ZNet interviews Richard Stallman 586
ProgressiveCynic writes "ZNet has just published an interview with Richard Stallman. Much of the interview will be review for Slashdot folks, intended to introduce ZNet's audience to the free software movement, but many interesting bits remain including a discussion on the outlawing of free software, patents as applied to literature, and this quote: 'I'm a Liberal, in US terms (not Canadian terms). I'm against fascism.'"
Can you tell he's a programmer? (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder how many Znet readers are confused out of their minds as to why he'd start with zero.
Re:Can you tell he's a programmer? (Score:3, Funny)
Void
Null
Cipher
Zero
Nothing
Jersey
So I guess nothingness = zero for the non-technical persons, but actually 1 (one) for the
Is that what you're trying to say?
Re:Can you tell he's a programmer? (Score:2)
Re:Can you tell he's a programmer? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Can you tell he's a programmer? (Score:4, Informative)
Disclaimer: Some of these concepts may not be true in the programming language you use. If that is the case then it is because the authors of the language have hidden that detail from you.
What does he do for a living? (Score:3, Interesting)
Because it sounds like he doesn't accept money for any programming, and that's basically what he does all the time.
Does he work at a company that does something totally different than computers and computer related things? Does he work at Pier 1 or Dennys or where ever during the day and at night he programs and writes his manifestos
Re:What does he do for a living? (Score:3, Interesting)
At the time I knew him, he was rebelling against the institution of passwords that had just been i
Re:What does he do for a living? (Score:3, Informative)
But in terms of his idealism, I'm afraid you're right.
Re:What does he do for a living? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What does he do for a living? (Score:3, Insightful)
You " think he is a college professor", then go on state declaratively "he just use
Re:Can you tell he's a programmer? (Score:4, Funny)
I'm sorry, but as a loyal, God-fearing American I refuse to use any number invented by them A-Rabs.
-Eric
Re:Can you tell he's a programmer? (Score:3, Informative)
Don't worry; it wasn't invented [wikipedia.org] by them, yet another set of brown people that Americans generally confuse with Arabs (and consequently irrationally hate).
Re:I can tell he's not a businessperson... (Score:3, Insightful)
Possibility #1: Hoard and hide the software, in hopes of attaining "competitive advantage". Watch in horror as your competitors duplicate the software, but with better programmers, thus gaining better competitive advantage than you did. Try to stop them by spending tens of thousands of dollars on patent issues, only to have the entire market brand you as a vicious slug, and get buried by your own bad P
Re:I can tell he's not a businessperson... (Score:3, Insightful)
So, since you're doing the "number 1, number 2" thing, let me respond in kind:
1. You USED to be an "enterprise class developer". You didn't get bored, you got laid off or fired. You got creamed in the dot-com crash. Call it what it is.
2. You're a "real-world business user" who
Pay the Toll (Score:4, Insightful)
In other words. You Must Pay the Microsoft Tax.
Wow, RMS was rather lucid in this interview. I'm impressed.
Re:Pay the Toll (Score:3, Insightful)
I think he started showing his insanity when he suggested that everyone should boycott any hardware with closed specs such as nVidia chips.... I guess he'll be going back to working on a PDP-11 then coz there's no way in hell he'll find a modern computer which has published specs for all it's hardware. It's a nice idea in theory, but really (at the moment) there is no option but to accept a certain amount of closed hardware.
Re:Pay the Toll (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pay the Toll (Score:3, Insightful)
When calling for a boycott of a company because of their business practices, it seems somewhat wrong to only boycott that one company and say it's ok to buy from other people who have exactly the same business practices.
There isn't a huge amount of choice amoungst half-decent graphics hardware, and whilest nVidia don't open their specs they _are_ some of the e
Re:Pay the Toll (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, yeah, that link is wrong in the above comment, it was a bug with the same symptoms but nvidia-caused, not an s/390 specific bug. Unfortunately I can't find a
Re:Pay the Toll (Score:3, Insightful)
I should also mention that I've heard from the horse's mouth (a Microsoft engineer that spoke to my operating systems class in college) that MS knows third-party drivers cause most of their kernel crashes (at least in 2000/XP). If Linux is made by hardware vendors to rely on binary drivers, where exactly does that leave its stability advantage?
