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Richard Stallman’s rider

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Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#91

Post by anothermachine »

runjake wrote: post #13
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.

Linux was a good kernel that was better than what GNU had at the time, and it was compatible (technically/legally) with the rest of GNU, so it deprecated Hurd.

Sure, if enough folks wanted to, they good finish Hurd. But what's the point? They should go work on Linux.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#92

Post by derleth »

iqster wrote: post #14

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.

> The had exacting specs for some of their pyrotechnics

... and their electrical gear (amps and so on), and possibly the sheer weight of everything they'd be bringing on to the stage, and the simple fact that, at the time that rider was drawn up, Van Halen was playing venues that had never had a serious rock band of their kind before and were likely to be unprepared to the point of putting the fans at risk of being killed, which has happened a few times (that Whitesnake concert is the most recent, I believe).

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#93

Post by deadcyclo »

joshaidan wrote: post #30

My funniest memory of Richard Stallman is once he was invited to give the commencement speech at my local university, Lakehead University. He was pretty oblivious to the fact he was at a graduation, and not at any point in his speech did he address the students and their future. All he talked about was free software, how copyright was bad, and that the university should be using free software. Most of the students we…

You can't blame that on Stallman. He has always been completely clear and up front about what he will and will not speak about. And he always agrees on the topic ahead of time with who ever is arranging the event.

In other words. Who ever arranged this graduation obviously did a horrible job, and is the person you should blame.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#94

Post by gwillen »

robfig wrote: post #52

""" Food: I do not eat breakfast. Please do not ask me any questions about what I will do breakfast. Please just do not bring it up. """ Love it. Anyone know why?

As someone who does not eat breakfast, I imagine it's to avoid the kind of response I get when I tell my host I don't eat breakfast:

"Oh, are you sure? It's no trouble? It's good for you! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Why not just eat breakfast with us?" etc. etc.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#95

Post by gnubardt »

joshaidan wrote: post #37
0x12 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you do remember the talk and you are still willing to promote it, so from his point of view that's mission accomplished.

You see, that's the problem. His mission was to promote free software, instead of the mission the university hired him for: sending the graduates off on their next journey.

The topics he's willing to speak about are clearly listed in his rider, and graduation isn't one of them.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#96

Post by derleth »

latchkey wrote: post #73

I read the entire thing and all I could think about it was: Too Much Information. Seriously.

TMI is what a rider is there for. Its whole purpose in life is to enable everything else to run smoothly, so it needs to lay things out in detail that is nothing short of exacting, and if it verges on the anal-retentive that's just a few fewer things for people to worry about later.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#97

Post by pluies »

mekoka wrote: post #86
Androsynth wrote: post #54

Given the kind of talks he does, I can see where he's coming from with this; it sounds like the kind of list that was built up over time. In general, I would imagine he doesn't want to repeat the kind of incident that happened at linuxworld 99, where the he was given the torvalds award[1]. 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDxMJQLXmBE

...so we can call it "GNU slash Linux" I never knew he pronounced the slash in GNU/Linux. Not very brandable IMO.

I think he pronounced it "GNU plus Linux" the time I attended one of his speeches. I don't know if he keeps on doing that, but it seems more elegant and positive than the slash.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#98

Post by derleth »

Portmanager wrote: post #19

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…

> It is plain wrong to offer condolences to a father with a newborn child

Do a google search for 'childfree' some time and you'll see that RMS is on the nice side of that one.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#99

Post by rickmb »

astine wrote: post #72
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.

"All of his demands are either directly related to his health or the moral causes that he champions." Did you read the same list I did? He requests to stay in somebody's home but specifies a list of foods he doesn't like and demands he be consulted on any meals he's served. Some of his demands relate to his cause, and a few to his health, but overall I'd say he comes across as overly particular and demanding. I guess…

Health includes mental health. Especially important for someone who's personal make up is not particularly compatible with a life of travel and public appearances.

Most of it tells me "this is what I need to stay sane and productive", and although very detailed and somewhat peculiar, none of his demands are particularly hard to meet.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#100

Post by slowpoke »

I'm still amazed at this man. You can like or dislike his views, but he has more dedication and, more importantly, integrity in every hair of his impressive beard than most people can ever hope to have in their entire body.
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