Richard Stallman answers Reddit's top 25 questions.

> The reason I don't use nonfree software is that it would take away my freedom. I don't want to let that happen. So I don't consider installing nonfree program, even as an possible option. I treat them as poison. I hope that you will too.

This man lives in an imaginary world where no one has to make any money (or if they do, they are evil) or deserves to live a comfortable lifestyle by receiving monetary rewards for good and hard work.

Frankly, I believe that this tone and rhetoric devalues some of the great things he has done.

EDIT: clarification where I say (or if they do) I mean if they want to.

EDIT 2: I don't understand why I'm being downvoted for expressing my opinion...

Re: Richard Stallman answers Reddit's top 25 questions.

#6

Post by milesf » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 9:15 PM UTC

I lost patience with RMS years ago. The problem with Free Software is a marketing problem. If you have to keep explaining things over and over again, saying "Free as in Freedom", or trying to get GNU/Linux to take hold instead of just Linux, you're doing it wrong.

Richard is a tremendous hacker, but he's a lousy salesman. I'm not a big fan of salespeople in general, but guys like DHH have proved that it's not enough to be a great hacker if you want your code and ideas to flourish. You need to understand that marketing really does matter.

Glad to hear he's lightened up a bit over the years, though. Maybe GNU will finally see a rebranding. GNU is such an ugly logo.

Re: Richard Stallman answers Reddit's top 25 questions.

#7

Post by gaius » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 9:17 PM UTC

I decided that I would rather do something good with no monetary reward than profit by mistreating people

A $1M grant from the MacArthur foundation and another $1M from the Takeda foundation tends to skew one's view of economics somewhat.

Re: Richard Stallman answers Reddit's top 25 questions.

#8

Post by ajscherer » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 9:24 PM UTC

benofsky wrote: post #5

In response to software which requires a lot of development time to create, specifically tax software or games, RMS says: > The reason I don't use nonfree software is that it would take away my freedom. I don't want to let that happen. So I don't consider installing nonfree program, even as an possible option. I treat them as poison. I hope that you will too. This man lives in an imaginary world where no one has to m…

It doesn't look like he said nobody should make any money. He said that nobody should install non-free software, which if everyone did as RMS wanted (they won't) would imply that one couldn't make money selling non-free software.

Why is it that so many people believe they have a God-given right to make money by doing a certain activity? I see this same thinking all the time in arguments about the future of newspapers. Programmers are generally smart people. I'm sure most of them could find a way to make money if everyone stopped buying proprietary software.

Re: Richard Stallman answers Reddit's top 25 questions.

#9

Post by tjr » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 9:25 PM UTC

milesf wrote: post #6

I lost patience with RMS years ago. The problem with Free Software is a marketing problem. If you have to keep explaining things over and over again, saying "Free as in Freedom", or trying to get GNU/Linux to take hold instead of just Linux, you're doing it wrong. Richard is a tremendous hacker, but he's a lousy salesman. I'm not a big fan of salespeople in general, but guys like DHH have proved that it's not enough…

GNU is such an ugly logo.

A few years ago I asked Duane Bibby to do some artwork for The GNU C Reference Manual. I rather like his whimsical approach on the gnu...

http://www.gnu.org/software/gnu-c-manual/gnu-db-1.jpg

Re: Richard Stallman answers Reddit's top 25 questions.

#10

Post by logic » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 9:27 PM UTC

ajscherer wrote: post #8

benofsky wrote: post #5

In response to software which requires a lot of development time to create, specifically tax software or games, RMS says: > The reason I don't use nonfree software is that it would take away my freedom. I don't want to let that happen. So I don't consider installing nonfree program, even as an possible option. I treat them as poison. I hope that you will too. This man lives in an imaginary world where no one has to m…

It doesn't look like he said nobody should make any money. He said that nobody should install non-free software, which if everyone did as RMS wanted (they won't) would imply that one couldn't make money selling non-free software. Why is it that so many people believe they have a God-given right to make money by doing a certain activity ? I see this same thinking all the time in arguments about the future of newspaper…

You have a right to try to start a business around a given activity.

You do not have the right to succeed.