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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]

#491

Post by ToValueFunfetti »

Gigachad wrote: post #475
leidenfrost wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a lot more understandable if you consider the state of computing he experienced while growing up: Programs were way simpler, and shipping the source code in paper was the de facto way of distribution. It's not like he was a wacko around his peers. He just created what seemed a logical step from that. I'm just sad that there's no young people to pass the torch for when the time comes and the founding fathers are…

It’s commonly said that his inspiration was from wanting to improve a printer driver but couldn’t because it was proprietary. I feel like back in the day there would have been so many easy wins for modifications. Like how people used to root Android to add screenshot capability. These days modern software is so extremely sophisticated and refined that I can’t think of anything I could improve for say iOS. Still love…

I think you might not be considering personal bugfixes (X interaction is great for the common denominator, annoying to me), long-term support (I want to use my device securely in 2045), or custom features (I want to be able to do X, but only 0.001% of people care so Apple doesn't). I use Android, so I can't be more specific. I have heard the unverified complaint that Apple sometimes slows down old devices as new ones are released, which would be impossible in FOSS.

Apple is ultimately going to work in their own best interest. Their particular brand aligns that with the consumer fairly well, but there will be disconnects.

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

#492

Post by acjohnson55 »

PlutoIsAPlanet wrote: post #305
jraph wrote: post #181

Here he is, 70, under chemo, giving a speech. He keeps being a force of nature. May he recover well, or at least have long enjoyable years ahead. He has/had arguable/unacceptable behavior, but I believe we strongly owe him. He has built incredible software, defined important stuff and kicked our asses in the right direction.

He's also been the victim of some pretty vile smear campaigns and is still going on. I know if I was the target of the crap he got, I wouldn't want to continue doing anything anymore.

I know someone personally that he behaved unprofessionally and inappropriately towards. This was before allegations of his MIT went public. So I was not shocked when that happened.

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

#493

Post by solarman5000 »

systemtest wrote: post #389
op00to wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years and years ago he talked at my university lug. I picked him up in my car from the train. The BO smell remained in my car for WEEKS. Dude had a serious aroma.

A lot of people would pay good money to have their car smell like Stallman for weeks.

I'm one of them. I want my children to meet him so badly. This news about his health is heart breaking

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

#494

Post by rpeden »

Pannoniae wrote: post #429
throwaway5Am1k wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I am not misusing the word Yes you are, see: >they are just progressively making things worse That's things going "shit". That's been around for as long as software has been around (e.g. Borland). Enshitification is a very specific thing: https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ To quote it: I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of…

It is enshittification because they are making the software worse in opposition to the users. They don't care that the users hate the changes, they still do it anyway, deliberately.

Have you considered that many users do like the changes, and you just aren't one of them?

I first used desktop Linux in 1996 and liked it well enough. I remember using GNOME 2 and Xfce around 2010ish and liking both of them well enough, too. And they're still around if I want to use them.

But honestly? I don't use them because I like modern GNOME better. I use it every day, everything just works, and I like it more than the alternatives.

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

#495

Post by calderknight »

Ensorceled wrote: post #377
calderknight wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't there countless examples of people who have been cancelled in this way to various degrees? People accused of sexual crimes, racist beliefs, fringe moral views, heretical religious/theological beliefs, etc. have been cancelled countless times both recently and all throughout recorded history. Examples: * Norman Finkelstein (blacklisted from Academia for his work relating to the Israel/Palestine conflict) * Rich…

> Norman Finkelstein (blacklisted from Academia for his work relating to the Israel/Palestine conflict) He wasn't "cancelled" for being "woke", that's straight up political fallout for going up against Israeli interests. > Richard Stallman (made to resign from his positions at MIT and FSF due to comments relating to Marvin Minsky and Jeffrey Epstein) He's back at FSF. Clearly not "cancelled" as evidenced by this enti…

Stallman was cancelled. If the repercussions he faced were just, he was nonetheless cancelled. If the repercussions have turned out to be only temporary, he was nonetheless cancelled.

