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Is Richard Stallman the Enemy of Freedom?

Posted: 2008-04-28 03:42
by Primetime
Richard Stallman has portrayed himself as the defender of computing freedom. Even though he does not have the three years of legal education real lawyers have, he portrays himself as somewhat of a legal expert. He uses his clout to stigmatize certain software projects as not being "free." (Most people can use them for free, but that doesn't count.) In the end, though, he has derailed the most important free software project of all: Linux.

He has derailed the Linux movement by creating his own forks of various projects. For example, he started Gnome, which diverted volunteers from KDE. He also created his own version of RPM (deb). I hypothesize that he is doing this for personal glory more than anything else. He tries to steal the spotlight by creating differences where there aren't any. He criticizes software makers for not allowing commercial enterprises to use their software for free. They still allow regular users to use them. So the only freedom he is defending in that case is the freedom of corporations! He also claims that he deserves equal credit for Linux, as if GNU contributed 50% of the work to Linux. Of course neither Linus nor Stallman deserves 50% of the credit. It's pointless trolling.

Anytime there is a Linux distribution that might challenge Windows, Stallman seems to go after it. Freespire, openSUSE, and Xandros have all been tarnished by a stigma from paranoid wannabe lawyers like Stallman. They are the easiest to use distributions today and have the newest software packages. However, Linux users are gravitating toward Ubuntu, which needs a lot of work.

I am not sure if Linux will ever challenge Microsoft or Apple. There are too many projects and Stallman seems intent on creating more. He will soon introduce his own kernel (Hurd) which will introduce more bugs that will need to be fixed. The only winners in this battle have been evil corporations like Apple and Microsoft.

Posted: 2008-04-28 04:32
by MeanDean
ROTFL....that was funny.....







it was a joke right?

Posted: 2008-04-28 04:53
by saulgoode
This forum needs [satire] tags.

Posted: 2008-04-28 04:58
by Primetime
MeanDean wrote:ROTFL....that was funny.....







it was a joke right?
Nope.

Re: Is Richard Stallman the Enemy of Freedom?

Posted: 2008-04-28 05:06
by Jackiebrown
I am not sure if Linux will ever challenge Microsoft or Apple. ...The only winners in this battle have been evil corporations like Apple and Microsoft.
There is a reason why linux and free software have survived when other prioperity software have failed.

Look at OS2. If was open source, it would have carried on despite the problems it came against. As it was, it failed. Linux would not be were it is without Stallman.

That's all I have to say on an obvious troll thread. (If you are not a troll, then you sure picked a lousy way to introduce yourself.)

Posted: 2008-04-28 05:06
by MeanDean
stop it dude you are killing me....
saying that crap with a straight face...
you on your way man...
you the next lenny bruce....

:lol:

Posted: 2008-04-28 11:54
by oswaldkelso
I laughed so hard when I read this this morning, I had to comeback and read it again.

Posted: 2008-04-28 12:53
by garrincha
You need to redefined/sharpen up your satire more. It need more "bite"! :lol:

old

Posted: 2008-05-13 20:26
by sossego
I remembered seeing this post recentl and wondered, "What's missing from this discussion?"
Diplomacy accomplishes more than righteousness.
So I, being the nobody that I am with my lack of experience and limited knowledge, will try to give an answer.
Gnome was started when the Qt toolkit for KDE was still a proprietary source licensed environment. Stallman and others wanted the GNU/Linux system to remain as free as possible. TRolltech has since then Open Sourced the Qt Toolkit.
The GNU Hurd has been an ongoing project and- this is my opinion- an advanced kernel and system that is still free and Open Source.
I may be mistaken on this nest one. DEb packages were a stand in for the old a.out system.
You did say you made a guess- hypothesis- about the reasons why. The criticism sometimes is towards software makers for noyt releasing the source code for people and corporations to improve and use.

Xandros is what may be a called "transient" Linux. SuSE has been covered enough.
Ubuntu does need a lot of work but it is an attempt to draw more people to linux in a friendly non technical way.
Marketing is microsoft's strength. Mac OSX and LInux have UNIX roots, either directly or indirectly.


Anyone is welcome to correct any mistakes I have made or point out any inconsistencies.

Posted: 2008-05-13 20:31
by Cheese Roller
wut?

Re: Is Richard Stallman the Enemy of Freedom?

Posted: 2008-05-13 22:09
by kutjara
I can now publicly reveal for the first time that Richard Stallman is, in fact, actually Steve Ballmer. Yes, it's true! Have you ever seen them together? I rest my case.

Just take the fright-wig and Lee Press-on Beard(TM) off Richard, make him do a monkey dance, and you'll see they are the same man.

The whole FSF and FLOSS story has been nothing but a 20 year long sleeper operation by Microsoft. Now that the secret is out, M$ can operate openly. Reserve your shrink-wrapped copy of Debian Ultimate Home Edition Extreme now!

Posted: 2008-05-14 05:38
by Cope57
Primetime, Where do you get this material?
It makes for some humorous reading.

Posted: 2008-05-14 07:14
by canci
It was quite nice of you to actually include some sources on that matter... Oh wait, you did not!

As I am not well versed on that subject, I will just comment the one thing I know for sure - the good thing
about open source software is the freedom to actually take a prog where you like most of the components,
but find one that you might actually make better. You don't like proprietary components?
Code your own! That little Volcanofox logo gets on your nerves? Name it your way! :) I think that is Stallman's
philosophy.

Re: Is Richard Stallman the Enemy of Freedom?

Posted: 2008-05-14 15:36
by craigevil
kutjara wrote: Reserve your shrink-wrapped copy of Debian Ultimate Home Edition Extreme now!
Oh OH I want. :)

What OS do you use? Debian Ultimate Home Edition Extreme, sounds so much better than just Debian GNU/LInux doesn't it?

