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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]

#691

Post by johnnyanmac »

xethos wrote: post #585
Gigachad wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand this. You plan to single handedly replace the entire OS and security teams to maintain the OS on your phone for a decade? How will you update the kernel when the proprietary driver blobs stop being maintained?

Perhaps the more generous take is that, with FLOSS software, you don't have to go it alone. My Pinephone Pro will not be running security fixes I write myself. But entirely because of its open nature, it doesn't need to - it will continue to recieve updates for years and years. For once, the hardware of a cell phone is likely to die before the software.

If it gets the support of the right people who know how to write such security software and have an interest in maintaining it, sure. But that's the reason many open source initiatives fall short of proprietary. It's either based on the altruistic whims of a few particular talents, or some company is paying to have them maintain it. And we know the latter is fleeting.

The caveat is that sometimes an initiative can be funded by charity or bounty to keep interest, but relying on generosity for 99.99% of projects is a fool's errand.

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

#693

Post by NavinF »

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…

> some 18yo's don't even know how files work because they just use Mac's Finder

Huh? Finder is the macos equivalent of explorer.exe and it's the GUI for the file system. I assume you're taking about Spotlight which searches the entire file system and the internet much like the Windows start menu.

Anyway people have been making claims like this for as long as computers have been around. Smart people use Spotlight and the start menu because it requires fewer keystrokes than typing full paths or clicking 10 times to navigate a directory tree with Finder. It would be stupid to avoid using the fastest tools available

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

#694

Post by sodality2 »

NavinF wrote: post #693
sodality2 wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> some 18yo's don't even know how files work because they just use Mac's Finder Huh? Finder is the macos equivalent of explorer.exe and it's the GUI for the file system. I assume you're taking about Spotlight which searches the entire file system and the internet much like the Windows start menu. Anyway people have been making claims like this for as long as computers have been around. Smart people use Spotlight and…

I mean people who are literally unable to navigate directories because they drop all their folders on the desktop, and use exclusively Spotlight to find these files. Of course it makes sense to use Spotlight - I use the equivalent on Linux - but I still know how to navigate a directory, unzip a zip file, etc when many people simply never learn that.

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

#695

Post by dizhn »

dizhn wrote: post #589
jraph wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe its maintainers truly believe they are taking the right decisions that are good for the project. They limit the feature set so they can stabilize on a smaller basis. They take UI/UX decisions they think are right. That's what I think. I also think they managed to build a beautiful UI that works quite well and that pleases many people. I also think they removed useful features, lagged on important features (…

KDE is reall pretty good in listening to the users. They announced the removal of workspaces a while ago but then realized some people are actually using it. They reverted their decision on this. Of course people also stepped up to keep maintaining it. That's key in open source projects.

Not workspaces of course. Activities.

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

#696

Post by johnnyanmac »

linuxftw wrote: post #689
hedora wrote: post #686

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a solution, and it's certainly not simple. For one thing, it would mean that I'd have to pull my kids out of school, pull my money out of the bank and cancel all of my utilities. Heck, I'd need the equivalent of a degree in tax accounting just to avoid being jailed by the IRS, since I wouldn't be able to use tax software. (Not that this would matter, since I have to use *aaS stuff to pay my mortgage and in…

You definitely should not send your kids to public school; that's crazy. Anyway, as for the rest, you can pay mortgage by check in the US. No software required. You can also file your taxes by paper. As far as connecting to the internet, Stallman somehow manages it, I'm sure you can sort it out.

>Stallman somehow manages it, I'm sure you can sort it out.

How does he do that? Even Google didn't want to take the time to battle ISPs.

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

#697

Post by bigstrat2003 »

toyg wrote: post #524
hutzlibu wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe just look at some data, how often the GPL is used in new projects and how often MIT or alike. And how often projects gets reimplemented because people and organisations don't want to have to deal with copyleft. That was my point, not comparing my hacker skills with RMS which I do not recall having done with any word. I just said, I won't work together with people of your attitude. And I know I am not the only o…

> how often the GPL is used in new projects and how often MIT or alike. That's strictly about businesses not willing to give back in the way the GPL forces you to. It's nothing to do with how RMS behaves.

No, that's not what it is about. I certainly don't choose permissive licenses based on how RMS behaves (that would be stupid), but I also don't choose them because I think businesses shouldn't give back. I choose permissive licenses because I believe that the GPL is hypocritical in claiming to be about freedom, yet placing limits on the freedom of those who use the code. I believe that freedom must include the freedom to do even those things I disagree with personally.

You probably don't think that's a worthwhile ideal, and fine. I'm not here to convince you of my ideals. But your assertion as to the reason behind the increasing prominence of permissive licenses is overly reductive and not true.

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

#698

Post by johnnyanmac »

sulam wrote: post #335
vasco wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd bet there will be a blockbuster movie about this guy within 10 years of him dying and it'll be in the pop culture, and maybe even stoke a temporary privacy / freedom focus for a while in common consciousness. Unfortunately the world doesn't know how to really appreciate people as much when they're alive for some personality types.

I'll take the other side of that bet.

I mean, there are multiple Snowden films. I guess it depends on if you need it to be Oppenheimer levels of budget to be "blockbuster" or not.

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

#699

Post by NavinF »

sodality2 wrote: post #694
NavinF wrote: post #693

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> some 18yo's don't even know how files work because they just use Mac's Finder Huh? Finder is the macos equivalent of explorer.exe and it's the GUI for the file system. I assume you're taking about Spotlight which searches the entire file system and the internet much like the Windows start menu. Anyway people have been making claims like this for as long as computers have been around. Smart people use Spotlight and…

I mean people who are literally unable to navigate directories because they drop all their folders on the desktop, and use exclusively Spotlight to find these files. Of course it makes sense to use Spotlight - I use the equivalent on Linux - but I still know how to navigate a directory, unzip a zip file, etc when many people simply never learn that.

I refuse to believe that a smaller proportion of people know how to navigate a directory and unzip a zip file today compared to any prior year. A lot of people didn't know how to use computers at all a decade ago because they didn't have any kind of computer at home, not even a smart phone

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

#700

Post by johnnyanmac »

hutzlibu wrote: post #462
bawolff wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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." I see. Well then, carry on. But maybe then do not wonder when the rest of the world does not care about software freedom and also don't donate or support it in any way. Oh and Plato is well known as a philosopher, but yes, most people do not know that he proposed a very totalitarian state and is rather known for platonic love.

>But maybe then do not wonder when the rest of the world does not care about software freedom and also don't donate or support it in any way.

30+% of my country can't even be damned to vote for their next president. Getting the layman to care is really hard, which is why advertising is a trillion dollar business.

Perfect enemy of good and all that. Lawyers for 99% of their cases don't rely on public sentiment to get their argument through. At least not active public sentiment.

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