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Author Topic: Interview with Richard Stallman  (Read 9762 times)

Renegade

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Interview with Richard Stallman
« on: September 24, 2012, 02:42 AM »
And, we have an interview with Richard Stallman, the guru of GNU, imam of Internet freedom, sultan of sharing, and all in all, pretty wicked cool guy:

(Video is cued to interview.)



Enjoy~!  :Thmbsup:
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker
« Last Edit: September 24, 2012, 09:26 AM by Renegade, Reason: video didn\'t cue properly when embedded - clarified »

ewemoa

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2012, 03:39 AM »
Thanks for posting this :)



Not sure if it's my environment, but I ended up navigating to 12:14 or so to see the interview.

Renegade

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2012, 04:54 AM »
Thanks for posting this :)



Not sure if it's my environment, but I ended up navigating to 12:14 or so to see the interview.


Ah - just checked & you're right. Looks like once the video is embedded, the cue point gets stripped out.

Here's a link that should work:

http://www.youtube.c...er_detailpage#t=735s

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker
« Last Edit: September 24, 2012, 06:06 AM by Renegade, Reason: typo »

40hz

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2012, 09:03 AM »
Stallman is a pretty wicked (in the good sense) old school style computer geek. And, unlike many who have long since abandoned the hacker ethic for mansions and executive slots in corporations (as in: sold out) he's remained utterly consistent about his principles since day one.

You don't have to like or agree with him in order to respect his integrity. Especially when you realize this guy could have become a multi-billionaire a dozen times over had he chose to do so. And all it would have taken was a slight initial abandonment of his principles (see: Steven Jobs et al.) to make it happen.

A famous man once said: A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home. And this certainly seems to be the case with Richard Stallman. Much of what he warned about that was previously dismissed as 'nonsense,' paranoia and 'over dramatization' has now become the norm behavior for the technology and software sector.

Cut to its core, Stallman's key insight is very clear and simple: People cannot, in fact - nor should they be allowed under the law - to claim ownership of an idea. To do so would stifle innovation; destroy an individual's incentive to invent; and hand an unacceptable amount of broadly defined power to those who have already demonstrated their complete untrustworthiness and lack of ability to wield it for the common good.

A look at our current (and worsening) morass of patent trolling and IP legal chicanery is proof Stallman wasn't as delusional or paranoid as many of his critics claimed.

"So it goes," as Kurt Vonnegut so neatly put it.

When the Linux Action Show (or GNU/Linux Action Show for this episode :mrgreen:) decided to celebrate their 200th show with something special, they scored a major coup by getting RMS himself to be on the show for an hour of give & take. It's interesting to watch with RMS on his soapbox and Brian Lunduke trying to work around something (that for RMS) is already settled. In many respects it's the perfect example of why this argument continues - and where both sides of the argument come up short and fail to reach any sort of agreement.



I do have give Brian props for having the kahunas to go up against an institution such as RMS. First, because RMS is very smart - and has spent most of his life preparing his arguments. So there's little you can bring forward that Stallman hasn't considered and debated hundreds of times before. Secondly, because this is a real Linux geek's show - and RMS is...well...he's RMS....it's kinda like arguing with the Pope about church doctrine on an EWTN talk show.

Stallman, on the other hand, also shows that trademark combination of intelligence and infuriating intransigence he's so well known for. Many people mistake it for arrogance. But I really think (having observed the Stallman-monster for many years) that it's really more that RMS has given more considered thought to this subject than his critics have - and he knows it. And furthermore, RMS believes the conclusions he has reached are clearly evident and inescapable. Which makes him a very difficult guy to "get along" with. He's much like most people who are deeply convinced of the "rightness" of what they're proposing - but lack the 'people skills' needed to 'sell' their argument to average person. (Selling is definitely something RMS doesn't understand. He's the sort who believes that, if a person is confronted with a logical argument, logic must ultimately prevail. What can I say? It just doesn't get more geeky than that. And RMS is the poster child of absolute geekdom.)

Anyway, check it out. Expect to get angry before it's over - no matter what side of the debate you come down on.