Actually this is a very important point that I hope doesn't get overlooked in this discussion. Even going back to Win95/98 I think the lions share of the stabilit
Re:Pay the Toll (Score:4, Insightful)
I think I need to clarify my point: binary drivers are a Bad Thing (it's debatable whether they're better/worse than _no_ drivers, but I'll leave that discussion for now). My point was that if you're boycotting a manufacturer because you disagree with their business practices then why should it just be that one manufacturer - surely you have the same problem with other manufacturers employing the same business practices?
And if you are going to boycott a single manufacturer it might make more sense to do it in an area of the market where there's more choice between closed drivers and open drivers rather than aiming for a market where there aren't many open devices to use _instead_ of the device you're boycotting.
Another problem is manufacturers removing perfectly good well-supported devices from the market (whether they are supported through openness or reverse engineering) and replacing them with closed devices for cost reasons - it seems very difficult to put pressure on the manufacturers to keep making the old devices. A good example of this is Intersil stopping manufacture of the well supported Prism GT 802.11g chipset and replacing it with the Prism Javalin (softmac) chipset which isn't supported at all. Reverse engineering hardware is a lot of work and it's wasted if the hardware you reverse engineered is obsolete by the time you've got a working driver. (It should be noted that the hardware I'm talking about isn't obsolete because it lacked functionality, it's obsolete because the manufacturer invented something marginally cheaper).
Re:Pay the Toll (Score:3, Interesting)
Use textmode and hack Mesa to output ASCII art ;).
Liberals (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Liberals (Score:3, Informative)
For those puzzled, RMS's Liberal comment is in reference to Canada's Liberal party.
Whoever transcribed the interview, or RMS himself if the interview was conducted via email, should have written "liberal" with a small "l". In political writing a capitalised word like Liberal indicates a party, while the lowercase form indicates a theory or dogma. For example, Conservative would imply the political party when speaking about UK politics, whereas conservative would imply the political theory. Exceptions i
Re:Liberals (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Liberals (Score:3, Insightful)
Good Article but... (Score:4, Insightful)
I quote RMS
"Fascism is a system of government that sucks up to business and has no respect for human rights. So the Bush regime is an example, but there are lots of others. In fact, it seems we are moving towards more fascism globally."
If you're going to throw the F word around at least learn what it means. Fascism has little to nothing to do with business, instead it is about the state or more specifically the ruler. It is a pragmatic form of government when it comes to business. If anything, it functions under a permanent war economy with the major industries cooperating. In other words, it is a centralized economy that still retains private property and freedom of commerce.
The US and other countries today are not fascist nor resemble anything like a fascist nation. Does big business run the country? Yes. Do politicians suck up to it? Yes. Is this a good thing? NO! But its NOT fascism. To call it such is at the least a bit ignorant.
Does anyone care? Probably not, but I have to try.
PS:
I'll have some ridiculous replies accusing me of being a Bush supporter (hardly).
Re:Good Article but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Good Article but... (Score:5, Informative)
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism [wikipedia.org]
""A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism."
-- American Heritage Dictionary
Even though there are no clear definition of Fascism there is definititly clear that corporatism - the merging of big business and the state - are part of Fascism.
US today are leaning more and more towards fascism. Not many likes it - but its the sad truth.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:5, Insightful)
First, because it is still a democracy (although Diebold is doing its best to undermine that). And second, because there is no systematic merger of business and government -- rather, certain businesses (RIAA, MPAA, oil, defense, etc) are one of the several special interest groups that the government pays too much attention to. Trial lawyers are another such group. So are fundamentalist Christians. So are mothers who want you to "think of the children". So are the gun-loving folks. So are the anti- and pro-abortion activists. So are the farmers. None of them has a monopoly on government attention - yet.
What you see with Halliburton and Enron is good old-fashioned cronyism and corruption. It's nowhere near the type of horror that most countries in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East went through sometime in the past 50 years.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:2, Insightful)
Lol, lol, freaking lol, funny, moderate my parent up: +1000 Funny.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Good Article but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Rhetoric is dead; the Internet killed it.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Fascism as we have seen it in the past is not likely to recur. We're all familiar with it, and after WWII it isn't likely to be tolerated when it appears. What is likely to happen, however, is the emergence of a different (modern, if you like) form of fascism that is not immediately recognizable as such. I don't think this has happened yet, but it is certainly a possibility.
