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Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

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Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#381

Post by Ekaros »

badsectoracula wrote: post #380
deknos wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you laugh until you get old and the games of your youth do not work anymore because of missing libraries on linux, if there was a linux port. i am missing my unreal tournament days and would even pay money, if one would build an opensource clone where i could load the original maps of Unreal tournament and UT2004 into the game like with Command & Conquer: Red alert. (UT2004 crashes randomly on linux and it's always a…

FWIW UT2004 works fine under Wine (GOG version) here.

UT2004 has native Linux version. I would expect that to still work well. The Windows version does, so there should be no need for Wine at all.

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#382

Post by car_analogy »

simonh wrote: post #369
car_analogy wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not freedom in general that's useless, but specifically freedom when that software relies on an upstream service to do things. Until that service (such as a bank) decides that your rooted, user-controlled phone is no good, and forces you to use one controlled by the manufacturer, if you want access to your bank account.

If you want access from an app on your phone yes, not just to have access. The fact is it’s not just us that are stakeholders in the devices we carry. Our mobile network provider is a stakeholder, the manufacturer is a stakeholder, our bank is a stakeholder. This is why e.g. we don’t have unlimited rights over the bank cards or those access code generator devices some banks used to issue. If you want to use your phon…

> If you want access from an app on your phone yes, not just to have access.

Ah, you mean in the case where you have a different computer available to you, that has not (yet) been locked against its user like your phone has. But we are so certain that this locking of compute won't spread, that we treat all other computers (that are locked), as an exotic exception, and the only remaining class of devices not yet locked (PCs) as the norm.

> Our mobile network provider is a stakeholder, the manufacturer is a stakeholder, our bank is a stakeholder. [..] some of your banks interests in the functioning and management of that card roll over into your phone.

Having an interest does not imply exercising that interest is legitimate. Especially when freedom-respecting options are nearly absent from the market, and one cannot in good faith argue that consumers choose locked products among equivalent unlocked ones.

But most importantly, there's one item missing in your list of interests: the interests of a free society, that needs a populace able to use software other than only what is approved by giant corporations. What use is free software if none but a handful of hobbyists can run it?

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#383

Post by maratc »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #370
maratc wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's a social problem being attacked with technology Any problem in the last couple of centuries is being attacked with technology. That's what the industrial revolution is about. Steam engine? That's a transportation problem being attacked with technology. Covid vaccines? That's a healthcare problem being attacked with technology. Anti-missile missiles? That's an international relations problem being attacked wi…

> Steam engine? That's a transportation problem being attacked with technology steam engine has been adapted to transportation, after transportation was invented, they haven't solved any social problem. there wasn't a transportation problem, there was a problem applying the technology to transportation, for lack of better alternatives. steam engine in cars were banned until 1920s, so cars used electric engines. it wo…

What needs to be explained is why throwing technology at power generation problems, economic problems, healthcare problems, or warfare problems is seemingly ok, but social problems are a no-go zone.

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#384

Post by jasoneckert »

From reading the other comments here, I understand that it's easy to pick something RMS said and say "Yeah, right..."

But you have to keep in mind that RMS advocates the free software philosophy - the complete left end of the software spectrum - the white angel on your shoulder (not the red devil on the other).

And while I find some of his points too radical to implement practically in my own situation, I believe it's very important that we have someone like him in the tech world. As a result, whenever there is a RMS talk, I listen to it. And each time I gain new and valuable perspectives about free software that help guide future decisions.

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#385

Post by Ekaros »

the_af wrote: post #342
lovich wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>won't be playing the games of their formative years on their terms Do they care? Lots of these games are like fashion, where the core gameplay loop is pretty similar to exactly the same as previous games, just with a different art direction on top. The fact that its popular is what makes it popular until its not.

> "Do they care?" I guarantee you that they will. They might not think so now, but when in a couple or so of decades they suddenly remember a cherished videogame from their youth (maybe associated with the joy of discovering videogames, maybe with a memory of a friend who's passed away, maybe just because of doing videogame archaeology) and they cannot play it at all because of DRM or unsupported hardware (and the im…

And then I try one and wonder this looks really ugly. This mechanic is rather annoying, yeah maybe it isn't worth the nostalgia.