But then again...it's a FOSS discussion. Do those discussions ever go any other way? ;D
« Last Edit: September 24, 2012, 10:23 AM by 40hz »

Renegade

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #4 on: September 24, 2012, 10:07 AM »
^^ Oooh! Another one~! YAY~!  :D

I do love hearing him speak!  :Thmbsup:
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

mahesh2k

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2012, 11:24 AM »
the guru of GNU, imam of Internet freedom, sultan of sharing, and all in all, pretty wicked cool guy
LOL.

I like his views on freedom but this one cracked me up.

Renegade

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #6 on: September 24, 2012, 02:44 PM »
Some paraphrases from the video that 40hz posted (just for fun - and all out of context :P ):

*****

Steve Jobs = Evil genius who made the world a worse place~!

We have less rights online than in the physical world.

Microsoft wants to put its restricted boot down on your computer's neck.

They made a mistake because they put in an ATI graphics chip.

About the Raspberry Pi:
It will probably be very difficult to run that machine with free software at all.

Why should we be prepared to give up our freedom to help some programmers find work if we just ignore the fact that other people can't find work.

Every kid Americans DON'T have is a reduction in how much global heating there's going to be in the future etc.

But that's not ethical, so I treated it as not acceptable. (About UNIX.)

I wish failure to any business that makes non-free software.

What happens to you is not sufficiently important to justify the wrong you are doing.

*****

I was a bit pissed at the end of the show as they brought up the ONE single issue that I want to know what RS thinks, and then totally skipped it. Services. (And related stuff like web sites, etc.)

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

40hz

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #7 on: September 24, 2012, 03:05 PM »
^AFAIK, RMS has never had a problem with people charging for services in any way, shape, or form. (The GPL actually encourages it along with charging for copies of software.) All he has ever objected to is people attempting to claim ownership and restricting the use of an idea. Which by extrapolation makes software - which he views as 'recipe' or "a collection of instructions" - not patentable or...er...copyrightable. (Is that a word?) An opinion the USPTO and LOC also held up until the US began to dominate most of the world's software market - at which point (under pressure from US legislators at the urging of several big software developers such as Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle) they finally changed their minds. With predictable results, all anticipated by Stallman.

Stallman may not be right about everything he believes in. But with the passing of time he's becoming more and more correct about almost everything he's warned us about.

What I'm really beginning to fear is that he'll eventually end up being 100% accurate about all of them.

About the Raspberry Pi:
It will probably be very difficult to run that machine with free software at all.


Well, well, well...looks like he demonstrably got that part wrong at least! ;D

« Last Edit: September 24, 2012, 03:17 PM by 40hz »

Renegade

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2012, 03:18 PM »
I for one, do not see a significant difference between software and SaaS. The freedom issue is still the same as far as I can see, and SaaS in inherently antithetical to freedom. Am I missing something?

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

f0dder

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2012, 03:44 PM »
I wonder if there's an English translation around (or if Google Translate does a nice enough job) for this little piece of rms visiting Denmark a bunch of years back. Sounds like a bit of an ass, as a person.
- carpe noctem

40hz

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2012, 03:46 PM »
I wonder if there's an English translation around (or if Google Translate does a nice enough job) for this little piece of rms visiting Denmark a bunch of years back. Sounds like a bit of an ass, as a person.

He is. I've followed his antics for years. He's definitely a weird puppy. No translation needed. ;)

Doesn't look like GoogleTranslate did that great a job:
Google translation
-A gnuguru came to town-
"We need to have a visit from a real guru" announced my girlfriend excited about a dark January evening. "Balanced, venerable: Indian term for åndlig leader" explained Modern Danish Dictionary. "Hm?" I thought. "It's okay with me" I've never been particularly religious. The week went by and my girlfriend became more and more excited at the thought of the guru's arrival. "I have several things I just need to talk to him, he breathed while he polished his Emacs macros of one last time.