I do think that the current political and economic climate in the USA has become more closed and dogmatic lately, which is not a good sign. I don't suppose it's any worse than the kinds of things that were happening when Nixon was in office, so calling it fascist is probably premature. It does bear watching closely, however.
Check up on how Germany became fascist sometime. The chain of events that led them into fascism is not all that dissimilar from some of our own social and political movements. We're just lucky enough to have an environment that is less tolerant of them, for now at least. Most Germans certainly weren't fascists... they simply allowed it to happen. That's the mistake we can't afford to repeat.
Eternal vigilance, and all that...
Re:Good Article but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Whoa there - Wikipedia: Consider the source (Score:5, Insightful)
If you read through the discussion [wikipedia.org] you'll see claims that facism is incorrectly being tied with right wing politics
And for that American Heritage Dictionary definition;
A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism
The dictionary.com refrence [reference.com] which also lists the American Heritage Dictionary as its source has something quite different
A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
I want a neutral argument here, but that second definition doesn't have the "liberal spin" to it. In other words, you don't see extreme right or merging of state and business leadership, but instead the traditional definition of facism, which has a dictator with total control over the government and the economy.
Interpret this as you will, but I see here a case where information does not equal truth. There are so many facts to choose from, that people pick the ones that suit them best. If you hate Bush, you pick the first definition, and count the ways in which Bush is worse than Hitler. If you support Bush, you pick the second one and accuse the smelly hippies of spreading misinformation.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:3, Informative)
""neo-corporatism" refers to social arrangements dominated by tri-partite bargaining between unions, the private sector (capital), and government. Such bargaining is oriented toward (a) dividing the productivity gains created in the economy "fairly" among the social partners and (b) gaining wage restraint in recessionary or inflationary periods."
http [wikipedia.org]
Re:Good Article but... (Score:3, Informative)
Fascism and corporatism are closely linked.
So cut out all that drama queen eye rolling, and quit supporting Bush. He's a fascist.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Fits well with a disturbing number of current western regimes...
Re:Take a look at this (Score:4, Interesting)
I can sorta agree that what article outlines is not exactly what _I_ understand as fascism too, but it confirms, that it is a rather controversial term and RMS's usage of this term is reasonable enough.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:5, Informative)
Absolutely false. What you've described is, in fact, the definition of Fascism.
Although the term "Fascism" is commonly met with revulsion, the ideals of Fascism are alive and well. In fact, there are people who openly support Fascism, whether they accept the title of Fascist or not.
Vice President Henry A. Wallace warned quite often of the dangers of Fascism in America.
He also defined it in the classical, Mussolini sense:
Re:Good Article but... (Score:4, Insightful)
But what you're saying is that most people are fascists if the definition is suitably relaxed. Similarly, you might read a medical textbook and recognize that you are suffering from "symptoms" of various disorders. It is not impossible to meet some of the criteria of being a "fascist" and still support constitutional rights, which are they keys to democratic government.
Re:Good Article but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Does anyone care? Probably not, but I have to try.
Me too. You don't need extermination camps to be fascist. The issue was perhaps most recently arguing in the question of labeling apartheid South Africa fascist.
I quote from Ebenstein, Today's Isms, 5th ed, p. 115 (because I'm old and I took PoliSc 101 a long time ago):
"[T]he principle elements of the fascist outlook:
(1) Distrust of reason
(2) Denial of basic human equality
(3) Code of behavior based on lies and
Another podcast interview on prisonplanet too (Score:4, Informative)
Now yo'all stop voting for the 2 parties , vote independant, and no neo-cons any more.
Re:Another podcast interview on prisonplanet too (Score:2)
Re:Another podcast interview on prisonplanet too (Score:2)
Reality is that in most cases, a vote for an independent candidate is a wasted vote. Sorry, I really hate that it's true, but it is.
Presumably, one of the two major candidates is more preferable to the other (the lesser of two evils, or the evil of two lessers, if you want).
If you have a choice at the cafeteria of day-old lasagne, or wiener-wraps, you can vote for "Filet Mignon" (or "Falafel", if you don't eat meat) all yo
Re:Another podcast interview on prisonplanet too (Score:5, Insightful)
Reality is that in most cases, a vote for an independent candidate is a wasted vote.
