Richard Stallman on The Setup • Hacker News Board

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#31

Post by Luyt » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 12:47 PM UTC

kqr2 wrote: post #18

RMS had actually switched to an OLPC XO laptop but then dropped it: http://www.bostonreview.net/BR33.6/stallman.php Does anyone know of a US distributor for the Yeeloong netbook?

+1, that is an interesting article. I read he dropped the OLPC because it allowed running Windows on it. He expects the OLPC to turn millions of children into Windows users, and compares Windows to an addictive drug, and Microsoft to a drugs dealer supplying kids with a cheap first 'fix'. Also, Windows will not run on his Lemote laptop.

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#32

Post by axod » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 12:50 PM UTC

weavejester wrote: post #30

axod wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that a nice trait to have? The world isn't perfect. It's certainly not black or white either. You have to compromise.

Often it's the people that refuse to compromise that make the world a better place. Do you think Martin Luther King should have compromised on his vision of racial equality? Whilst the civil rights movement is obviously far more important than the free software movement, the idea that ideals should not be compromised is at the core of both. Unlike, say, the BSD license, the GPL is a license that allows for no comprom…

How is Richard Stallman refusing to use a webbrowser making the world a better place? :/ It's just taking ideals to extremes for the sake of it.

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#33

Post by gnurant » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:04 PM UTC

axod wrote: post #19

I don't understand the god like status given to this guy. He's clearly crazy and from a whole other world than the one real people live in. Who really cares if their BIOS is open source or not? Why does it matter? Are the designs used to make his laptop case open source as well? I doubt it.

I don't see any evidence that he is crazy.

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#34

Post by gnurant » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:07 PM UTC

romland wrote: post #2

accidentally touching the mouse-pad and moving the pointer, which would be a nuisance Sheesh. One would hope he has better reasons than that for using console. It's not that hard to configure X to not switch window on mouse-over. No offense RMS. :) I didn't know about the yeeloong, though. Interesting device.

It's probably for speed and battery life. Whatever works for you.

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#35

Post by bitdiddle » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:13 PM UTC

axod wrote: post #19

I don't understand the god like status given to this guy. He's clearly crazy and from a whole other world than the one real people live in. Who really cares if their BIOS is open source or not? Why does it matter? Are the designs used to make his laptop case open source as well? I doubt it.

Oh don't be silly, "real people"? Richard Stallman is as real as it gets. He's a decent programmer from what I can tell from emacs.

Note that there is a distinction between open source and free software. I think it's important to not conflate the two, which I see a lot these days (in the real world :)

I predict 500 years from now people will remember him. They won't remember Bill Gates. Without googling try to recall who was the richest man in Rome?

All the best

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#36

Post by djm » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:23 PM UTC

First time I've come across the setup. Here are some interviews with a few other HN regulars:

http://paul.graham.usesthis.com/ http://aaron.swartz.usesthis.com/

_why is listed on their mainpage too but his interview seems to have been removed

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#37

Post by bmj » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:24 PM UTC

rbanffy wrote: post #16

romland wrote: post #2

accidentally touching the mouse-pad and moving the pointer, which would be a nuisance Sheesh. One would hope he has better reasons than that for using console. It's not that hard to configure X to not switch window on mouse-over. No offense RMS. :) I didn't know about the yeeloong, though. Interesting device.

> I didn't know about the yeeloong, though. Interesting device. It seems to be very slow, has a small RAM and just a couple gigabytes of storage. I would love the idea of a Windows-proof computer I could use, but this is still not it. The larger one looks promising.

Which, based on what RMS describes, is perfectly fine for his needs.

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#38

Post by axod » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:25 PM UTC

bitdiddle wrote: post #35

axod wrote: post #19

I don't understand the god like status given to this guy. He's clearly crazy and from a whole other world than the one real people live in. Who really cares if their BIOS is open source or not? Why does it matter? Are the designs used to make his laptop case open source as well? I doubt it.

Oh don't be silly, "real people"? Richard Stallman is as real as it gets. He's a decent programmer from what I can tell from emacs. Note that there is a distinction between open source and free software. I think it's important to not conflate the two, which I see a lot these days (in the real world :) I predict 500 years from now people will remember him. They won't remember Bill Gates. Without googling try to recall…

We see 2 very different futures then.

I see a future where people just access 'the web', via whatever small thin client web browser device they like.

The vast majority of software will be running on servers, and end users won't really care if it's open source as long as it does what they want it to.

Real people use web browsers.

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#39

Post by rsheridan6 » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:32 PM UTC

bitdiddle wrote: post #35

axod wrote: post #19

I don't understand the god like status given to this guy. He's clearly crazy and from a whole other world than the one real people live in. Who really cares if their BIOS is open source or not? Why does it matter? Are the designs used to make his laptop case open source as well? I doubt it.

Oh don't be silly, "real people"? Richard Stallman is as real as it gets. He's a decent programmer from what I can tell from emacs. Note that there is a distinction between open source and free software. I think it's important to not conflate the two, which I see a lot these days (in the real world :) I predict 500 years from now people will remember him. They won't remember Bill Gates. Without googling try to recall…

Crassus?

Re: Richard Stallman on The Setup

#40

Post by lionhearted » Sat, Jan 23, 2010, 1:51 PM UTC

rsheridan6 wrote: post #39

bitdiddle wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh don't be silly, "real people"? Richard Stallman is as real as it gets. He's a decent programmer from what I can tell from emacs. Note that there is a distinction between open source and free software. I think it's important to not conflate the two, which I see a lot these days (in the real world :) I predict 500 years from now people will remember him. They won't remember Bill Gates. Without googling try to recall…

Crassus?

Beat me to it. Maybe Trajan, depending on how your accounting systems attribute what belonged to the Republic and what to Trajan the man/military commander/later emperor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan#Maximum_extent_of_the_Em...