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Richard Stallman’s rider

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Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#11

Post by tibbon »

heyrhett wrote: post #7

All of his demands are either directly related to his health or the moral causes that he champions. He is specific and verbose. Some of these things might seem strange to people who are younger than 50 years old, and aren't flown around the world to give hundreds of talks. I think that this demonstrates the value of a clear and verbose contract.

Precisely. Nothing is left to ambiguity, and then hopefully the fewest possible things will go wrong.

About the only thing that I laughed at (in joy) was the thing about parrots...

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#12

Post by mikeryan »

My favorite

If you can find a host for me that has a friendly parrot, I will be very very glad. If you can find someone who has a friendly parrot I can visit with, that will be nice too.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#13

Post by runjake »

TruthElixirX wrote: post #5

"I usually decline to participate in "open source" or "Linux" events. See http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html for why it is incorrect to refer to the operating system as "Linux"." Ah, this never gets old. Also, using Pepsi to keep awake. Are all riders this god damn picky? It wouldn't surprise me. I imagine there is a great amount of antagonism between performers/speakers/etc and the venues.

I've never read GNU's Linux FAQ that I can remember, but this section is interesting in light of the GNU kernel's history:

Question: Isn't writing the kernel most of the work in an operating system?

Answer: No, many components take a lot of work.

If I recall correctly, work on the GNU kernel began in the mid-80's (HURD in 1990?). I'll leave the correlation to the reader.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#14

Post by iqster »

Heh ... reminds me of the story of Van Halen's rider - no brown M&Ms or they have the right to not play the event (without penalty)! This actually served a purpose. The had exacting specs for some of their pyrotechnics. They reasoned that if someone had adhered to the rider carefully enough to notice the M&Ms clause, they likely would have been exacting for the other specifications as well.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#15

Post by nobody3141 »

TruthElixirX wrote: post #5

"I usually decline to participate in "open source" or "Linux" events. See http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html for why it is incorrect to refer to the operating system as "Linux"." Ah, this never gets old. Also, using Pepsi to keep awake. Are all riders this god damn picky? It wouldn't surprise me. I imagine there is a great amount of antagonism between performers/speakers/etc and the venues.

Remember. A lot of his talks are likely to be to universities/user groups who have never organised a talk before - so 'remember a microphone' is useful!

And a lot of talks maybe in 'emerging nations' who assume that since he is American he is rich and FSF is something like IBM - so he can afford to fly half way round the world without being paid.

This is from a few years ago (ie recording on tape) so GNU/FSF/Linux may not have been as mainstream and organisers might have only advertised this as a computer department seminar rather than a large event. I once organised a university SciFi society talk for a UK "childrens" author - just as they became a global hit. A talk that might bring 20 people suddenly filled the largest auditorium.

The rest of the stuff is just an engineers approach to solving problems. Rather than tell a dozen people at 100 talks a year how I like my coffee - I write it down once and end of problem

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#16

Post by mjs »

This is wonderful, in so many different ways. I've read quite a bit of the FSF material--which is invariably specific, clear and verbose--and it's interesting to read material in the same style, but about a completely different topic.

For example, under "Hospitality":

"In some places, my hosts act as if my every wish were their command. By catering to my every whim, in effect they make me a tyrant over them, which is not a role I like. I start to worry that I might subject them to great burdens without even realizing. I start being afraid to express my appreciation of anything, because they would get it and give it to me at any cost. If it is night, and the stars are beautiful, I hesitate to say so, lest my hosts feel obligated to try to get one for me."

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#17

Post by Mvandenbergh »

sgt wrote: post #2

To be completely honest, after what he wrote about Steve Jobs' death, I don't feel like paying much attention to RMS anymore.

Much like Steve Jobs, RMS is a visionary. Most visionaries aren't necessarily pleasant people in any conventional sense, they can be peremptory, irritatingly specific and detailed in their demands.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#19

Post by Portmanager »

RMS is quite unkempt, his feet stink like a hobo. In general he has a retarded way of dealing with people, not a nice person to be in touch with.

Just my 2 cents. PS: I did not mention his philosophy, neithe if his ideas are wrong. I just said he's got a bad personal hygiene and that he is has a retarded way of dealing with people, here are some quotes: http://edward.oconnor.cx/2005/04/rms It is plain wrong to offer condolences to a father with a newborn child and thus retarded.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#20

Post by marquis »

sgt wrote: post #2

To be completely honest, after what he wrote about Steve Jobs' death, I don't feel like paying much attention to RMS anymore.

Perhaps a few hundred years ago we could read someone's work without knowing who they were. Now we are subject to the cult of the personality - and indeed, seek it out. It's difficult to detach the work from its owner without consciously attempting to do so.

(Having said that I was disappointed to read such public vitriol from RMS, surely he could have found a way to express the sentiment in a more creative manner).

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