Oh cut it out. This line of thought is why the US is stuck electing Republicrats every election. The only wasted vote is one that isn't cast.
Sure, vote for someone outside of the major two parties and you won't "win" in the present loaded system. But you do throw your weight behind the numbers who have indicated that they aren't happy with Red and Blue but want someone else in. More importantly, you've thrown your weight behind a particular party or ideology, and as the numbers grow, more people can shake the "I must vote for one of the two main parties" mentality and vote for another viable party. Sure, it won't happen in one election, but if people vote for who they want rather than following the catchy "you're throwing your vote away" mentality, then the country as a whole will be much better off and it'll finally elect a capable representative leader.
The whole logic of saying that because you won't "win" in one election you should vote for the best of the worst two is not only counterintuitive but is entrenching the present political stranglehold. All I can say is stop it. Stop repeating the "third party is a wasted vote" lie because gullible people keep believing it, and you keep getting rubbish government as a result. Don't you think you deserve better than the best of the worst two? Aren't you all sick of electing one of two fratboys offered up each election?
Re:Another podcast interview on prisonplanet too (Score:3, Informative)
No, the reason we are stuck electing "Republicrats" every election is that our system is at equilibrium only when there are two parties.
Don't you think you deserve better than the best of the worst two? Aren't you all sick of electing one of two fratboys offered up each election?
Yes, I am, but I have no other choice. The time for you Nader-ites to make a difference is before the elec
Re:Another podcast interview on prisonplanet too (Score:4, Insightful)
I have no other choice
The major party candidates know you think that way. John Kerry and Al Gore both ran campaigns betting that you'd hold your nose and vote for them rather than vote for someone you actually agreed with and believed could make a difference.
I particularly enjoyed many anti-war activists who signed a petition saying that they were voting for Kerry, but expected him to change his position on the war after they had helped elect him, or risk losing their support in the 2008 election. Kerry didn't care that people were holding their nose for him because a vote is a vote, no matter why it was cast.
Scenario:
Let us assume node_3 is a traditional liberal, who often sides with the Democrats. I am a candidate for the Democratic party, who knows that he(she?) and many others will vote for me no matter what my positions are. No amount of lobbying by node_3 and others like him(her) will ever change my mind because I already have their vote. I will instead devote my energies to change my platform to suit those who may not vote for me (likely making me more conservative). That is, by saying outright that you will vote for me, because voting for an independent is "wasting my vote", you have lost your only hold on my issue positions.
This scenario has been the core strategy of the DLC, a centrist Democratic party group, since the late 80s. This can be modeled as a game of chicken [wikipedia.org] with you declaring before the game even starts that you will swerve.
My point is that we're going to have to crash a few times before the Democrats get their shit together. Sooner or later, they'll start swerving.
Interesting... (Score:2, Interesting)
An interesting use of the word antisocial... Reading Stallman's comments about the Open Source movement (or the Open Source campaign as he puts it), the vocabulary and tone he uses wouldn't be out of place in Marx's Communist Manifesto. Just like Karl's work though, you can't help but agree with every argument he gives, yet you know deep down inside that it just won't work :(
Well at least I'm doing my part running Lin ^H^H^H GNU + Linux...
Re:Interesting... (Score:5, Insightful)
GNU vs. Marx (Score:4, Informative)
By contrast, Free Software is not a cult, and it is not a "scientific" view of history. It is simply a proposition that one of the inalienable rights of Homo sapiens -- along with the right to free speech, free press, and democratic elections -- is the right to freely use one's computer. (Granted, computer use is not in the usual list, but if Locke, Rousseau, and Jefferson had computers, I am sure they would have put Free Software in the rights of man.)
Marxism belongs to the general category of apocalyptic cults (like belief in rapture and the singularity).
Free Software belongs to the general category of campaigns for a specific rights (like womens' suffrage and the civil rights movement).
