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Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

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Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#201

Post by jerf »

mibbitier wrote: post #182
Produce wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One step ahead of the curve and you're a genius. Two steps and you're crazy. Three and you're dangerous. RMS#2

Actually, I believe he's behind the curve. There was a time when some of the things he talks about mattered (1980s), and that time has long gone. The general public don't buy "computers" to tinker with any more. They buy them just like they buy a toaster. As an appliance to use. The software or hardware it runs is irrelevant. All that matters is the user experience, and if it fulfils the purpose - does it make good t…

I find it ironic how vocal the anti-RMS contingent is being in the same week that Microsoft is locking Firefox out of one of their Windows 8 lines, while we live in a world where Apple rigidly controls what you do with everything not-Mac and continue making strides towards locking down the Macs as well, where consumer electronics like eBook readers are rapidly displacing computers, and where Google's dedication to openness seems to come and go and is held hostage by hostile phone carriers and indifferent-at-best hardware manufacturers. Let us not forget Microsoft's ongoing efforts to ensure BIOSes can only boot approved (read: Microsoft) OSes. I can barely even remember all the ways in which almost every tech company under the sun right now is trying to lock us in a box.

The Open Web Honeymoon is rapidly coming to an end and our ability to ignore his ideas is also rapidly coming to end. His ideas are regaining their importance fast, because the victories circa 2000 that allowed us to pretend he was crazy because our world was comfortable are being walked back. The classic Right to Read [1] is no longer a far-out vision but very nearly a matter of some switches being flipped in existing software and hardware. I see a developing consensus group on HN that we can ignore RMS as a loon, but now's a terrible time for that to take root. We're going to get stomped in the next several years if that happens. The fight for the openness of the next hardware generation has started and we're barely showing up.

[1]: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#202

Post by Tichy »

cglace wrote: post #94
me_myselft wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but in US you have to have a lot of money for receiving a very basic and fundamental human right: medical care...

Why is medical care a fundamental right?

Is living a fundamental right?

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#203

Post by exDM69 »

mibbitier wrote: post #182
Produce wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One step ahead of the curve and you're a genius. Two steps and you're crazy. Three and you're dangerous. RMS#2

Actually, I believe he's behind the curve. There was a time when some of the things he talks about mattered (1980s), and that time has long gone. The general public don't buy "computers" to tinker with any more. They buy them just like they buy a toaster. As an appliance to use. The software or hardware it runs is irrelevant. All that matters is the user experience, and if it fulfils the purpose - does it make good t…

> There was a time when some of the things he talks about mattered (1980s), and that time has long gone.

On the contrary. RMS's extreme views on software freedom are more relevant than ever before.

In the 2000's we have seen computers turn from general purpose programmable machines into walled gardens where you need a permission from the manufacturer to write and sell programs that run on them. That's pretty much the opposite of free software.

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#204

Post by hk_kh »

adrianb wrote: post #192
jsavimbi wrote: post #5

> Richard Stallman: "Rajoy nos quiere matar a todos" RMS: "Rajoy (Spain's president) wants to kill us all." Well there you go, Richard.

President? I think you mean prime minister.

For those not getting in which context could be a confusion between the words president and prime minister, here's a wikipedia entry[1]

[1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Spain#Officia...

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#205

Post by beeneto »

w0utert wrote: post #183
VeejayRampay wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about it being more secure. It's that at least when it's suffering from malfunction, you got shitloads of eyeballs on the thing to make it work and work well. Why do you think all the OpenBSD tools are so ubiquitous?

Keeping this in the context of devices like a pacemaker, do you really believe that an open-source development model would be safer for the people who depend on it than a closed-source model? Do you expect them to flash custom ROMs to the pacemaker that keeps them alive if it turns out there may be a problem with them, instead of going to the hospital to get the thing replaced?

Whether or not a pacemaker is running free open source software is independant of whether or not a person can flash their own version of the software to it.

If it were open source you, or anyone who was fitted with the pacemaker could look at the rules that control it.

Making _anything_ visible and open to criticism instantly makes its creators more accountable and adds pressure for them to try and be responsible.

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#206

Post by [deleted] »

dschobel wrote: post #148
benihana wrote: post #76

This presents an interesting situation. Is Stallman okay with being hooked up to medical computers even though they may not be running free software? What about the privacy issues involved in being checked into a hospital?

I was thinking about this just the other day as I was getting a flu vaccine. As far as accepting closed source technology in your life, that seems like the vastly more salient domain.

[deleted]

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#207

Post by green7ea »

rimantas wrote: post #180
lumberjack wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To continue with the above comment, I'd like to point out that RMS has valid concerns regarding non-free software running inside your body. You don't want to have a buggy pacemaker with unencrypted unprotected wireless access. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/27/buggy_pacemaker_code... https://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2010/transparent-m... Moreover I don't feel comfortable using a technology that is owne…

As if free software cannot be buggy and with lousy security. I am so tired of this "open and free makes everything perfect by magic" thinking.

Its not that it can't be buggy but rather that you can fix bugs once you find them. A proprietary manufacturer of a pacemaker wouldn't necessarily fix your bugs in a timely manner; you depend on his cooperation. He could be out of business, no longer support that model of pacemaker, argue that it isn't a bug or use any other reason not to fix your bug. If you have the source code, you are always free to fix the problem yourself or hire a specialist to fix the problem for you.

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#208

Post by __alexs »

mibbitier wrote: post #182
Produce wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One step ahead of the curve and you're a genius. Two steps and you're crazy. Three and you're dangerous. RMS#2

Actually, I believe he's behind the curve. There was a time when some of the things he talks about mattered (1980s), and that time has long gone. The general public don't buy "computers" to tinker with any more. They buy them just like they buy a toaster. As an appliance to use. The software or hardware it runs is irrelevant. All that matters is the user experience, and if it fulfils the purpose - does it make good t…

> The general public don't buy "computers" to tinker with any more. They buy them just like they buy a toaster.

You say that like it's at all relevant to the problem.

RMS isn't about helping people "tinker" with computers. He's about something much bigger than that. Freedom from monopoly business models.

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#209

Post by __alexs »

rimantas wrote: post #180
lumberjack wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To continue with the above comment, I'd like to point out that RMS has valid concerns regarding non-free software running inside your body. You don't want to have a buggy pacemaker with unencrypted unprotected wireless access. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/27/buggy_pacemaker_code... https://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2010/transparent-m... Moreover I don't feel comfortable using a technology that is owne…

As if free software cannot be buggy and with lousy security. I am so tired of this "open and free makes everything perfect by magic" thinking.

With enough eyes all bugs are shallow. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Law

Free eyes have lower marginal cost to the consumer than proprietary ones.

Re: Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference

#210

Post by exDM69 »

benihana wrote: post #76

This presents an interesting situation. Is Stallman okay with being hooked up to medical computers even though they may not be running free software? What about the privacy issues involved in being checked into a hospital?

Medical software is something that should be more free. The software in medical equipment goes through less rigorous review than the rest of the system. There as a recent paper about the review process and closedness of medical software and there is little to no software audits required for getting approval from officials.

The first fatalities from software in medical systems were in mid-80's when an X-ray machine gave excess radiation to patients because of a programming mistake. I recall it was an integer overflow.

This issue is more serious than just making fun of RMS's extremist views.

(sorry for the lack of links to sources, I'm sure you can find them if you're interested)

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