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Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

richard.stallman.usesthis.com

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Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#191

Post by Animus7 »

logain20O6 wrote: post #186
rbanffy wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't have (or, really, want) to prevent the use of quasi-anonymous logins. All we need is to make life more miserable to trolls than they make it for everyone else. With enough frustration, trolls will gravitate towards places where they can sublimate their frustrations more easily and, hopefully, leave HN for those who really want to engage in civil conversation.

I suppose that would work for some trolls. Then again, trolls here tend to have advanced degrees in Computer Science, so might be more difficult to keep them out. PS - No, I'm not alleging that I have an advanced degree in CS. Nor am I denying it.

Where can I get one of these "advanced CS degrees" in black-hat trolling?

I do have a CS degree, but I must have missed those classes.

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#192

Post by rbanffy »

jeffreyg wrote: post #181
rbanffy wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd suggest something different. Reduce the value of throwaway logins by making it impossible to comment for, say, 40 days. We can then modulate the quarantine period according to the level of hostility present on the site. Of coursesmart, flagging and hellbanning remains as usual.

Yeah. My idea isn't great, just a frustrated response to this person who claims to have been here for a long time yet still feels it's appropriate to make offensive posts about others here. I like the idea of an incubation period, but I've seen valuable comments posted from new accounts- I bet a ton of people lurk for months before seeing a thread they feel they can make a valuable contribution to.

You may allow them to contribute - just make them work a little for it. Trolls are lazy - they won't go through a captcha just to harass other people - they'll go to Digg instead. And those who use throwaway logins to troll are also cowards, who don't want to be exposed as who they really are. We can work with that too.

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#193

Post by Animus7 »

logain20O6 wrote: post #190
rbanffy wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has that same drive, the unwillingness to compromise, Steve Jobs had. I don't find the comparison inadequate at all - not all people with notable stature have that lack of pragmatism both Stallman and Jobs present.

OK. So let me spell it out for you (and others, who appear to be confused): Obama is a charismatic leader. Hitler was a charismatic leader. Obama was elected democratically. Hitler was elected democratically. Obama wrote a biography. Barack Obama - Dreams from my father Hitler wrote a biography; Mein Kampf Obama held a rally in Berlin. Hitler held a rally in Berlin. ...etc. Therefore, Obama reminds me more of Hitler…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwins_law

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#194

Post by ctrl_freak »

jshen wrote: post #89
Czarnian wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't get them wrong: these people are not fanatic, they are just living and breathing a cause they started for a good reason. AKA Fanaticism. He's become an inflexible, computerized hermit. His dogmatic adherence to a demonstrably untenable principal of "freedom" has relegated him a permanent state of pre-1995 digital stasis. He's not principled, he's dogmatic. At best, he's a cautionary tale demonstrating the state…

" he's a cautionary tale demonstrating the state of the world if he had his way." Almost all of the things you consider modern in the computer world are built on top of his creations. OS X, google, facebook, HN, etc ... all built on the foundation RMS laid. Without his creations we would be closer to your idea of a "pre-1995 digital stasis"

While I'd agree that much of the foundations of modern computing were built upon some form of free software, I disagree that it's primarily Stallman's work. For one thing, OS X is based upon FreeBSD and Mach, neither of which are affiliated with the FSF. And I'd argue that the foundations of Google and Facebook are PHP, Apache, Python, etc. which are also not FSF.

Of course it's a difficult exercise to try to imagine how things would be different had the FSF not been created, or what influence it had upon the creation of software that wasn't directly affiliated with it. Obviously gcc has been one of the most prominent GNU toolsets featured in modern operating systems, although that appears to be changing too (Xcode replacing gcc with LLVM).

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#195

Post by l0gain2006 »

rbanffy wrote: post #189
logain20O6 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose that would work for some trolls. Then again, trolls here tend to have advanced degrees in Computer Science, so might be more difficult to keep them out. PS - No, I'm not alleging that I have an advanced degree in CS. Nor am I denying it.

