Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing • Hacker News Board

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#131

Post by downx3 » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:20 AM UTC

fleitz wrote: post #4

ktizo wrote: post #2

I view Richard Stallman's attitude to this as though he has set himself up as some kind of social/technological guinea-pig for the general public good. Yes, he is fanatical in several senses, especially nasal and botanical, by all accounts ( read Stallman does Dallas: http://stallman.org/articles/texas.html ). But the day that Stallman cannot get on the internet, without compromising his own set of restrictions, is t…

Last time I checked iOS (the router OS) is not free, he probably does violate his own principles connecting to the Internet. Rms is like a vegan always preaching some moral high ground and always violating it whenever it becomes inconvenient.

How rude. Sometimes idealism isn't practical. Idealism is a goal, not an absolute.

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#132

Post by matteodepalo » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:22 AM UTC

IvoGeorgiev wrote: post #90

I cannot even believe that there are people who agree with this moron. First of all, he's chasing an ideal that's not even THAT valid: not all of the crappy-written software is knowledge, not all source code is worth reading. Plus, proprietary software improves industry. Industry feeds people. Not to mention, in today's world, it is impossible to live without depending on corporations. The only way to live without so…

> Not to mention, in today's world, it is impossible to live without depending on corporations.

His purpose is exactly to change the status quo. You can blame him for being a mediocre communicator, but he believes he can change the world and that deserves respect.

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#133

Post by pferreir » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:23 AM UTC

I do not personally approve of the "rms attitude" in general, as I find it too extreme, sometimes plain rude (I can't forget that he fell asleep during the first talk of his that I attended). It's true that he's got the kind of profile that would fit a hard-line political leader that refuses to adapt to social change.

However, I believe that mixing up Stallman's attitude and discourse (and personal hygiene or lack thereof) with his legacy and the priceless contribution he gave to computing world wide is plain wrong.

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#134

Post by b1daly » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:30 AM UTC

pygy_ wrote: post #125

b1daly wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the down vote? it's a simple observation. A negative opinion on a piece of writing doesn't make someone a troll. In addition, many people, such as myself, are not familiar with Richard Stallman's work. So the discussion is not repetitive in the way it is if you have been reading and thinking about it a long time.

Look up the definition of conformism. It's about conforming to social norms, not personal ethics.

I'm not being literal! Their are flavors of personal ethics. You can be a non-conformist and have ideals about behavior that don't extend to other people. Really that's the core of my annoyance with his point of view.

It's just annoyance. Richard Stallman is a person of influence, but only in a narrow community. So I don't think he is dangerous. He's a person of great accomplishment, and has contributed a huge amount to the world. The idea of open source and free software does cut against the grain of the dominant corporate-state power structure in the US and that's great.

I am personally concerned with the abuses of power that happen (by the powerful, all over the world). But it's not black and white. The unlawful surveillance of US citizens by our Gov't is disturbing. It's not as disturbing as launching unfounded wars on the other side of the world, but still disturbing. To the extent that Richard Stallman is fighting against the use of technology to increase the illegal use of Gov't power, then I get it.

Somehow though, and I can't put my finger on it, I don't think it's the technology per se that is at the root of this type of activity. Modern computing technology is certainly being co-opted to this use. But the tensions that underly the behavior are more fundamental to the issues of power and state. At the highest levels of power, it is just damn hard to enforce any kind of law, as their is no enforcement mechanism. The gov't is just not going to let people do whatever they want in regards to technology and how it is used. We have to accept this, and fight to keep that power from being abused. An absolute stance along the lines of a super strong right to privacy obscures what is at stake. The line will never be drawn to that extreme, so I wish for a more nuanced discussion. FWIW:)

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#135

Post by pferreir » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:32 AM UTC

IvoGeorgiev wrote: post #90

I cannot even believe that there are people who agree with this moron. First of all, he's chasing an ideal that's not even THAT valid: not all of the crappy-written software is knowledge, not all source code is worth reading. Plus, proprietary software improves industry. Industry feeds people. Not to mention, in today's world, it is impossible to live without depending on corporations. The only way to live without so…

Well, in that case we disagree on everything.