Non-English speaker have a question (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Non-English speaker have a question (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Non-English speaker have a question (Score:2)
Re:Non-English speaker have a question (Score:2)
Re:Non-English speaker have a question (Score:2)
Not true. Liberal political theory promotes a "rolling back" of the state so that it interferes in the life of citizens as little as possible. This doesn't preclude a welfare state, far from it, however it does suggest having one that does not rely on excessive taxation. the reason the conservatism of Thatcher and Bush has become known as "neo-liberalism" is because it has adopted the
Re:Non-English speaker have a question (Score:3, Informative)
This definition has some holes in it, but "liberal" in the US means left-leaning (more centralized government, welfare state, etc), whereas liberal in Canada and Europe and most other places means the same thing as "conservative" means in the US (or used to mean anyway), including smaller government, lower taxes, less government control, pro-business, etc.
That isn't true of Canada. There are several kinds of Liberals in Canada. Big-L Liberals are members of the Liberal party, as Big-R Republicans are me
Thought it was ZD Net (Score:3, Funny)
Scary that.
Fascism? (Score:3, Funny)
I'm not, like, imagining that, am I?
Re:Fascism? (Score:3, Interesting)
I wouldn't call Bush a fascist because I don't think he's bad enough for it not to be a waste of a good label, but I can see how other people could disagree.
I love RMS. (Score:5, Insightful)
That his intensity of focus could also make him an object of ridicule is a natural side effect of said dedication. i doubt I'd be able to talk to the guy about software or legal issues for more than a handful of syllables before the punching instinct kicked in, but where would modern software be if it weren't for GNU and the GPL?
Time to move on (Score:3, Interesting)
The Hairy Ranter aspects of Linux, these days, aren't a net positive. They keep Linux in the image of a previous generation. They foster the image of a cult and they politicize all discussion. This is not helpful. Folks want computer software, not an invitation to man the barricades in Paris 1968.
If these old war horses took up painting or playing the violin for a few hours a day instead of re-running yesterday's battles in black and white the world might be a happier place. And a lot more folks might be drawn into an open-minded comparison of pay-for and no-pay software. Yes, technically, it is GNU/Linux. But the world knows it as Linux. There is no turning back now.
non-free formats (Score:2)
though i agree with much of what he says, this guy never ceases to amaze me.
i think during the last 10 years he's grown a little more sour than he was before all this (GNU) linux "controversy". i certainly sympathize with the GNU project on being underrepresented in the public awareness, but RMS will not change this only by acting sullen!
i'd like it if a majority of home users used free software,
Richard Stallman reminds me... (Score:3, Insightful)
I know I'll be slammed for that, but it's hard to say it any more clearly
Re:Richard Stallman reminds me... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd say that practice has proven his ideas sound and quite applicable in the real world.
Re:Richard Stallman reminds me... (Score:3, Insightful)
Right on! Most of this Free Software stuff is basically the scientific method applied to computing. History tells that science didn't achieve much of anything while its practice was restricted to an elite of clergymen and alchemists. Modern science took off around the time of Galilei, Newton and other whose open rational arguments eventually won the fight against the 'closed source' of church.
Re:Richard Stallman reminds me... (Score:3)
His analysis of the 'real world' seems quite insightful to me. Would you provide an example?
Help ZNet - register (Score:2, Informative)
RMS - Who will replace him? (Score:5, Interesting)
But who will replace him? Nobody lives forever (unless the medical boffins crack the longevity thing).
How would you recognise the person that you want to be the lead visionary of the FSF? An idealist? A pragmatist? A software engineer? Someone with a reputation as an uber coder?
Does DVD Jon fit the bill? Too young and too "controversial"? No political rep.
Linus? Probably doesn't care enough about politics.
Bruce Schneier? On too many watch lists?
There are probably at least a million people who would be good at the job and I have no clue (cue trolls) who they might be.
By vote on a
Paid up members of the FSF will probably decide. If you don't care for the FSF ideals this may not be a problem, if you do care but aren't a member - sorry you don't count.
Sucks doesn't it.
Or will the political visionary thing die or "fork" when RMS isn't there to be the lightning rod to cop the abuse hurtling from all directions.
Personally I wouldn't take the crap he deals with every day and the frustration at some of the idiocy in the world he deals must be enormous.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
RMS had better watch out (Score:3, Funny)
I bet he just got bumped up on W's list... don't be surprised if RMS meets a sudden and unfortunate demise... hope they don't arrest him and try him in court.
Judge: "Please place your hand on the Bible and swear an oath to tell the truth..."
