It has popped up on reddit, etc. I haven't seen the video, but it was very popular for some reason a while back.
      - aerique 17y ago
        It's a well-known Youtube video.
  - telemachos 17y ago
    It's a fairly well-known bit of nastiness about RMS . I can't be bothered to Google it for you - mostly because I don't want to deal with the results (too early in the morning for me for those images in my head).
  - doki_pen 17y ago
    I think you missed the point. My point was that you should be able to judge the argument without prejudice based on the speaker. If you are using credibility as your mode of discerning the truth, then I fear that you will be wrong about most things in life.
amix 17y ago
Stallman isn't crazy. He is an extremist just like Ghandi was an extremist. I think many years from now we will view Stallman as our times Ghandi - - someone who was extreme, but fought for a good cause.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- rbanffy 17y ago
  It's funny. Most of Europe is now democratic because extremists once fought off absolutist monarchies. The US is a democracy because a bunch of extremists convinced the people that this was the way to go. I live in Brazil. I truly wish we had more extremists like those when we declared our independence and when we became a republic. In fact, I wish we had a stronger tradition of extremism.
- stephenjudkins 17y ago
  Richard Stallman? Like Gandhi? Really? It's computer software, folks. One can make very strong claims that free software is better or preferable to proprietary software without putting it in the manichaean terms that Stallman does. As far as injustices in the world goes, proprietary software is pretty damn far down. A friend of mine was called "evil" to his face by Richard Stallman because he once worked at Microsoft. "Evil" is a (bit of a) loaded term and not appropriate for someone who also has contributed a great deal to the open-source community. I can't imagine how incidents like this, and Stallman's absolutely-no-compromise attitude in general, do more good than harm to the free software movement. People need to keep things in perspective.
  - omouse 17y ago
    It's computer software, folks. Computer software runs just about everything in the world. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that employees many many people. It isn't just anything. His no-compromises method has done far more for the movement than anything. If you want some comprimes, look to the Open Source movement and the BSD license.
nova 17y ago
We sure need more "crazies" like him.
- w00pla 17y ago
  I doubt that. There are enough agitators in the open source world that turns it into an "us versus them" issue – thereby alienating almost all of the potential OSS users. I would personally see a lot more level headed and rational programmers.
  - elblanco 17y ago
    I'm not sure about level-headed, but definitely rational. Linus, for example, is a famous hot head, but he's most certainly pragmatic and rational in his approach.
- ErrantX 17y ago
  not really. I know a lot of people are becoming worried that the good he did in the early days of FSF is being negated by the current attitude. I know I am concerned with his ongoing shift of attitude to anti-proprietary as opposed to pro-free. That's incredibly damaging.
  - Daishiman 17y ago
    Perhaps you should actually read what he writes instead of letting other's interpretations of him get in the way. I have never found anything that he's written to be irrational or crazy. The problem is that some people can't admit that they just don't care about FOSS as much as Stallman does and try to discredit him because they don't have the guts to say so. It's okay to disagree with Stallman and he has never attacked anyone who has openly voiced an opinion against his ideals. It's not okay to say he is crazy when in reality he one of the most consistent and logical thinkers in FOSS.
    - ErrantX 17y ago
      I do read what he says directly; and I haven't called him crazy. Also I feel extremely strongly about FOSS. Disagreeing with stallman doesn't make you a proprietary apologist. Stallman has been fairl consistent and I feel like that is the root of the issue. It's a very hardline attitude but more importantly one that treats every other view as entirely wrong and disdainful. I can't agree with that: I find it very damaging. But then I also feel the gpl is fairly damaging in it's attitude too. So I appreciate it might be just ones stance over hat Free actually stands for (for me it is "without limits" :-))
rywang 17y ago
Richard Stallman frequents our lab-wide mailing list (csail-related@lists.csail.mit.edu) and once explained how he browses the web: "My access to web pages is by sending mail to a server which does the equivalent of wget and mails them back to me. (Once I get the page, I can view it with various browsers.) I transfer mail a couple of times a day and usually have no net connection otherwise." (11/8/2009) A little extreme, but an interesting hack.
- bmj 17y ago
  It's also interesting to think about what programming and software would really look like in Smallman's world. Clearly quite a bit different than the world most of us frequent.
whyenot 17y ago
He's not crazy, he's passionate about his cause, and whether you agree with him or not that passion has led to a lot of good. On the other hand advocating that someone should be "institutionalized" because you happen to disagree with their opinion is going quite a bit farther than Stallman goes.
- axod 17y ago
  His stance is that proprietary software is "evil". Why is calling him insane any different than that. Him: Proprietary software is evil Others: Stallman is insane Seem pretty equal to me.
  - Daishiman 17y ago
    How about reading some of what he writes instead of brushing off his ideals? His assertion of proprietary software being "evil" for some very specific values of "evil" are quite valid. Only fools that don't read his work brush him off so easily; otherwise they'd refute his positions with real arguments.
    - axod 17y ago
      OK, his stance against minified/obfuscated javascript was insane.

by w00pla 17y ago

doki_pen 17y ago

And what, exactly, is your evidence that his is legally insane? Everything I've heard and read from him seems extremely sane. More sane that what I've heard from the opposing camp. Is it because he eats toe cheese? I admit it's pretty strange, but so what? Judge his words and writings. Let his principles stand alone. Then tell me he's insane.