I am personally grateful to Stallman (and many other people) for making it possible for me to have access to simple programming tools that I wouldn't have otherwise. That may not look as important today, but it for sure was in the past, when charging for software was the natural choice ("shareware" anyone?).

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#136

Post by jakeonthemove » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:37 AM UTC

kasbah wrote: post #99

jakeonthemove wrote: post #23

Stallman is a smart man, a genius - that's exactly why his way of computing will never be used by most other people. I do my computing in a terribly inefficient way - Windows and GUI as much as possible to avoid text/code and throw as many apps and resources at a task as possible to make it easier/faster - I've managed to outgrow a T9600 Core 2 Duo in daily use (it's 100% loaded all the time), and now I'm on the way…

>If RMS saw me, he'd probably shoot me on the spot You must be thinking of ESR: http://www.catb.org/~esr/guns/

Even Stallman would find the time to get a gun, for the sake of effectiveness, cleanliness and productivity on computers :D...

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#137

Post by redact207 » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:43 AM UTC

It took me 20mins to force read my way through that entire page, and the whole time all I could think was "can this guy be any more boring?"

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#138

Post by xyzzyz » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:49 AM UTC

rimantas wrote: post #81

HNatWORK wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is right to fight for Free software because it empowers the weak, the poor, the oppressed, and also hobbyists, even though there is certainly non-Free software that does so as well (routers for example may carry speech freely but may not be Free themselves). He takes this philosophy to extremes to make his point.

Hand waiving, hand waiving. Last I heard oppressed were quite empovered by twitter, facebook and mobile phones—those parasitic and evil tools, according to rms. I am talking about Arab Spring. That's the best example that he is talking bullshit. I see no point of admiring man just be cause he is too stubborn not to ignore reality. Would I admire young earth creationist sticking to his believs despite all the science?…

And I'm sure rms would do more good if he fought for food and water for poor in Africa.

The point is, he did not resolved to do it, just like his resolve is not fighting dictators. If not helping folks oppressed by tyranny government, then we all are talking bulshit, although it's less true with regard to Stallman, since free software helped Twitter and Facebook happen.

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#139

Post by xyzzyz » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:49 AM UTC

rimantas wrote: post #81

HNatWORK wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is right to fight for Free software because it empowers the weak, the poor, the oppressed, and also hobbyists, even though there is certainly non-Free software that does so as well (routers for example may carry speech freely but may not be Free themselves). He takes this philosophy to extremes to make his point.

Hand waiving, hand waiving. Last I heard oppressed were quite empovered by twitter, facebook and mobile phones—those parasitic and evil tools, according to rms. I am talking about Arab Spring. That's the best example that he is talking bullshit. I see no point of admiring man just be cause he is too stubborn not to ignore reality. Would I admire young earth creationist sticking to his believs despite all the science?…

And I'm sure rms would do more good if he fought for food and water for poor in Africa.

The point is, he did not resolve to do it, just like his resolve is not fighting dictators. If not helping folks oppressed by tyranny government, then we all are talking bulshit, although it's less true with regard to Stallman, since free software helped Twitter and Facebook happen.

Re: Richard Stallman: How I do my Computing

#140

Post by hackermom » Sat, Apr 07, 2012, 10:51 AM UTC

mixmastamyk wrote: post #105

Every time an rms article comes up trolls come out of the woodwork to rally about what a kook he is and all "the horrible things" he's done. "Why the nerve, living a life different than I would choose!? IT MUST BE STOPPED." Snooze. I've been reading this fear-mongering regularly since '97. Why is he so threatening? It's not like you have to share a studio apartment with the guy. Have any complainers contributed 1/10t…

"Why the nerve, living a life different than I would choose!? IT MUST BE STOPPED."

Hm, is it just me or doesn't that sound like the agenda RMS is trying to push down everyone else's throat regarding their choices in personal computing?