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Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

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Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#111

Post by LtWorf »

dheera wrote: post #63
walteweiss wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This very morning, my wife performed reset of cache/cookies from our family’s perfectly fine iPad 3 (yeah, the one from 2012, 11 years old). The iPad is our kitchen TV, it shows either some content from VLC (works perfectly fine, kudos to the devs) or some YouTube from Safari (the AppStore’s app support is long gone, web app still works quite well, even considering it was updated recently). Today I spent my morning t…

I have a couple Samsung Galaxy A8 (2022) tablets set up as control panels around my apartment for Home Assistant. They cost a little more than $100 on eBay in very good condition. I don't think LineageOS supports this particular model, though, but I didn't bother since all it does is display a webpage. One of the things I like about Samsung tablets is that they have a "Battery saver" feature where you can restrict it…

I do this with an old samsung phone I have, but I can't do updates on it, because on that model samsung included an overlay with ads along with the updates.

So I see ads (even videos!) instead of my simple html page, or on top of it. It's terrible!

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#112

Post by maurice2k »

sidkshatriya wrote: post #99
dale_glass wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pity is that while he was remarkably prescient, he seems to have stopped adapting decades ago. GNU seems to have little interest in keeping up with modern developments, and seems to be content with maintaining the old command line tools for the most part. Meanwhile, they're becoming a smaller and smaller proportion of an useful software stack, and people are rewriting them in more modern fashions, eg, Rust. Prett…

> The FSF is clearly not reaching the people it needs to reach. Where's their Youtube channel, or their Twitter? As far as I know, they have neither. Sadly they seemed to have tied themselves in all kinds of self imposed knots when it comes to spreading their reach via social networking sites. See * https://www.fsf.org/twitter * https://www.fsf.org/facebook You can't change today's world if you're not a bit pragmatic…

"*Note: The custom script allows us to interact with the Twitter API while circumventing the nonfree JS that is sent to the Web browser. For viewing replies and retweeting posts, we use Choqok."

So funny and so sad. Nonfree JS? They're in their own cloud of whatever. Yes, there is nonfree stuff. But nonfree stuff also can get things done.

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#113

Post by bdamm »

oytis wrote: post #74
dale_glass wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pity is that while he was remarkably prescient, he seems to have stopped adapting decades ago. GNU seems to have little interest in keeping up with modern developments, and seems to be content with maintaining the old command line tools for the most part. Meanwhile, they're becoming a smaller and smaller proportion of an useful software stack, and people are rewriting them in more modern fashions, eg, Rust. Prett…

> Where's their Youtube channel, or their Twitter? Well, they are Free Software Foundation, they have Mastodon (and PeerTube, although the latter is pretty empty).

Yes, and I recall my XML geek co-worker back in 2004 saying how the friend-of-a-friend co-linking XML schema was going to win over this new social network stuff... what did you call it? Linked-In?

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#114

Post by tibbydudeza »

A divisive character and not the easiest to deal with and rather cranky and very set in his ways (his web browsing via an email - eish) but without his early efforts there would have not been the FSF and GNU and later Linux.

Right person at the right time - live long and prosper RMS.

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#115

Post by loup-vaillant »

onethought wrote: post #79
H8crilA wrote: post #33

What's cool about RMS is that he perfectly foresaw many decades ago the world that we live in today: your car or smart fridge refusing actions because its software says so. And you cannot change the bloody software! I cringe every time I see encrypted firmware running in trusted execution environment, DRM, DLCs for fucking physical products, websites or apps that scam you into signing up or giving up some other freed…

Why do you need? Or have the right? To modify the software. That same Tesla is cast with a proprietary alloy that not only they won’t tell you what it is, but it’s patent anyway. Same is true of the rubber in the tyres. Open source is a great thing. But it’s not better (morally) than closed source. Open is just a feature. Like Lego vs a solid plastic toy.

The first principle, is when I have a thing (computer, car, toaster), I have the thing. It’s mine. I control it, I can have it repaired wherever, I can resell it, and if I have the skill, maybe even tweak it. But most importantly the thing serves me, not the corporation that sold it to me.

If the thing is a general purpose computer that can run arbitrary software (and I’d be tempted to include anything that can be remotely updated as "software", so this would include Tesla’s firmware), then I should be able to run my software instead. That’s the true test of whether I truly own my computing device.

Before we even get to Free Software, we need documented hardware architectures.

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#116

Post by blueflow »

IanCal wrote: post #95
blueflow wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And gcc and grub and potentially some other 10 libraries that everybody is still using! > Where's their Youtube channel, or their Twitter? You are seriously asking why the Free Software Foundation isn't using a propietary social platform?

> You are seriously asking why the Free Software Foundation isn't using a propietary social platform? Yes? This is sort of the opposite of the "yet you participate in society, interesting" comic. You can non-hypocritically call for people to move away from something you also use. It's especially important when it comes to communication because how on earth are you supposed to tell people to change behaviour if they n…

Youtube and Twitter are not Society. They are like the dark corner where people shit on each other.

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#117

Post by Cthulhu_ »

walteweiss wrote: post #51
H8crilA wrote: post #33

What's cool about RMS is that he perfectly foresaw many decades ago the world that we live in today: your car or smart fridge refusing actions because its software says so. And you cannot change the bloody software! I cringe every time I see encrypted firmware running in trusted execution environment, DRM, DLCs for fucking physical products, websites or apps that scam you into signing up or giving up some other freed…

This very morning, my wife performed reset of cache/cookies from our family’s perfectly fine iPad 3 (yeah, the one from 2012, 11 years old). The iPad is our kitchen TV, it shows either some content from VLC (works perfectly fine, kudos to the devs) or some YouTube from Safari (the AppStore’s app support is long gone, web app still works quite well, even considering it was updated recently). Today I spent my morning t…

See, even when people get rid of their old tech because they get a newer replacement or whatever, the old stuff is often not broken; with repairs like a replacement battery, or the option to use it without one, it can easily last over a decade. This is why right to repair laws and standardization are so important, to reduce the amount of discarded electronics, and to allow a "trickle down" kind of economics, to the point where people can get access to technology for free.

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#118

Post by James87211 »

max_ wrote: post #108

This is so unfortunate. Cancer used to be something I would just hear other people getting until my Dad got it. The I understood that it was very real and that I can also be a victim. Do you guys know of any ways to reduce your risks of getting cancer? I know not smoking tobacco works. What foods, bad habits should one avoid. What other habits can reduce cancer risks? Are there any prophylactic techniques?

Exercise. The single most effective thing you can do you keep your body healthy.

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#119

Post by bdamm »

max_ wrote: post #108

This is so unfortunate. Cancer used to be something I would just hear other people getting until my Dad got it. The I understood that it was very real and that I can also be a victim. Do you guys know of any ways to reduce your risks of getting cancer? I know not smoking tobacco works. What foods, bad habits should one avoid. What other habits can reduce cancer risks? Are there any prophylactic techniques?

Avoid sugar, alcohol, bacon, and exercise daily?

Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]

#120

Post by david-gpu »

l33t7332273 wrote: post #91
Kinrany wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their goal should be encouraging people to demand open software and hardware, not being principled. Youtube and Twitter have power, not acknowledging that is dumb.

I don’t see how to interpret your comment in a way that doesn’t say “their goal should be encouraging people to be principled, not being being principled themselves.”

You can use a tool of a system you disagree with to raise concerns against that very system. There is no contradiction here, only pragmatism.

GNU tools such as gcc were originally developed using proprietary software until the GNU fabric was dense enough to allow bootstrapping. How else can you achieve anything at all, really?

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