jacquesm 17y ago
> Is it because he eats toe cheese? If that is your way of presenting the case that Stallman is perfectly sane it somehow falls short of the mark. It's a bit like the defense councilor stating to the judge that the defendant may have a habit or two that is out of the ordinary but otherwise he's a perfectly normal human being. Don't we all, you know, deep down inside. I'm not sure of Stallmans' dietary habits but I would definitely count that one against him. I can't begin to fathom where you dug up this nugget of highly relevant information though, if you didn't just made it up.
- stevejohnson 17y ago
  For the record, he didn't make it up. There's Youtube evidence.
  - timtadh 17y ago
    Steve ::shakes head:: it disturbs me that you just know this. I mean did you really search youtube for RMS eating toe cheese. Gross. (alternatively i suppose it could have just popped up on google, but that makes this fact more disturbing for the internet as a whole.)
    - randallsquared 17y ago
      It has popped up on reddit, etc. I haven't seen the video, but it was very popular for some reason a while back.
    - aerique 17y ago
      It's a well-known Youtube video.
- telemachos 17y ago
  It's a fairly well-known bit of nastiness about RMS . I can't be bothered to Google it for you - mostly because I don't want to deal with the results (too early in the morning for me for those images in my head).
- doki_pen 17y ago
  I think you missed the point. My point was that you should be able to judge the argument without prejudice based on the speaker. If you are using credibility as your mode of discerning the truth, then I fear that you will be wrong about most things in life.

amix 17y ago

Stallman isn't crazy. He is an extremist just like Ghandi was an extremist. I think many years from now we will view Stallman as our times Ghandi - - someone who was extreme, but fought for a good cause.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
rbanffy 17y ago
It's funny. Most of Europe is now democratic because extremists once fought off absolutist monarchies. The US is a democracy because a bunch of extremists convinced the people that this was the way to go. I live in Brazil. I truly wish we had more extremists like those when we declared our independence and when we became a republic. In fact, I wish we had a stronger tradition of extremism.
stephenjudkins 17y ago
Richard Stallman? Like Gandhi? Really? It's computer software, folks. One can make very strong claims that free software is better or preferable to proprietary software without putting it in the manichaean terms that Stallman does. As far as injustices in the world goes, proprietary software is pretty damn far down. A friend of mine was called "evil" to his face by Richard Stallman because he once worked at Microsoft. "Evil" is a (bit of a) loaded term and not appropriate for someone who also has contributed a great deal to the open-source community. I can't imagine how incidents like this, and Stallman's absolutely-no-compromise attitude in general, do more good than harm to the free software movement. People need to keep things in perspective.
- omouse 17y ago
  It's computer software, folks. Computer software runs just about everything in the world. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that employees many many people. It isn't just anything. His no-compromises method has done far more for the movement than anything. If you want some comprimes, look to the Open Source movement and the BSD license.

nova 17y ago

We sure need more "crazies" like him.

w00pla 17y ago
I doubt that. There are enough agitators in the open source world that turns it into an "us versus them" issue – thereby alienating almost all of the potential OSS users. I would personally see a lot more level headed and rational programmers.
- elblanco 17y ago
  I'm not sure about level-headed, but definitely rational. Linus, for example, is a famous hot head, but he's most certainly pragmatic and rational in his approach.
ErrantX 17y ago
not really. I know a lot of people are becoming worried that the good he did in the early days of FSF is being negated by the current attitude. I know I am concerned with his ongoing shift of attitude to anti-proprietary as opposed to pro-free. That's incredibly damaging.
- Daishiman 17y ago
  Perhaps you should actually read what he writes instead of letting other's interpretations of him get in the way. I have never found anything that he's written to be irrational or crazy. The problem is that some people can't admit that they just don't care about FOSS as much as Stallman does and try to discredit him because they don't have the guts to say so. It's okay to disagree with Stallman and he has never attacked anyone who has openly voiced an opinion against his ideals. It's not okay to say he is crazy when in reality he one of the most consistent and logical thinkers in FOSS.
  - ErrantX 17y ago
    I do read what he says directly; and I haven't called him crazy. Also I feel extremely strongly about FOSS. Disagreeing with stallman doesn't make you a proprietary apologist. Stallman has been fairl consistent and I feel like that is the root of the issue. It's a very hardline attitude but more importantly one that treats every other view as entirely wrong and disdainful. I can't agree with that: I find it very damaging. But then I also feel the gpl is fairly damaging in it's attitude too. So I appreciate it might be just ones stance over hat Free actually stands for (for me it is "without limits" :-))

rywang 17y ago

Richard Stallman frequents our lab-wide mailing list (csail-related@lists.csail.mit.edu) and once explained how he browses the web: "My access to web pages is by sending mail to a server which does the equivalent of wget and mails them back to me. (Once I get the page, I can view it with various browsers.) I transfer mail a couple of times a day and usually have no net connection otherwise." (11/8/2009) A little extreme, but an interesting hack.

bmj 17y ago
It's also interesting to think about what programming and software would really look like in Smallman's world. Clearly quite a bit different than the world most of us frequent.

whyenot 17y ago

He's not crazy, he's passionate about his cause, and whether you agree with him or not that passion has led to a lot of good. On the other hand advocating that someone should be "institutionalized" because you happen to disagree with their opinion is going quite a bit farther than Stallman goes.

axod 17y ago
His stance is that proprietary software is "evil". Why is calling him insane any different than that. Him: Proprietary software is evil Others: Stallman is insane Seem pretty equal to me.
- Daishiman 17y ago
  How about reading some of what he writes instead of brushing off his ideals? His assertion of proprietary software being "evil" for some very specific values of "evil" are quite valid. Only fools that don't read his work brush him off so easily; otherwise they'd refute his positions with real arguments.
  - axod 17y ago
    OK, his stance against minified/obfuscated javascript was insane.