What do you gain from being rude?

Negative karma points, apparently.

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#196

Post by lunarscape »

Natsu wrote: post #135
lunarscape wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He won't have to wait long. Yeeloong have a quad-core Loongson-3A 13.3" laptop on the way.

He could also get one of these: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/spark-the-first-free-s...

The device (ZT-180) is already out there and runs Android. Good luck to the devs trying to get kernel source from Zenithink though, not to mind hardware drivers. They've already said they've run into problems. The vast majority of Chinese tablet manufacturers do not honour the GPL and it's already killed one Linux tablet project, CordiaTab. In that case the Chinese company actually tried to extort money from the developers.

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#197

Post by l0gain2006 »

Animus7 wrote: post #191
logain20O6 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose that would work for some trolls. Then again, trolls here tend to have advanced degrees in Computer Science, so might be more difficult to keep them out. PS - No, I'm not alleging that I have an advanced degree in CS. Nor am I denying it.

Where can I get one of these "advanced CS degrees" in black-hat trolling? I do have a CS degree, but I must have missed those classes.

You clearly went to a safety school then.

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#198

Post by l0gain2006 »

Animus7 wrote: post #193
logain20O6 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK. So let me spell it out for you (and others, who appear to be confused): Obama is a charismatic leader. Hitler was a charismatic leader. Obama was elected democratically. Hitler was elected democratically. Obama wrote a biography. Barack Obama - Dreams from my father Hitler wrote a biography; Mein Kampf Obama held a rally in Berlin. Hitler held a rally in Berlin. ...etc. Therefore, Obama reminds me more of Hitler…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwins_law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

Also, you might want to check out those studies that show the link between one's lack of ability to recognize sarcasm and dimentia.

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#199

Post by jshen »

ctrl_freak wrote: post #194
jshen wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" he's a cautionary tale demonstrating the state of the world if he had his way." Almost all of the things you consider modern in the computer world are built on top of his creations. OS X, google, facebook, HN, etc ... all built on the foundation RMS laid. Without his creations we would be closer to your idea of a "pre-1995 digital stasis"

While I'd agree that much of the foundations of modern computing were built upon some form of free software, I disagree that it's primarily Stallman's work. For one thing, OS X is based upon FreeBSD and Mach, neither of which are affiliated with the FSF. And I'd argue that the foundations of Google and Facebook are PHP, Apache, Python, etc. which are also not FSF. Of course it's a difficult exercise to try to imagine…

"I disagree that it's primarily Stallman's work. For one thing, OS X is based upon FreeBSD and Mach, neither of which are affiliated with the FSF. And I'd argue that the foundations of Google and Facebook are PHP, Apache, Python, etc. which are also not FSF."

OS X used all the major GNU tools, and was built with GCC. Without his creation you wouldn't have been able to build OS X.

The foundations of Google and Facebook are ultimately the GNU toolset. Everything you mentioned, php, apache, python, are built on top of the GNU tools.

Re: Richard Stallman's Computer Setup

#200

Post by rbanffy »

Czarnian wrote: post #102
jshen wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" he's a cautionary tale demonstrating the state of the world if he had his way." Almost all of the things you consider modern in the computer world are built on top of his creations. OS X, google, facebook, HN, etc ... all built on the foundation RMS laid. Without his creations we would be closer to your idea of a "pre-1995 digital stasis"

And how many of those things would be around if they weren't generating revenue for someone? He's a living, breathing demonstration of the limits of free software. A world where progress slows to a crawl because the only people who have the time to write code are hobbyists and people who can get paid to lecture about how everything should be free. That's the main issue I have with his ideas, they are thoroughly disco…

> And how many of those things would be around if they weren't generating revenue for someone?

I've visited the building where Red Hat has their Brazilian office (or, at least one of them). Nice place for a non-profit.

The argument it's not possible to make money and, at the same time, respect the rights and freedoms of users is an old one. We shouldn't be hearing it anymore.

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