Posted: 2008-05-14 22:50
by BioTube
Troll or not, he raises a point or two I agree with. The first, of course, is the attention pandering: GNU/Linux is nothing but. The fact of the matter is that the others of the Big Three(Windows/OSX) are produced in a closed workshop. Making the distinction between the kernel and the OS is ridiculous in that environment. Most people know it as Linux and see GNU/Linux as GNU's Linux. Adding GNU to Linux just adds sylibals and confusion.

And I also view him as too idealistic for our own good. The GPL forbids any proprietary code from relying upon code covered by it, forcing software companies to turn to proprietary solutions since the only way to use GPLd code is to finagle a nonlinking method of doing so. The LGPL is a great improvement upon this and is closer to what copyleft should be. I personally love the MPL, which allows opensource and proprietary to mingle in the same program, so long as they're segregated. It gives companies the chance to sample the process before they commit to it entirely.

I understand that HURD is ongoing and is a revolutionary design(after its time). It might be interesting to see where it leads, but I do think the time being spent on it would be better spend making the Linux kernel less classically monolithic, though HURD may be useful there as a testing ground.

GNOME - I understand where it came from, but it's really something that oughtta go. Its uncustomizable enough that even Windows users would think it oversimplified(especially since they gave up a good window manager for one with fewer options). And for them, KDE's much more friendly in having a wizard that lets you set Windows-like options(I've been away from it on my computer for years and I still like the Windows behavior).

As for his attacking the popular distrobution relentlessly, the ones listed are(I'm pretty sure) ones that signed M$'s deal in blood before the devil left Georgia - and on that note, we really do have that pig-headed, attention-mongering, overidealistic twit to thank.

Re: Is Richard Stallman the Enemy of Freedom?

Posted: 2008-05-14 23:43
by kutjara
craigevil wrote: What OS do you use? Debian Ultimate Home Edition Extreme, sounds so much better than just Debian GNU/LInux doesn't it?
It really does. And it sounds even better when compared to "Lenny" or "Sid."

Alice: "What OS do you use/"
Bob: "Debian Lenny."
Alice: "D. B. and Lenny? What are you talking about? I'm asking about operating systems, not the latest cop buddy movie."
Bob: "No no. Debian Lenny."
Alice: "What the hell is a 'dubion?" Some unholy cross between the President and an onion? And why are you calling me Lenny? My name is Alice."
Bob: "You're not listening. Debian is a GNU/Linux operating system, and Lenny is the current testing version that will be released later this year."
Alice: "Are you using narcotics?"
Bob: "No! Debian Etch is the current stable version, Debian Lenny is the testing version, and Debian Sid is the unstable version. See?"
Alice: "Sid?"
Bob: "Sid is the unstable version, yes."
Alice: "There's an operating system called "Sid"?
Bob: "Well, a version of one, yes."
Alice: "Why?"
Bob: "Why not?"
Alice: "Because it sounds silly?"
Bob: "Actually, it's cute. You see, all the version names are taken from "Toy Story" characters."
Alice: "Riiiiiigt. It all makes perfect sense. OK, I have to go stand over there now."

Posted: 2008-05-15 04:22
by Arkaaito
ROTFL. kutjara, I love it so much I changed my desktop.

Image

Bonus points for using Alice and Bob.

Posted: 2008-05-15 05:38
by kutjara
Arkaaito wrote:ROTFL. kutjara, I love it so much I changed my desktop.

Image

Bonus points for using Alice and Bob.
I love the lettering! Just this side of totally unhinged, like the user is so excited about Debian Ultimate Extreme, they've nearly gone off the deep end.

After years of reading about their covert long-distance relationship in cryptography books, I thought I'd finally give Alice and Bob something to say to each other. :)

Re: Is Richard Stallman the Enemy of Freedom?

Posted: 2008-05-20 10:28
by Primetime
Jackiebrown wrote:Look at OS2. If was open source, it would have carried on despite the problems it came against.
No, some petitioned IBM to make it open source. IBM couldn't, though, because it contains Microsoft code.
Cope57 wrote:Primetime, Where do you get this material?
I wrote it. I got most of the information for it from Wikipedia.
BioTube wrote:The first, of course, is the attention pandering: GNU/Linux is nothing but.
Thank you. Ironically, most of Stallman's GNU applications are (by his own admission) clones of those written by AT&T for UNIX! If that's the case, why don't we call it "AT&T/Linux?" It'd be like AT&T telling us to call phones "Bell telephones." He wants to take credit every time we say the word Linux. Even if we did call it "GNU/Linux" we wouldn't be crediting MIT for the X Window system; HP for ACLs; Conectiva for Synaptic; or BSD for virtual memory, soft links, sendmail, man, and so on.

By the way: thanks for not flaming me, guys. I was convinced that was going to happen.

Re: Is Richard Stallman the Enemy of Freedom?

Posted: 2008-05-20 11:36
by MeanDean
Primetime wrote: Thank you. Ironically, most of Stallman's GNU applications are (by his own admission) clones of those written by AT&T for UNIX! If that's the case, why don't we call it "AT&T/Linux?" It'd be like AT&T telling us to call phones "Bell telephones." He wants to take credit every time we say the word Linux. Even if we did call it "GNU/Linux" we wouldn't be crediting MIT for the X Window system; HP for ACLs; Conectiva for Synaptic; or BSD for virtual memory, soft links, sendmail, man, and so on.

By the way: thanks for not flaming me, guys. I was convinced that was going to happen.
first of all - it isn't Stallmans GNU it is simply GNU....
second - it isnt flaming when you are simply and obviously wrong about many things
third - you are simply wrong about many things you stated in your original post

bonus - How exactly does HE get the credit when we say GNU???