3 ms·

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 wh

by 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.
  - elblanco 17y ago
    >It is a multi-billion dollar industry that employees many many people. Which is exactly why RMS is viewed as extreme. If the world followed his philosophy, it would not be a "multi-billion dollar industry that employs many many people." It would be slightly larger than HAM radio, full of smart and well meaning hobbyists trying to scratch personal itches but not adding up to much of consequence (which pretty much describes the state of the movement today). RMSs response has always been a vague bit of handwaving about creating more innovative business processes around the free software but which basically amount to every software company becoming a services company. I'm sorry, but I really don't need or want services for 99.995% of the software I use every day.
kiba 17y ago
Stallman, despite all his rhetoric, is just a moderate liberal. If you want extremist, you would look at ESR, not RMS. ESR is an actually a hardcore anarcho-capitalist, and I happen to confirm for myself that ESR studied Austrian economics(Hayek at the very least) from a little chat on freenode. Of course, I have no transcript that this happens so you have to ask ESR himself.
axod 17y ago
He's extreme, but I don't agree it's a good cause at all. As a programmer, I should be able to decide how and where my code gets used.
- elblanco 17y ago
  Precisely, RMSs definition of "freedom" is one that's tightly controlled by his idealism and precludes numerous uses for software that a developer may actually want. In effect, his concept of "freedom" is like DPRK's definition of "Democratic".

by amix 17y ago

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.
- elblanco 17y ago
  >It is a multi-billion dollar industry that employees many many people. Which is exactly why RMS is viewed as extreme. If the world followed his philosophy, it would not be a "multi-billion dollar industry that employs many many people." It would be slightly larger than HAM radio, full of smart and well meaning hobbyists trying to scratch personal itches but not adding up to much of consequence (which pretty much describes the state of the movement today). RMSs response has always been a vague bit of handwaving about creating more innovative business processes around the free software but which basically amount to every software company becoming a services company. I'm sorry, but I really don't need or want services for 99.995% of the software I use every day.

kiba 17y ago

Stallman, despite all his rhetoric, is just a moderate liberal. If you want extremist, you would look at ESR, not RMS. ESR is an actually a hardcore anarcho-capitalist, and I happen to confirm for myself that ESR studied Austrian economics(Hayek at the very least) from a little chat on freenode. Of course, I have no transcript that this happens so you have to ask ESR himself.

axod 17y ago

He's extreme, but I don't agree it's a good cause at all. As a programmer, I should be able to decide how and where my code gets used.

elblanco 17y ago
Precisely, RMSs definition of "freedom" is one that's tightly controlled by his idealism and precludes numerous uses for software that a developer may actually want. In effect, his concept of "freedom" is like DPRK's definition of "Democratic".