Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#1

Post by TMM2K » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 6:47 AM UTC

Forty years of GNU and the free software movement
fsf.org

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#2

Post by TMM2K » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:06 AM UTC

It's sometimes a little mind-boggling that the FSF has been around only a couple months more than I have been around. I'm not even sure I'd have made computing of any kind a career if it hadn't been for free software myself.

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#3

Post by baudaux » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:24 AM UTC

GNU bash, GNU ed, GNU chess, GNU coreutils, GNU hello are now in https://www.exaequOS.com

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#4

Post by throwaway7679 » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:32 AM UTC

Forty years and printers are still as treacherous as ever.

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#5

Post by TMM2K » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:33 AM UTC

throwaway7679 wrote: post #4

Forty years and printers are still as treacherous as ever.

The next revolution in software will probably ALSO be caused by an aggravating printer :P

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#6

Post by noufalibrahim » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:34 AM UTC

My earliest exposure to free software was via. GCC and Emacs. The early debates on Gnu/Linux, OSS vs. Free Software etc. were all things I imbibed back then. The ideological stand of the FSF was appealing to me when I was younger and really affected my outlook.

Over the years, I can't help but feeling that while the FSF's core message is still relevant and true, their tactics have more or less pushed them outside of the mainstream conversation on technology. This is a tragedy and I'm not sure what lessons to draw from this but I would have liked to see a larger role for the FSF in the modern tech. discourse.

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#7

Post by maccard » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:34 AM UTC

throwaway7679 wrote: post #4

Forty years and printers are still as treacherous as ever.

That's what happens when you lose sight of the original goal. A real pivot!

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#8

Post by ForOldHack » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:43 AM UTC

baudaux wrote: post #3

GNU bash, GNU ed, GNU chess, GNU coreutils, GNU hello are now in https://www.exaequOS.com

GNU chess? Beat everything else we had for pcs. Wrecked them. Beat the pants off us.

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#9

Post by baudaux » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:53 AM UTC

ForOldHack wrote: post #8

baudaux wrote: post #3

GNU bash, GNU ed, GNU chess, GNU coreutils, GNU hello are now in https://www.exaequOS.com

GNU chess? Beat everything else we had for pcs. Wrecked them. Beat the pants off us.

GNU Chess 6.2.9 (latest) is very strong, even compiled in WebAssembly. Around 2500 ELO

Re: Forty years of GNU and the free software movement

#10

Post by red_admiral » Tue, Sep 19, 2023, 7:57 AM UTC

I have mixed feelings about this anniversary. RMS is both the reason that the free software movement is where it is today, and the reason that it has so few women involved. If we could turn back the clock, I wish we could keep the good parts but leave out the bad parts.