[flagged]
Noxious and unwelcome, go and be unpleasant somewhere else.
It was an honest question. Interesting that it seems like I’m being rude.
Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
801–810 of 841 posts
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#802Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you aware of Photopea? It's FOSS and a very capable alternative to Photoshop. It evens runs smoothly on my old Android 5 tablet. https://www.photopea.com/
I've tried a few of the FLOSS photography tools. I'm impressed with them, but I prefer the Adobe suite for how I work. There's also a few other tools like Fusion 360, games, etc. that I prefer having Windows around for.
I used to keep a Windows installation to hand on a disk, but after I realised that I hadn't booted into it for over two years I started using FLOSS operating systems exclusively.
Re. photography, do any specific features of Photoshop come to mind that you miss in free alternatives?
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#803Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yet there are enormous amounts of cooperation within free software. There are the various organisations like the GNOME foundation, the Free Software Foundation, Debian, and many more beside. Thousands of volunteers keep these things going to produce well integrated, usable software. Not to mention the common principles in most free software around interoperability and loose coupling. Apple and Microsoft (and the rest…
So can you install gnu/linux on someones desktop and he can just use it on his own without the terminal? What do they do, when the next update tells them that some pgp keys are invalid? Free software works for devs and geeks, yes and I happen to be one of them. But for common people? Usually not very good, as they don't know the terminal and don't know config files. I know, because I tried to spread linux. It is hard…
May I recommend you try Debian and its package `unattended-upgrades`.
Besides, I recommend servicing the device every so often. People create weird failure modes (putting too many files onto the device, clicking at random in menus). I also recommend setting up a backup.
As a figure of speech: Nobody is expected to service a car on his own. You'll get professional help every so often.
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#804I 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…
I feel similarly. While I absolutely can't and won't operate under the severe restrictions that an ideologically pure stance on software freedom ala Stallman would impose, I'm glad that there are some people, like Stallman himself, who take it to those extremes, tirelessly advocate for improvement and thus move the needle towards a better middle ground for everyone.
I just don't understand the severe misunderstanding that results in one thinking that what Stallman advocates would impose severe restrictions. I'd love you to think about what you mean so I can see where you're going wrong. It's honestly that far out from my understanding of reality I can't begin to comprehend what you're thinking.
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#805Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel similarly. While I absolutely can't and won't operate under the severe restrictions that an ideologically pure stance on software freedom ala Stallman would impose, I'm glad that there are some people, like Stallman himself, who take it to those extremes, tirelessly advocate for improvement and thus move the needle towards a better middle ground for everyone.
I just don't understand the severe misunderstanding that results in one thinking that what Stallman advocates would impose severe restrictions. I'd love you to think about what you mean so I can see where you're going wrong. It's honestly that far out from my understanding of reality I can't begin to comprehend what you're thinking.
If you actually tried and really can't see how living by the gospel of Stallman would impose severe restrictions on how you use your computer then I'm afraid I can't help you.
Still, a few examples to illustrate
I wouldn't be able to use Word attachments (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html)
I wouldn't be able to use Windows (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/upgrade-windows.html)
I wouldn't be able to package useful non-free software for my Linux distro (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/compromise.html)
I would have to call the Linux distro a "GNU/Linux distro" (https://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html)
I would have to ideally stop, but at least reduce, my usage of WhatsApp, Facebook, Slack, etc. (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/saying-no-even-once.html)
These are just all-in-all minor examples I could find in a couple of minutes on gnu.org. I remember reading much more radical takes by Stallman and his companions, but would have to spend more time searching for them.
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#806Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just don't understand the severe misunderstanding that results in one thinking that what Stallman advocates would impose severe restrictions. I'd love you to think about what you mean so I can see where you're going wrong. It's honestly that far out from my understanding of reality I can't begin to comprehend what you're thinking.
If you actually tried and really can't see how living by the gospel of Stallman would impose severe restrictions on how you use your computer then I'm afraid I can't help you. Still, a few examples to illustrate I wouldn't be able to use Word attachments ( https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html ) I wouldn't be able to use Windows ( https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/upgrade-windows.html ) I wouldn't be a…
Do you understand there's a difference between advocacy and imposition? Stallman recommends you don't do those things because they all surreptitiously undermine your freedom to use your computer.
