Freedom in your Computer - R. Stallman

Muirium · 02 Feb 2015, 13:25

@i$: Exactly. I don't expect Amazon to die anytime soon either. Shop where you want. Compute how you want. But don't expect everyone else to stop what they're doing and follow. Dodgy working practices like Amazon are easier for people to understand than the need for them to know their way around a terminal. Yet few people take a stand on either.

@Halvar: Don't confuse open source with free software. Stallman doesn't!

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-sou ... point.html

Incidentally, I like Stallman's dedication and agree with the consistency of his ideas. But I have zero interest in following them. I use and love Mac OS X! He gets the same approval as Karl Marx in my mind. I'm not a Marxist either, but he was a smart cookie who created a nice legendarium.

andrewjoy · 02 Feb 2015, 13:29

Don't even get me started on big pharma, a cure you cannot use or is too expensive is pointless you may as well not have it. Unless your rich then you don't care.

It should all be done with public money, i would even be happy to pay more tax to support it, then again that conservative asshole would horde it all in his piggy bank.

webwit · 02 Feb 2015, 13:37

I bet I'm the only one who banned eBay, PayPal and Amazon.

Halvar · 02 Feb 2015, 13:38

I don't see how it's getting political, I just entered the thread to bring in a different opinion. IMO Stallman is a fundamentalist who's just taking it too far in some respects. Yes, I didn't mean Google Mail's Javascript code that you can view but not use, but of course I meant free software that I have respect for.

andrewjoy · 02 Feb 2015, 13:41

Halvar wrote: ↑I don't see how it's getting political, I just entered the thread to bring in a different opinion. IMO Stallman is a fundamentalist who's just taking it too far in some respects. Yes, I didn't mean Google Mail's Javascript code that you can view but not use, but of course I meant free software that I have respect for.

In many ways i agree with you as well , he takes it too far, but his goal is one that in an ideal world we would want to get to. Buts that not going to happen, so get as close to it as we can. As much open/ free/ GPL software as possible, whist maintaining a fair system when it comes to proprietary software.

Thats my view anyway.

Halvar · 02 Feb 2015, 13:57

andrewjoy wrote: ↑Don't even get me started on big pharma, a cure you cannot use or is too expensive is pointless you may as well not have it. Unless your rich then you don't care.

The patent system protects the investment for 20 years, then it's free for everyone to use, and it must be published to get a patent in the first place (in the form of the patent).

I really don't want to defend the really bad implications of the patent system in recent times (or capitalism in general, for tha matter), but in my opinion, without patents and without "unfree" software, like it or not, we would be nowhere near where we are today in technology.

andrewjoy · 02 Feb 2015, 14:00

20 years is too long in computers

patents are supposed to promote innervation but in the software ( and hardware) world they are having the opposite effect

Halvar · 02 Feb 2015, 14:05

That's true. I agree with both of your posts.

Muirium · 02 Feb 2015, 14:10

Yeah, patent reform is something even lots of Apple devs and users want. Patent trolls like Nathan Myhrvold are symptoms of a broken system. But the David vs. Goliath / Thomas Edison fable is strong, and most normal people support patents.

davkol · 03 Feb 2015, 14:54

matt3o wrote: ↑
idollar wrote: ↑We are getting there ...
it's 15 years that we are getting there...

It's been a little over 15 years since the Halloween documents. Now, Microsoft contributes to the Linux kernel, open sourced .NET and apparently plans to release Windows 10 for RPi free of charge.

Hardware backdoors in everything from <random "smart" thingie>'s firmware to Intel CPUs on the other hand...

webwit · 03 Feb 2015, 15:54

And Bill Gates restyled himself from corporate sociopath to reddit clickbaiting philanthropist.

matt3o · 03 Feb 2015, 15:58

you know what scares me to death? Hospital PCs with Windows.

Health care should be open source. Watch this video if you fancy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFZGpES-St8

well worth 14 minutes of your life.

SL89 · 03 Feb 2015, 19:31

I love Stallman's ideas but he is an extremist and takes it too far. People are not gonna be sold on using outdated gear for the sake of a FOSS bootloader, and they are especially not going to be sold that idea by someone who conducts himself in such a way. His manner of dress, and his speeches and demenor make it hard to take him seriously at times, despite the fact that he is 100% right on a whole ton of things. Like for real, hire a spokesman or someone else and go back tot he gnu/temple and do the heavy thinking.

davkol · 03 Feb 2015, 23:36

SL89 wrote: ↑His manner of dress, and his speeches and demenor make it hard to take him seriously at times, despite the fact that he is 100% right on a whole ton of things. Like for real, hire a spokesman or someone else and go back tot he gnu/temple and do the heavy thinking.

Have you ever met people, who handle keynotes at conferences? Like Georg Greve from FSF Europe?

Media kind of focus on RMS though, but I mean, there isn't exactly anything wrong with that, he's pretty good at speaking too (e.g., the video below). It's just that the average Joe isn't really willing to listen to what RMS says. Like the Facebook thing.

wheybags · 03 Feb 2015, 23:42

I got him to come talk at my uni before.
In the middle of the talk, he sat down, took off his shoes and socks, and started rubbing lotion into his feet.
His ideals are on point though :p

webwit · 03 Feb 2015, 23:42

We should invite Stallman as a cameo to announce winners at the next Deskthority Awards. After all he is a known lisp keyboard pioneer and hhkb pro user. That's what really matters to us!

scottc · 03 Feb 2015, 23:56

I thought he just liked the original HHKB, I didn't realise it was a Pro.

Muirium · 04 Feb 2015, 00:00

But what about if he objects to the winners? Or rather "when".

I didn't realise the HHKB runs free and open firmware! It better do to earn a spot in his kit.

chzel · 04 Feb 2015, 00:04

Muirium wrote: ↑I didn't realise the HHKB runs free and open firmware! It better do to earn a spot in his kit.

FALCON PUNCH!!!

wheybags · 04 Feb 2015, 00:06

scottc wrote: ↑I thought he just liked the original HHKB, I didn't realise it was a Pro.

It's a white pro.
He whipped it out in Ben's sitting room :p

webwit · 04 Feb 2015, 00:08

scottc · 04 Feb 2015, 00:13

Wow, there you go.

One of us, one of us, one of us...

matt3o · 04 Feb 2015, 00:26

we should build him a custom, open source HHKB clone.

webwit · 04 Feb 2015, 00:40

I actually mailed the other guy once about keyboards, but he didn't answer.

https://plus.google.com/+EricRaymond/posts/Y45ArZNTswj

Findecanor · 04 Feb 2015, 14:45

Halvar wrote: ↑IMO Stallman is a fundamentalist who's just taking it too far in some respects.

I am inclined to agree with you but sometimes I think that the world really needs fundamentalists that pull the world harder towards the middle to counter the fundamentalists pulling from the other side.

I have released software under the GNU GPL because I find it to be incredibly useful. For some software. But hardly for all.

webwit wrote: ↑I actually mailed the other guy once about keyboards, but he didn't answer.

https://plus.google.com/+EricRaymond/posts/Y45ArZNTswj

Apparently, he uses Unicomp. http://youtu.be/1NTrQ1JM3KY?t=21s