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Richard Stallman’s rider

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Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#181

Post by [deleted] »

stickfigure wrote: post #83
tibbon wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely. Nothing is left to ambiguity, and then hopefully the fewest possible things will go wrong. About the only thing that I laughed at (in joy) was the thing about parrots...

Nothing is left to ambiguity? A supply of tea with milk and sugar would be nice. If it is tea I really like, I like it without milk and sugar. With milk and sugar, any kind of tea is fine. I always bring tea bags with me, so if we use my tea bags, I will certainly like that tea without milk or sugar. Really, I think he's just screwing with us. Douglas Adams would be proud.

[deleted]

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#182

Post by repsilat »

BrandonM wrote: post #106
metabrew wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I have more KDE code on my computer than GNU code. Both are undeniably useful, but no one is insisting on calling it KDE/Linux.

I wasn't referring to the name GNU/Linux ; I was specifically refuting the comment I quoted. The funny thing is that the comment effectively justifies RMS's insistence on using GNU/Linux . Because so many refer to the entire distribution as Linux , a lot of people fail to realize the hugely-important role that GNU software plays in Linux systems. Linux is still useful without KDE, but the functionality provided by GN…

> the functionality provided by GNU is critical and would require a large effort to replace

This isn't really true. You could just grab your userspace from a BSD, or Plan9Port. Clang and LLVM do well enough to replace GCC on most important architectures.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#183

Post by mturmon »

soult wrote: post #108
hugh3 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. Which wouldn't have happened, if he hadn't already added in the first paragraph about how he really likes parrots and would be "very very glad" to stay with someone who owns one.

RMS likes parrots, but because of his frequent travel he can't take care of one himself all year round. What better way to be around parrots than to combine his travel activities with meeting parrot owners?

Plus, parrot owners tend to be a funky bunch (in a good way).

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#184

Post by mark_l_watson »

Love the part about the parrot, and Richard is right about never buying a wild parrot as a pet. My parrot was hand raised from an egg until he was old enough for us to care for him.

Richard is also right not to own a parrot himself because he has to travel a lot. When I have to occasionally travel, a lady who my parrot likes a lot takes care of him (expensive!) but he still gets some separation anxiety being away from me and my wife.

I can't imagine not owning a parrot, but I advise other people to not get them unless they have a lot of time for a pet. I literally spend over an hour a day playing with him, in addition to his hanging out on my shoulder while I work and write (My wife and I both work at home). It is great when he flies about 20 miles per hour to me, flairs up and thump!, lands on my shoulder. One issue, at least for my parrot, is that he always needs to be in the same room as either my wife or I if we are home. He seems really happy as long as he is with us.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#185

Post by nimblegorilla »

phzbOx wrote: post #176

I, too, was disappointed by Richard Stallman' talk. We were a bunch of students in a conference in general software engineering. And he was invited to give a talk about copyright and freedom.. cool, right? Not exactly. He came in and started acting like he really didn't wanted to be there and didn't care at all about us, the place and the organizers. I'm usually not the kind to judge someone else dressing but Stallma…

I agree totally. The most frustrating part about Stallman's "free software" is that he has to control how everyone else uses it. Linux people don't even get the freedom to name their own operating system.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#186

Post by ethank »

_delirium wrote: post #161
ethank wrote: post #70

This is one of the least crazy and nicest riders I've ever read.

It's also nicely explicit and consists of a lot of "tell me if you plan to do [x] up front so we can agree or disagree". The more common "policy" is for speakers to not list all these things in advance, but then threaten to pull out at the last minute when they find out they were paired with another keynote speaker they don't like, causing mad panics to smooth things over or find replacements.

That is what is so great about it: it's specific.

If you look at the smoking gun's archive, you'll see the more seasoned touring bands have the same level of specificity.

When you are respected, in demand, etc you know how people will screw you and prevent it in writing.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#187

Post by smacktoward »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #180
smacktoward wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having had experience organizing lots of public speaking/platform events, I can assure you that "please provide milk and sugar" is one of the easiest-to-comply with requests I've ever seen. He doesn't specify that it must be soy milk, or 2%, or half and half. He doesn't say it has to be natural cane sugar grown on the sunny side of a hill and harvested by certified sugar cane naturalists during the summer solstice. H…

It would've helped if he had just specified which kind of tea he likes. That way, he wouldn't have needed to write most of that paragraph. Now we're left to guess, which means we will stock several kinds of tea, in the hopes of one being to his liking.

Several kinds of tea?!? Oh no, anything but that.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#189

Post by colton36 »

nobody3141 wrote: post #48
mjs wrote: post #16

This is wonderful, in so many different ways. I've read quite a bit of the FSF material--which is invariably specific, clear and verbose--and it's interesting to read material in the same style, but about a completely different topic. For example, under "Hospitality": "In some places, my hosts act as if my every wish were their command. By catering to my every whim, in effect they make me a tyrant over them, which is…

Ever visited an Arabic country? Whatever an American might think, this is THE major problem - not terrorism - but being 'hospitalitied' to death!

You are so right. When I visited Egypt years ago, the amount of "helping" was so over the top. It really does get in the way.

Re: Richard Stallman’s rider

#190

Post by [deleted] »

nobody3141 wrote: post #48
mjs wrote: post #16

This is wonderful, in so many different ways. I've read quite a bit of the FSF material--which is invariably specific, clear and verbose--and it's interesting to read material in the same style, but about a completely different topic. For example, under "Hospitality": "In some places, my hosts act as if my every wish were their command. By catering to my every whim, in effect they make me a tyrant over them, which is…

Ever visited an Arabic country? Whatever an American might think, this is THE major problem - not terrorism - but being 'hospitalitied' to death!

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