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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

#601

Post by zach_garwood »

jamiek88 wrote: post #590
stjohnswarts wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This quote is almost useless unless you know its origins. I think it comes across as a bit disrespectful of the people you're aiming it at because most won't know what the hell you're getting at unless they look it up.

I felt stupid for the longest time with this phrase. Even after looking it up. Until I knew the history more I didn’t get it. The confusion comes from the fact that beer generally isn’t, well, free!

Where do you live that beer is generally free? I want to go to there!

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

#602

Post by zach_garwood »

stjohnswarts wrote: post #541
zach_garwood wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's using free as in free speech, not free as in free beer.

This quote is almost useless unless you know its origins. I think it comes across as a bit disrespectful of the people you're aiming it at because most won't know what the hell you're getting at unless they look it up.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you there. If you're having to research the history of the phrase, you're overthinking it. It means exactly what it states, no tricks. "Free speech" is a well known phrase that means the unencumbered ability to say what you like. "Free beer" means something that everyone (ostensibly) likes being handed out without the need for payment. I'm not sure how one could more simply explain the "free" dichotomy. If you've got a suggestion, I'm open to hearing it.

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

#603

Post by [deleted] »

kome wrote: post #596
expropriator wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ask myself how he pays for his servers. Does it count if another person does it? Apparently, he connects to the internet over an other person. I think that's a real issue. If you have enough power that other persons do the stuff for you, it doesn't mean it's a way in which other persons can do it as well.

"I never pay for anything on the Web, because I cannot pay anonymously. Anything on the net that requires payment that would identify me, I don't do. (I made an exception for the fees for the stallman.org domain, since that is connected with me anyway.)"

[deleted]

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

#604

Post by expropriator »

mcarlin wrote: post #584
expropriator wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ask myself how he pays for his servers. Does it count if another person does it? Apparently, he connects to the internet over an other person. I think that's a real issue. If you have enough power that other persons do the stuff for you, it doesn't mean it's a way in which other persons can do it as well.

I'm very much not a fan of RMS, but here's one way you can square that circle: He and you could both live by the principle that you do as much to fit your principles as you feasibly can. If you have someone to help you get online anonymously for free, you do that. If you need to pay to be online, you do that instead. If you can get by in life without buying things and being tracked, you do that. If you can't do that,…

I completely agree with you except that I think that politics is important and not working for a defense contractor is insufficient. Everything I am pointing out is that there are shortcomings in RMS' model that can't be applied to everyone. I am not a "fan" of RMS, either. I am not a "fan" of anyone.

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

#605

Post by ddingus »

mellavora wrote: post #456
Ekaros wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

yet there seems to be quite an active scene around restoring aspects of 8-bit games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiptune https://www.retrogamer.net/top_10/top-ten-atari-8-bit-games/ and I'm sure someone actually into the scene could pump out a long list of much better links than these.

That scene is currently vibrant. A lot of people are revisiting that early era, 1977(8?) through to the 90's.

8 bit systems, and I mean consoles, computers, industrial automation, enjoyed relevance through what is seen today as a long, diverse era of computing and gaming. The Apple 2, 1Mhz 6502 systems, was sold in various forms from 1977 through to 1994, I believe. That is crazy!

Sidebar: I snagged a 1990's machine and if you want to explore this early era of computing, an Apple Platinum is the most recent system and is very reliable. Recommended.

End Sidebar

Today, there is an active hardware scene with people making new old computers and sometimes extending their capabilities a bit. Jim Bagley and Spectrum Next wishbone example.

The MISTer FPGA system is basically a hardware emulation of a ton of retro hardware. These are hard to distinguish from the real deal, and connect to newer and old displays for a great visual experience.

Hardware cards are being made for the Apples. I have several in mine. Great experiences.

Games are being developed, and Nox Archaist is an Ultima style RPG worth a look. The C64 is seeing a lot of releases, AtariAge is where you can go for news on that.

RetroRGB has news on a lot of consoles, MISTer and others.

Sorry, no links I am on mobile and just killing a few minutes here. But, a quick google on the names will get you somewhere fun in no time.

Retro is pretty big right now. There is a lot going on.