RMS: "Judge. Notice that I did not call you, 'Your Honor' as I do not honor the authority that you claim to hold. Furthermore, I will not place my hand on a Bible and take an oath. The Bible is a book of fairy tales and fables that I hold no respect for as it enslaves the mind of man. And..."
Too little, too late! (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, brother. Even HE can't see that liberal and conservative are both just two sides of the same worthless coin. All hope is lost.
mod parent down, absuing "Read the rest..." system (Score:2)
Re:I've actually met him. (Score:2)
Re:I've actually met him. (Score:5, Informative)
The first result is from encyclopediadramatica.com
http://www.google.com/search?q=RMS+has+a+phobia+o
Re:Bush Govt Fascist (Score:2)
Re:Bush Govt Fascist (Score:2)
Are you denying a link between words and thoughts?
That's why he's so insistant that we always use the word "freedom". If we don't say "freedom", we won't think "freedom".
No, he suggests that if we call it "Open Source" instead of "Free Software", we won't be explicitly emphasizing the "Free(dom)" aspect of the software.
Re:Bull (Score:2)
Fascism is per definition about politicians sucking up to corporations.
RMS has taken the free software movement here - who other could have done it ?
Re:Free as in Freedom (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Free as in Freedom (Score:2)
Be very careful who you vote for if you do so; the UK tried that in 1997 in order to get rid of the Conservative government of the previous 18 years.
Re:GNU/LINUX (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:GNU/LINUX (Score:2)
Without GNU, there would be no Linux.
There wasn't any alternative before Linux to the GNU tools and there still isn't. Event back then, it was common to replace vanilla Unix tools with the GNU stuff on a freshly unpacked station or server.
Rewriting all the GNU stuff to get something useable would h
Re:GNU/LINUX (Score:2)
Re:RMS (Score:5, Insightful)
When you get a work working on software, it statistically *never* is writing one of those things that ends up in a box in your local shop.
Writing software is fiddling with an application that's internal to the company you are currently working for or which ends up embedded in the entrails of some sort of device (or of a web site).
This you can absolutely do with free software and you can often liberate tools that you created while working on your main product.
As for working freelance, it's something else entirely. But most such customizing jobs are subcontracted to large service firms, not individuals.
Or you can specialize in working with small companies in which case you'll have the same problem every budding entrepreneur has, whether he sells software services or diapers: finding customers.
Welcome to the real world (you should have taken the other pill).
Re:RMS (Score:2)
Re:RMS (Score:2)
Of course if you're stuck writing end user software for Windows, it's not as likely to happen, but on the server side, the free software is there, even on the Windows side (or so I hear at least, I can say I've brushed with it much those past years, but the people I know seem to use Perl routinely).
Now of course if you want to use OOo instead of MS Office, it it much more
Re:RMS (Score:2)
When you get a work working on software, it statistically *never* is writing one of those things that ends up in a box in your local shop.
Writing software is fiddling with an application that's internal to the company you are currently working for or which ends up embedded in the entrails of some sort of device (or of a web site).
Funny
Re:RMS (Score:2)
Shit. RMS and FSF got only few hours left.
Re:RMS (Score:3, Interesting)
RMS comes off best in print to the people who do not know him. He seems like a fanatic because he is about some things he feels are of the utmost importance. In wri
Re:Ivory towers and actually working (Score:5, Insightful)
Millions of people depend and use GNU software everyday. Why do you think that RMS tries to tell you to say: "GNU/Linux" and not just "Linux".
This is because not only do you use GNU for their compiler the most common userland tools and programs in Linux are almost wholey GNU.
GNU Bash, GNU tar, Gnome, CVS, GTK, Gimp, Glibc There are literally hundreds of GNU programs used around Linux distros.
Hell if you don't like Gnome GNU has a entire other desktop system to choose from.. Window Maker + GNUStep.
Try to remove all GNU software from your Linux system and see how far you get.
http://directory.fsf.org/GNU/ [fsf.org]
People go: Oh, why don't you just call it Apache/GNU/Linux since you have lots of apache-sponsored applications?
Well the thing is is that without Apache you'd still have a working OS. Apache isn't the only Free web server around...
Without GNU there would be no workable Linux distro.