Thankfully, I am PC gamer so most things work, outside certain set of DRM...

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#386

Post by Ekaros »

AndrewOMartin wrote: post #361
waplot wrote: post #230

> Now, more free games? It doesn't satisfy an urgent practical need, obviously... But the crucial thing is, free ones might make it easier for some people to say, 'Let's move off this non-free thing, and play a game that is free. So we can have the same pleasure, but without paying freedom as the price.'“ i'm sorry but i just can't read this without laughing. what does stallman think gamers are like? i can only imagi…

Gamers includes people who play Doom. It's reasonable to think a few of those players will ask "Why does this have from the 90s have such an excellent, creative and enjoyable scene when tons of games since have been forgotten?" The answer, at least partially, lies in free tools, engines, and community content.

Or that it is pretty good game and has the brand. The variants by my understanding aren't so different from it in those aspects, but they don't have similar scene think of Hexen and Heretic. And then the third party titles, how many remember or play those?

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#387

Post by Ekaros »

numpad0 wrote: post #336
waplot wrote: post #230

> Now, more free games? It doesn't satisfy an urgent practical need, obviously... But the crucial thing is, free ones might make it easier for some people to say, 'Let's move off this non-free thing, and play a game that is free. So we can have the same pleasure, but without paying freedom as the price.'“ i'm sorry but i just can't read this without laughing. what does stallman think gamers are like? i can only imagi…

I think he just reinvented F2P. Or looking at something similar to its spirit. Many modern competition games like VALORANT or PUBG are free-beer with paid food, built on free-beer semi open engines like UE4, and are also streamed free-beer on Twitch or YouTube. And kids are moving towards F2P from paid games such as Battlefield or Call of Duty franchise, because the former category is free(-beer). The former is also…

I don't think it will happen. The engines might be free speech, part of game play too. But the tens or hundreds of thousands of hours spend unified assets is much harder thing to reach. And where the value really is.

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#388

Post by jdbernard »

maratc wrote: post #383
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Steam engine? That's a transportation problem being attacked with technology steam engine has been adapted to transportation, after transportation was invented, they haven't solved any social problem. there wasn't a transportation problem, there was a problem applying the technology to transportation, for lack of better alternatives. steam engine in cars were banned until 1920s, so cars used electric engines. it wo…

What needs to be explained is why throwing technology at power generation problems, economic problems, healthcare problems, or warfare problems is seemingly ok, but social problems are a no-go zone.

Because using technology to solve social problems leads to restraining people's personal freedom, choices, and expression in a much more direct manner than other domains of problem solving.

Furthermore, this restraint tends to impact people unevenly. As ineffective as the government may or may not be, at least the goal is for all people to be considered equal in the eyes of the law. With technology the power lives with those who own and create the technology, who have even less oversight and accountability than those who make the laws.

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#389

Post by pydry »

watwut wrote: post #347
robocat wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of examples where somebody who has influenced the world was an idealist, out of touch with societal norms. RMS has serious faults, but his virtues have an immense value in my opinion. ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.’.

Tho, those unreasonable men also fairly often cause quite a lot of damage to their own causes and to world in general. Also, I think that looking at history, claim that all progress was due to unreasonable men is false.

Hard to argue that Stallman has done that. The perpetual character assassination attempts (e.g. the failed cancelation attempt from a year or two ago) merely serve to underscore this.

Re: Richard Stallman – The state of the Free Software movement

#390

Post by Ekaros »

pjmlp wrote: post #311
pmoriarty wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"abundance of F/OSS has pushed us towards SaaS as one of the few places left to make a living from pure software dev, and the oligopolies arising out of it. What about Linux (Android) being used as the prime spyware vector, and Linux being used for cloud lock-in (k8s et al)?" It's not like closed-source software would have prevented any of this.

People actually pay for closed source software, even if piracy might happen. SaaS is the only way left to force most people to actually pay for the FOSS stuff they leach.

Why should people pay for FOSS? Isn't entire point it being free, developed for personal use and shared?
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