During the civil rights movement black people were encouraged to not use the buses while segregation was in place. You'd be the guy complaining about how difficult it would be to get around without the bus.
Sometimes the way forward involves going back to fix the wrongs of the past. People like Stallman see the world from a higher dimension. He isn't living on flatland like you and me. There is no world where proprietary software and computing freedom can coexist. If there was you can bet Stallman would be advocating the shortest path to such a world.
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#807I 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…
While I agree with most of your comment (and upvoted it), I'm not sure about this: > While the Free part of FOSS is being substituted by “(just) open source” and “source available”, Free software and open source are the same category of software and licenses (except for sporadic instances that are at the very edge of that one category, as categories tend to be blurred). Software that is merely source available, of co…
> Software that is merely source available, of course, is not FLOSS by default. But I don't actually see free software being replaced by software which is just source available.
GP here. I agree. I should’ve worded it better to say that a lot of “*source” terms are used to make it seem as if the publishers are meeting a great ideal (like FLOSS), but are muddling things more and more. I shouldn’t have listed “source available in the very same sentence” without being clear. I don’t have stats, but “open source” and similar terms have been used as buzzwords for marketing while the publishers really want their SaaS to be the one people ultimately pay for and use.
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#808Earlier quoted context omitted.
So can you install gnu/linux on someones desktop and he can just use it on his own without the terminal? What do they do, when the next update tells them that some pgp keys are invalid? Free software works for devs and geeks, yes and I happen to be one of them. But for common people? Usually not very good, as they don't know the terminal and don't know config files. I know, because I tried to spread linux. It is hard…
May I recommend you try Debian and its package `unattended-upgrades`. Besides, I recommend servicing the device every so often. People create weird failure modes (putting too many files onto the device, clicking at random in menus). I also recommend setting up a backup. As a figure of speech: Nobody is expected to service a car on his own. You'll get professional help every so often.
"May I recommend you try Debian and its package `unattended-upgrades`"
I will try that.
"As a figure of speech: Nobody is expected to service a car on his own. You'll get professional help every so often."
And also windows computers can have serious problems, but usually they are easier to solve for beginners, compared to when I try fix someones linux computer, that has not been updated in a while ..
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#809Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Think about it once more. There’s nothing to think more; the FSF should use YouTube or similar services as mirrors so people can watch the videos even when their website is hammered down by the HN crowd. You can hardly argue that the current situation where nobody can watch the video is a good idea.
The FSF is ideologically opposed to youtube and other proprietary services. They don't want to use it and will not use it. It's their work and they have no obligation to you - it's like going to a vegan party, complaining they have no food you like and demanding they order some hamburgers for you. There's nothing to think more, the FSF shouldn't use YouTube or similar services.
> The FSF is ideologically opposed to youtube and other proprietary services. They don't want to use it and will not use it. It's their work and they have no obligation to you - it's like going to a vegan party, complaining they have no food you like and demanding they order some hamburgers for you. There's nothing to think more, the FSF shouldn't use YouTube or similar services.
It definitely should, but it doesn’t want to. That’s two different things. The goal of the FSF is to promote free software; that they don’t want to do it through proprietary mediums is obviously a legitimate choice, but that doesn’t make it intelligent.
Re: Richard Stallman reveals he has cancer in the GNU 40 Hacker Meeting talk [video]
#810I wish RMS all the best for his health, a long and happy life. I also know that if he reads this, it will be from an Emacs mail client on his dusty ThinkPad in text mode (no X11 or Wayland) by sending a URL to a service he wrote that will email him the Web page back - a clean process without any using any tainted proprietary software. He only ever exchanged one sentence with me when we had dinner together with other…
Thats hilarious. :) What traumatizing nicety did you subject him to in order to prompt that response?
I asked him if besides fighting for free (open source) software, we should also discuss freeing our data from corporate control; that in 2004 (I can now say
exactly because he also gave an interview then [1]), so that topic was not much of a thing back then.
[1] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/rms-interview-edinburgh.html