If you use Linux for a living you depend on GNU and GNU Software to do it.
Even if you don't use Linux and use something like Solaris.. Solaris userland is crap. Best way to improve Solaris for day to day use as a workstation and server is to install a bunch of GNU software on it. And it's similar situation for the BSD's although it's not nearly as bad.
Hell even Apple uses GCC to build OS X.
To say GNU software as unsucccessfull.. your completely wrong.
In fact the GNU project is one of the most successfull software projects ever created. It's wildly successfull.
The goal was to create a Free software OS for using Free software for Freedom-liking individuals.
Just taking GCC.. It's one of the most ubiquious development tools ever created. Probably the most popular software compiling suite ever created. You can build C programs, fortran programs, Java programs, C++ programs, ada programs. It works on VAX, on x86 variants, on POWER/PPC varients, and pretty much every other hardware platform created in modern times.
Apple, IBM, Redhat, and many other companies put development time and money into it.
Think about it. They give it away for no-cost and for Free.
If that is not successfull then tell me what is?
So what if nobody uses the kernel, almost every other peice of software that was ever created or ever joined that project is used buy buches of people.
GNU/Linux is the 2nd most common OS anywere. It's used in everything from super computers to wrist watches to toasters.
Go back in time on Google groups and you can find usenet postings from when GNU was just starting and you'll find people saying stuff like: "that RMS is entertaining and has lovely ideas about software, but nobody is ever going to make a compiler like $LONG_FORGOTTEN_COMPILER and give it away for free!"
or
"Well GNU is funny stuff, but no way it will ever come close to $DEAD_OR_DYING_UNIX_VERSION in terms of capabilities, much less convince developers to work for free, what a wacko!"
Re:Ivory towers and actually working (Score:2)
By your definition many people I know has no real job even though they been empleyed many years by large corporations. However since none of them has been in a position to casue their Top500 corporation to fail - they must not had had a real job.
Re:Ivory towers and actually working (Score:2)
By "real" job, I mean a job in which you are required to meet deadlines imposed by customers and to produce end products specified by customers
So you're clearly excluding almost every one...
you'll naturally assume that all the other software engineers working on customer-driven projects are the minority.
AFAIK, most software projects are not customer-driven. Please provide links.
there's no way in hell I'd be relying on GNU to develop the tools
Re:Ivory towers and actually working (Score:3, Insightful)
RMS does not say that you must pay GNU to develop something. Find whatever team you like (it is about FREEDOM, see?), pay them to develop a software (or enhance an existing free one) and release it to "free wild". Your possible benefit is that if your software is really good, than people will continue to develop it at no cost (at least at no cost to you). In this way you can make a world-class product at the cost of startup.
And linux ke
Re:Ivory towers and actually working (Score:2)
RMS is no doubt aware of the pressures that people are under. As he says, if you
send someone a word doc, you are pressuring them to give up their freedom. Which
is true enough. If you are working in the environment then you may indeed end up
giving up some of your freedom.
Most of us are willing to make these compromises, because they m
Re:Ivory towers and actually working (Score:3, Insightful)
OSS I'm 100% in favour of. The intention of OSS is to produce open-source replacements for closed-source software that will be used because they are of superior quality and significantly cheaper. To that end, the ability to find/fix your own bugs is intended to lead to superior quality. OSS doesn't say that closed-source software *shouldn't* exist, simply that they will replace mass-market closed-source software wherever possible.
Re:How does he stay alive? (Score:4, Informative)
In 1990, he was awarded a $240,000 fellowship by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
In 2001, he won an $268k Takeda Award for Techno-Entrepreneurial Achievement for Social/Economic Well-Being.
He ain't exactly hurting for cash. That's just the awards he has won. He makes most of his cash from speeches and personal appearances.
Which is cool, you know, if you're a superstar and can make money that way. But most programmers aren't, and can't.
Re:Yes, really hates fascism... (Score:2)
A Fascist is someone who believes that society shoudl resemble a bundle of sticks! (possibly with an axe in it)
Re:Hypocrisy (Score:3, Insightful)
No hypocrisy here. Please use appropriate and objective quotes before accusing someone.
Re:Tee it up for me (Score:3, Insightful)
Surprise! Despite most people claiming to have a political slant, the majority of Americans don't know shit about politics. I