In general, you seem to think that because these people deserved the punishment they faced, that they were not really cancelled. This is a wrongheaded way to think about the matter. A person is cancelled when he faces certain punishments for having done (of being thought to have done) certain actions. Whether these punishments were just does not play into whether they constitute cancellation. Justified or unjustified, it's cancellation the same.

Now, it is true that people who are the most vocal about cancellation tend to be against it as a rule. Or, to be against it when it is seen as going against freedom of speech - Justin Roiland and others who are seen as having been credibly accused of having committed a crime may be seen as fair game.

P.S. I never said Finkelstein was cancelled for being woke (you likely misread the word "work"), in fact he is very much against woke culture - see his latest book, "I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It!"

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

#496

Post by clbrmbr »

One day I got a call from RMS’s assistant asking if I could help sell books for FSF at a conference. Not even bothering to ask what kind of conference it was, I said “For Richard Stallman, anything!”

Two days later I found myself selling books alongside a self-described nomad and was approached by the leader of the communist party of Great Britain who shook my hand and said “I’m a big fan of your work.”

Was one of those surreal moments.

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

#497

Post by MisterBastahrd »

mongol wrote: post #288
Biganon wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well first of all I was 15 or 16 at the time, so I guess I didn't give it as much though as you currently do, and besides, Che Guevara is (to me at least) not a symbol of communism first and foremost, but a symbol of a man fighting for his ideas (not saying that's my opinion of him especially nowadays, I'm talking about the symbolic power, especially of the famous photograph we all know). So... no. Besides, it was in…

You are surprising me. Where do you live? Many Europeans have lived under communism for decades, and repulse it as nothing else.

I bet if you broke down what they were specifically repulsed by, you'd get a response that aligned more with "we were affected by western sanctions and embargos that crippled our economies and made trade impossible" than "we didn't like communism." The US specifically hated communism because it's harder to extract resources from communists than it is to get it from oligarchs and kleptocrats. Hell, we spent a good part of the 20th century overthrowing democratically elected governments to put those people in charge while our leaders proclaimed how much they loved "freedom" back home.

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

#498

Post by jraph »

bawolff wrote: post #423
hutzlibu wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We need absolutists like him who go to extremes and are known widely." But what is he known for, outside tech circles, if he is known at all? When you want to deliver a message, it matters a lot, how you deliver it.

Does it matter? His message isn't for non-programmers. What is plato known for among people who don't give a shit about philosophy?

> Does it matter? His message isn't for non-programmers.

His message is pretty much user-centered.

(and programmers deserve good message delivery too)

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

#499

Post by colordrops »

Gigachad wrote: post #475
leidenfrost wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a lot more understandable if you consider the state of computing he experienced while growing up: Programs were way simpler, and shipping the source code in paper was the de facto way of distribution. It's not like he was a wacko around his peers. He just created what seemed a logical step from that. I'm just sad that there's no young people to pass the torch for when the time comes and the founding fathers are…

It’s commonly said that his inspiration was from wanting to improve a printer driver but couldn’t because it was proprietary. I feel like back in the day there would have been so many easy wins for modifications. Like how people used to root Android to add screenshot capability. These days modern software is so extremely sophisticated and refined that I can’t think of anything I could improve for say iOS. Still love…

People are still rooting Android and adding thousands of modifications to it.

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

#500

Post by mikepurvis »

Gigachad wrote: post #475
leidenfrost wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a lot more understandable if you consider the state of computing he experienced while growing up: Programs were way simpler, and shipping the source code in paper was the de facto way of distribution. It's not like he was a wacko around his peers. He just created what seemed a logical step from that. I'm just sad that there's no young people to pass the torch for when the time comes and the founding fathers are…

It’s commonly said that his inspiration was from wanting to improve a printer driver but couldn’t because it was proprietary. I feel like back in the day there would have been so many easy wins for modifications. Like how people used to root Android to add screenshot capability. These days modern software is so extremely sophisticated and refined that I can’t think of anything I could improve for say iOS. Still love…

There are several OS level things I wish I could change/override on iPhone: ability to share screen during a video call, ability to control how certain Bluetooth devices pair automatically, ability to throttle apps that I know are abusing the CPU and costing me battery.
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