Is Stallman serious?
- Published October 2nd, 2008 in Free Software, Politics
“Web-based programs like Google’s Gmail will force people to buy into locked, proprietary systems that will cost more and more over time, according to the free software campaigner” (outrageous stuff continues here)
Richard Stallman is the creator of the Free Software philosophy. Whether you like him or not, he has contributed to significant advances in the IT industry in general and to the development of important Free Software in particular (most notably, GNU tools and Emacs).
He’s a strange mix of a geek and a nerd. I’ve seen him live and I can assure that. Whether you like the person or not, the persona has done significant things.
But sometimes radicalism throws reason away. In his quest to destroy all the living proprietary software (in the same way that religious people fight the evil) he’s become the enemy of himself and of his very own ideologies. Every time he speaks, a kitty dies and someone around the globe stops using Free Software. No, really.
The last one comes in regard to the so-called cloud computing. Generally speaking, we’re talking about web apps like GMail, YouTube, Flickr and others. According to him, “It’s stupidity. It’s worse than stupidity: it’s a marketing hype campaign […]”.
I use GMail. I guess that makes me stupid. Moreover, I’m a pawn at the hands of a huge marketing campaign. Perhaps I didn’t make such decision while at my full capacity.
Let me tell you something Mr Stallman. First off, nowadays you do more harm to the Free Software community than you do any good at all. Relax, get your retirement ready and get a ticket straight to Miami Beach. You’re gonna love it and it’s damn time. Secondly, please respect the freedom of choice. The freedom to use whatever we want to use. Also, the freedom to turn software into a usable tool and not an object of worship. Appreciated.
Bottom line: Free software doesn’t need proprietary software to fail so it can thrive. Both can coexist.
probably he submitted an application to the Andriod store and got rejected like Apple’s :p
He’s attacking the model, not the users. On the other hand, this blog post is an attack to him, without justifying your allegations.
Marcos,
Simple reasoning: the model is stupid. People consciously use the model. Therefore, according to Stallman, people are stupid.
As for the criticizing the person, double check your facts please. The only personal remarks I do is calling him a mix of a geek and a nerd. Everything else is a criticism of his beliefs and statements. That is _utterly_ different.
No Mario. For instance: if some law is stupid, it doesn’t make the people who oblige to that law stupid. They are two completely different things.
Regarding to Stallman, you say he’s an enemy of himself and he’s harming the Free Software community and stuff like that. You don’t say why, and those things *are* personal attacks. Stallman’s beliefs and statements define who he is.
Nopes. Stallman said that the act of putting your content in the hands of others is a stupidity, which is quite different of call someone a stupid.
Since you have problems with interpretation of texts I will give you an example:
See this sentence:
“Three years ago I committed a stupidity, buying a mac”
This does not make me a stupid person. Why? Because people can not be evaluated for one or two or three acts.
To make an error or to make an stupidity is human.
That’s why when someone says to another that is doing something “that’s a stupidity” the person is not calling the other stupid.
It is so different that someone saying that a person is stupid can be sued for defamation, saying that an act is stupidity, can not.
simple as that.
Marcos, are you kidding me?
A law is MANDATORY. You have to comply with and abide the law or otherwise you’ll get arrested (or killed). Therefore, you comply with it by being subject to the use and imposition of force. Even if you disagree with it (and I do disagree with the IRS) you have to comply.
Using a software is not MANDATORY. It’s a conscious choice. If Stallman calls stupidity to the act of using that certain piece of software, he’s reflexively calling stupid to the people who consciously and freely (as in, freedom of choice, something that Stallman doesn’t seem to accept that exists) use that. This is first degree logic.
As for saying that he harms the Free Software community, I’d say it’s quite easy to assess my statement: go see him live. If you think falling asleep, burping or constantly sucking his own blood at his own conference where he’s the main speaker helps the cause… I rest my case.
You are wrong. Stallman did not called you stupid.
If you are so convinced he did, sue him, and let’s see… :-P