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RMS lifestyle

stallman.org

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Re: RMS lifestyle

#131

Post by foobarbazqux »

pjscott wrote: post #109
foobarbazqux wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Copy pasta much? > But here on Hacker News (of all places), let's instead criticize his personal preferences on fucking ties. So someone writes about their personal life, and then people discuss it. What the heck does a whole bunch of honorary doctorates from Latin America have to do with this? Obviously the people in Latin America like him. As far as I'm concerned, a single actual doctorate is worth more than all of…

Do you honestly think that he would face such intense criticism if he were just some guy on the internet? You seem to be defending a double standard by arguing that there shouldn't be a double standard.

I don't consider the posts in this thread to be intense criticism relative to many of the flame wars here, nor do I think that the choices are lots of criticism or zero criticism.

From what I've seen, it generally seems like intense criticism on HN is directed at attention seekers irrespective of their celebrity. I don't find this to be a particularly attention seeking post, but nevertheless RMS has engaged in a fair amount of attention seeking behavior in the past.

At any rate, the views being most criticized are actually critical of others anyway, including the one about ties.

Re: RMS lifestyle

#132

Post by foobarbazqux »

moomin wrote: post #124
glurgh wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely several of these are possible, by any individual, at once. You can admire and benefit from Stallman's work and achievements, without necessarily agreeing with all of his positions. And if someone essentially judges you morally deficient for as much as using a cellphone or MS Windows, it's kind of open season to judge him on superficial things like his choice of ties or personal habits, in return.

Only if you're prepared to explain why a choice of ties is a moral imperative, and are ready for the ridicule of people who don't agree with you.

Except that, in explaining his choice of no ties at all, RMS resorts precisely to moral imperatives.

Re: RMS lifestyle

#133

Post by Jach »

reedlaw wrote: post #40
timcederman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For phones to function they have to talk to cellular towers continuously. You can triangulate a location based on the chatter. Phone companies also keep detailed logs.

What about being made into listening devices? That would require turning on the microphone and transmitting the signal without the user noticing. Is that possible?

I don't think it would be that difficult to do without the user noticing. Even taking a photo or video wouldn't be noticed by a lot of people... I'm reminded of http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/rat-breeders-meet...

The question is can they do it to everyone frequently, including the handful of super-nerds out there who love tracing every operation their devices do and can be certain they don't have some sort of malware? While I don't see the capability as technologically infeasible, I do think it would be noticed sooner or later if it was always-on.

If such a feature does exist, then it would have to be used sparingly on targeted individuals, and even then if it was used to incriminate them such evidence would have to come up in court (unless they all get the s/Gitmo/secret prison/ treatment, a big assumption!) and then the world would know such features exist. Presently I think traditional manners of evidence-gathering are probably sufficient and people publicly leak all sorts of data (or have a lot of data logged that can be subpena'd) -- plus every now and again we hear about some nerd (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5194489) reporting they have been bugged. Some people think the CPUs of Intel et al. have backdoors in them, but if so, there'd be no need to bug computers.

Absence of evidence is evidence of absence... so I don't really take the government backdoors in everything by default too seriously. I'd need some sort of evidence showing their existence to change my mind.

Re: RMS lifestyle

#134

Post by thejosh »

pmarin wrote: post #84
gohrt wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh. I thought he had a free-libre cell phone at some point. Anyway, one can buy a throwaway cell phone in cash, and power it down when not in use, I thought. Like drug dealers do. Still surveillable, but no more than any borrowed phone.

Anyway, one can buy a throwaway cell phone in cash you can not do it in many countries like Spain where you have to provide your ID (because of terrorism).

Same as Australia.

Re: RMS lifestyle

#135

Post by reedlaw »

belorn wrote: post #122
reedlaw wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about being made into listening devices? That would require turning on the microphone and transmitting the signal without the user noticing. Is that possible?

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_listening_device . Most phones can be remotely updated with software by the carrier, and the GSM protocol allows for remote update of the firmware.

What if you have a stock Android, like a Nexus or a rooted phone?

Re: RMS lifestyle

#136

Post by olalonde »

gonvaled wrote: post #121
belorn wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no law of nature that supports his statement that atheism stems from any scientific reason. when people talk about scientific reasoning, I assume it also includes the scientific method. As such, atheist and it tend to agree that any prevailing theory should be abandon as soon as a better theory is suggested. This however is strictly contrary to faith, in that faith is the constant belief no matter what other theori…

It is more fundamental than that: religion does not offer any falsifiable claims. It is not that we do not apply the scientific method to it. It is that, by design , religion is out of bounds of the scientific method.

> It is more fundamental than that: religion does not offer any falsifiable claims

Most religions offer plenty. In the Bible for example, age and creation of the world, the great flood, praying can cure you, God punishes bad people, etc. The claims that have been falsified are nowadays interpreted as "metaphorical" stories.

Re: RMS lifestyle

#137

Post by interject »

kunai wrote: post #27

While his eccentricities mirror those of a mad scientist (or really just an institutionalized person, depending on whom you ask), you cannot deny that RMS is a genius. His work in free software has enabled much recursive work in the computer science fields that wouldn't be possible without his contributions. gcc is without a doubt still the most advanced compiler available today. The GNU coreutils are nowhere near th…

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

Re: RMS lifestyle

#138

Post by hkolek »

Jach wrote: post #133
reedlaw wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about being made into listening devices? That would require turning on the microphone and transmitting the signal without the user noticing. Is that possible?

I don't think it would be that difficult to do without the user noticing. Even taking a photo or video wouldn't be noticed by a lot of people... I'm reminded of http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/rat-breeders-meet... The question is can they do it to everyone frequently, including the handful of super-nerds out there who love tracing every operation their devices do and can be certain they don't have some sor…

> I'd need some sort of evidence showing their existence to change my mind.

Here you go, seems pretty well sourced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_listening_device#Remotel...

Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A

Re: RMS lifestyle

#139

Post by suhastech »

gonvaled wrote: post #123
suhastech wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of thinking did happen to me when I tried to generate a consistent world view. At this point, there are just too many contradictions, I'd rather forget and simply accept the absurd . For example, being an atheist, I don't particularly believe in holidays myself. I do enjoy myself with my family even if it mean a few capitalists make a little more money during the season. On the whole, a meaningless event ma…

Sorry, I am confused. You say you are atheist, and of a "fairly open religion". You probably mean that you grew up in that culture, right? Because, in my book, the set of atheists and the set of religious people (whatever the religion) have the empty set as intersection.

I'm not a religious person. Hinduism is supposedly not religion but a "way of life"[1]. I really don't want to get into to the specificity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism#cite_ref-Klostermaier_... [1]

If you assume it's a religion, try this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism (Ctrl/Cmd + F. "atheist")

By open I mean there is no rigid rule set or algorithm in my culture to obtain salvation or anything like that (going to temple is optional). You could simply say no. My parents didn't bother me after a while (My mum is an orthodox person). I do want to point out that being a "nasthik" (non-believer) is not encouraged, but ignored.

Re: RMS lifestyle

#140

Post by kybernetikos »

IvyMike wrote: post #2

It annoys me how willing he is to push the externalities of his decisions onto other people. ("I won't carry a cell phone, but fortunately everyone else does and I can just mooch off of them"). It's like that friend who won't own a car but sure as hell will mooch a ride. This reminds me of a story my friend told me. Back in the early 90's(?) my friend had his lunch eaten by RMS, several times. I don't think it was ma…

"It costs a great deal of money to keep Gandhi living in poverty," one of his followers said affectionately.
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