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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]

#591

Post by hutzlibu »

asrt wrote: post #543
hutzlibu wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I am also good at making software, share the goal of a world where everyone fully controls their devices - yet I am appalled by many things around him. Mostly the "superior" ethical stance. You do things this (my) way, then it is ethical and you love freedom or you are not ethical and don't want freedom. Sorry, but I just have some different opinions about some things, but I rather feel not like working togethe…

This guy made GCC and Emacs. GCC in particular has shaped how most software has been compiled for decades. His operating system, GNU, is the de-facto UNIX implementation and runs many critical systems around the world. Anyone who claims that the guy is unlikeable has never truly bothered to hear him speak and isntrad relies on what they've been told by malicious actors. Stallman doesn't attack other people or ideolog…

"If anything his biggest mistake was using Linux as a kernel for people decided to call the GNU operating system "Linux" and it eventually took most of the funding and development away from the OS and its ideology."

Well, what other kernel could he have used instead? Hurd? And linus is writing code till today and activly leading the developement.

What relevant contributions did RMS made, since gcc and emacs? So do you really think it is accurate saying "his" operating system is so much used today?

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

#592

Post by jraph »

I_Am_Nous wrote: post #568
jraph wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does it matter? His message isn't for non-programmers. His message is pretty much user-centered. (and programmers deserve good message delivery too)

True, yet most users don't care about the details in any meaningful way. They just want to be able to use a convenient service like Spotify...who cares that they don't OWN the music anymore? Who cares that they don't pay artists as much as they could? The only time it's a problem is when an artist doesn't release their music on a certain platform and it's now work to try and go download a second app, make an account,…

> most users don't care

> who cares that they don't OWN the music anymore?

That's the thing, he is trying to raise awareness on this stuff. I do too.

If people cared, he'd be mostly done with his raising awareness work.

Open source is pretty much a developer issue. Free software, though, is a user issue.

(Of course we often use the terms interchangeably)

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

#593

Post by Qwertious »

lproven wrote: post #538
colordrops wrote: post #499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Android is not proprietary. https://source.android.com/ That makes it rather easier...

You linked to AOSP, not Android. AOSP doesn't have things like the Google Play Store; the shipped image is substantially different and isn't necessarily open-source just because it contains open-source components - Windows contains BSD networking code but that doesn't make Windows open-source.

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

#594

Post by gilcot »

oblio wrote: post #392
jeltz wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PipeWire made sound finally work flawlessly for me on Linux, Proton made it possible to play a ton of games, graphics drivers being stable, especially for Vulcan and Firefox enabling hardware acceleration. Some things are worse as you note, but there have been som important improvements.

Is there a mainstream laptop on which Linux runs as well as Windows? I'd really want one that doesn't cost 3k+.

What about Lenovo? https://www.phoronix.com/review/thinkpad-p14s-gen4-linux

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

#595

Post by Kye »

newscracker wrote: post #270

I hope he’s able to manage it well (since the prognosis is good) and is around for a lot longer. We need absolutists like him who go to extremes and are known widely. For a few moments, leave aside his personality and what people have said about his behavior or hygiene. If he hadn’t been there, our world would’ve been a lot different and a lot poorer. A visionary is what he was and is. While the Free part of FOSS is…

None of the criticisms I have of the guy are the sort of thing where him dying could actually improve the world. He's no vicious and influential religious firebrand wishing hurricanes on gay people. I hope he comes though it okay.

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

#597

Post by liotier »

rpeden wrote: post #494
Pannoniae wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

> 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

Same here, but with KDE - and I'm a former XFCE user, and before that I was a Gnome user...

None of us is the whole market !

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

#598

Post by causi »

sodality2 wrote: post #536
kortilla wrote: post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, every institution is default dead without constant recruitment of young people to the cause. Most things won’t make it past a generation because everyone fails to focus on how to pass it on. It’s not too late by any means, but it’s looking very bleak for Free software with most kids’ computing being smartphones and cloud services via chromebooks.

I would not say it's all doom and gloom. I just founded a FOSS/Linux club at my university. There are going to be some kids who are so interested in technology that they go down a rabbit hole of different communities, open source included. I definitely agree that the general trend towards less advanced technology will harm that though (some 18yo's don't even know how files work because they just use Mac's Finder), bu…

The whole "charging for distribution is fine but charging for development is wrong" thing is what keeps me well away from any kind of involvement with FOSS groups.

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

#599

Post by pcl »

sokoloff wrote: post #574
pcl wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What were you typing for him?

Everything. He would sit behind me and dictate keystrokes (mostly driving emacs, of course) to do email, edit code, and generally operate the computer. I don't want to talk about someone else's medical situation, but I think it's well-enough-known that rms had a period of RSI so severe that he was barred from using a keyboard to let his wrists/hands recover. A few hours in a row of hearing and typing C-Space C-u 2 4…

Wow that must have been fascinating. Did you end up learning a ton of emacs-fu along the way, or did it sorta start to just flow through you?

If I were in either of your shoes (sandals?) in that situation, I’m sure I would be super frustrated all the time. Impressive on both your parts.

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

#600

Post by [deleted] »

Kye wrote: post #595
newscracker wrote: post #270

I hope he’s able to manage it well (since the prognosis is good) and is around for a lot longer. We need absolutists like him who go to extremes and are known widely. For a few moments, leave aside his personality and what people have said about his behavior or hygiene. If he hadn’t been there, our world would’ve been a lot different and a lot poorer. A visionary is what he was and is. While the Free part of FOSS is…

None of the criticisms I have of the guy are the sort of thing where him dying could actually improve the world. He's no vicious and influential religious firebrand wishing hurricanes on gay people. I hope he comes though it okay.

[deleted]
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