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

#606

Post by jrm4 »

starwind wrote: post #95
jrm4 wrote: post #36

I really think far too many people are missing why Stallman and the FSF are so valuable. It's not that everyone should behave exactly like them; it's that they provide a useful extreme endpoint such that there can exist a reasonable "Overton Window" of Free/Open Source/ Whatever Software. I 100% support what they do and preach knowing FULL well I will likely never 100% do as they recommend. That's not actually a big…

> they provide a useful extreme endpoint such that there can exist a reasonable "Overton Window" of Free/Open Source/ Whatever Software Or, ya know, they could just stake out reasonable, nuanced positions that organizations could adopt or at least be a starting point for further developments

I think this may have already been attempted, and you're perhaps underestimating the incentive and relative cheapness of large well funded companies (right now, literally the largest and most well funded) to insert their own agendas into visible movements like this (for better or worse, this is not much different from how "Open Source" came out of "Free Software.")

In other words, the fact that you don't see these positions I think is a result of a mild "embrace, extend extinguish" and not "no one thought of this before."

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

#607

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

lovich wrote: post #490
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ardour has 10's of thousands of users, many of which get the software from their Linux distributions. Nevertheless, more than 6000 of these individuals choose to help fund the project to the tune of between $150k and $210k a year. So yes, although your observations are not wrong, they do not apply universally.

> The only customers that would pay are ones that do it for moral purposes, at which point your business selling GPL software isn't a business anymore, but something that receives charitable donations. > Nevertheless, more than 6000 of these individuals choose to help fund the project to the tune of between $150k and $210k a year. How is this not covered by the posters comment about it not being a business but a char…

> How is this not covered by the posters comment about it not being a business but a charity if you rely on people paying more than they need to?

If that's your definition, then sure.

That's not my definition.

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

#608

Post by the_af »

ddingus wrote: post #605
mellavora wrote: post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yet there seems to be quite an active scene around restoring aspects of 8-bit games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiptune https://www.retrogamer.net/top_10/top-ten-atari-8-bit-games/ and I'm sure someone actually into the scene could pump out a long list of much better links than these.

That scene is currently vibrant. A lot of people are revisiting that early era, 1977(8?) through to the 90's. 8 bit systems, and I mean consoles, computers, industrial automation, enjoyed relevance through what is seen today as a long, diverse era of computing and gaming. The Apple 2, 1Mhz 6502 systems, was sold in various forms from 1977 through to 1994, I believe. That is crazy! Sidebar: I snagged a 1990's machine…

This.

Since joining some C64-related facebook groups after buying my TheC64 retroclone, I was surprised to find the large number of new and original games for the C64 being released all the time. And they are commercial, not free!

Really happy to find the community lives on.

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

#609

Post by MilnerRoute »

WoodenChair wrote: post #591
dang wrote: post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, we've changed the URL above to that link from https://lunduke.substack.com/p/richard-stallman-the-state-of... . Thanks to both of you! We want original sources here. From the HN guidelines ( https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html ): " Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter. " (For the purposes of that guideline, copying and pasting some…

I think you got this one wrong. The original posted URL was: https://lunduke.substack.com/p/richard-stallman-the-state-of... The grandparent comment says that Lunduke ripped off Slashdot. I don't see that. There is one quote that's the same and several that I see that are different. You claim you changed it to the original source... the original source would be the Libreplanet link here: https://media.libreplanet.org…

All the other quotes are from Slashdot's second story (which preceded Lunduke's)

https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/04/16/2154203/richard-sta...

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

#610

Post by ddingus »

the_af wrote: post #608
ddingus wrote: post #605

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That scene is currently vibrant. A lot of people are revisiting that early era, 1977(8?) through to the 90's. 8 bit systems, and I mean consoles, computers, industrial automation, enjoyed relevance through what is seen today as a long, diverse era of computing and gaming. The Apple 2, 1Mhz 6502 systems, was sold in various forms from 1977 through to 1994, I believe. That is crazy! Sidebar: I snagged a 1990's machine…

This. Since joining some C64-related facebook groups after buying my TheC64 retroclone, I was surprised to find the large number of new and original games for the C64 being released all the time. And they are commercial, not free! Really happy to find the community lives on.

Yes! Me too. Similar experiences.

And what I appreciate is a modern take on these older systems. It is a sort of, "what if..." it had all continued. The Nox Archaist RPG I mentioned plays GREAT. All the hard edges Ultima style games had are gone for the most part.

The result is a very playable 8 bit game in that style, good elements maximized. Too fun.

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