Why is this guru talk? We build much of our perception of life / outlook on myths, heroes, martyrs, mysterious people and historical figures. Some things we just like to get on and confirmed. We expect probably a little acting from people we appoint to be gurus. How would the media industry be pregnant without the help of these gurus? (Idols when you are a little younger) But my dear half then at least strongly forward to meeting with the guru and had carefully cleaned and trimmed bump into something that eventually the hysteria terms reminded most about the return of Jesus. In addition, he had carefully instructed me NEVER to say OPEN SOURCE, but ALWAYS say FREE SOFTWARE!! (The words on the occasion produced plaktat sounded namely "Free Software - colloquially known as Open Source")

Up the stairs steep steps came Stallman so. With a distant look he looked out through the long hair and straight past me. My hand fluttered a little nervous in the air, but Guru trudged past me into my bookshelf, where he peeled all English literature out. "It's British Literature musts of it", I noticed wise. "And what is wrong about that?" growled guru. Gurus should be well basically behave differently. It can also be seen as a kind of marketing, argued my inner theorist. "You are right about that," I said politely.

Tonight's next point was eating at one of the city's student-friendly restaurants. A small group from FLUUG was anxious to meet Mr. Stallman before the next day's lecture at UNI. We were ordered. Unfortunately, the restaurant had decorated the rice with chili sauce, which in no way accused Stallman. "The rise is infected with the stuff" he made staff aware of. Well - you get far with abundant tip.

After spending gradually some time under the same roof, found guru, that it was time to turn to me for the second time. After finding that the substance of bread was pâté, kiggde he almost kindly at me and remarked "Liver makes me wanna puke" "Oh I see," I said well-behaved and looked reluctantly at my half with a Danish specialty.

For DVD case in Norway would Stallman write a letter to the Norwegian Government. He even wrote the English version, but had subsequently need a translator. Here he approached the third time for me. (In third person to my boyfriend well enough) when he asked if she could write the translation. She could very well. Unfortunately, the phone rang and I had to necessarily take it. 2 minutes after the cut off Stallman interview as he easily patronizing made me aware that we had something that had to be finished! No problem! Fifteen minutes to oversætt a letter to the Norwegian Prime Minister - well, if there are too many spelling mistakes - I still have to say that it is an attempt to write new-Norwegian!

In some Linux community is a kultomgivet t-shirt with Allan Cox as prinsess Lea, Linus Torvalds as Luke Skywalker and Stallman as R2 D2 Perhaps it fits very well. R 2 D2 is a little bit easier and grumpy outdated robot that can not communicate by voice. It can be as familiar communicate with a like-minded robot, but has no ability to communicate with "ordinary" people. I do, of course, no direct comparison, but just note that Stallman's most used phrases on Funen was: I do not know what you are saying You're statement is ambiguous I simply do not understand what you're trying to say!

It's been a while. Stallman made a very good lectures at Odense University. He managed to imprison some 200 listeners for 2 hours.

Yet I sit back and think about where the current Stallman's style really is outside this still relatively narrow circle. Will Stallman missionary himself cultivated guru style too much in the long run? Well learned we probably all of the different and well fascinated we probably of eccentric people, but open source / free software can be all of us outsiders somewhat distant, if it only represented by people who (at least to the untrained eye) " mytificerer "as Stallman is a possibility to do. I know it is in no way meant, but what if human types, representing open source / free software is too close to the large group perception of something that is distant and frightening? Can it possibly. result in dissociation? It should not mean anything, but you can in BBC1's program Money magazine can still hear the term geeks. Expresses this perhaps a form of pandering to the audience, sitting and watching programs and it is estimated have this image of Linux people? And should these stereotypes do not udrydes along the way?

Thanks for visiting Guru Stallman - it gave me pleasure to write this article. And yes - quite frankly it was not worse!

Next time we would like to visit by Linus Torvalds. In addition to completing the popular myth of the American Dream he looks like someone who has both table manners, common manners - and so does he always so ...... nice out. (Speaking of stereotypes!)


40hz

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2012, 05:57 PM »
I for one, do not see a significant difference between software and SaaS. The freedom issue is still the same as far as I can see, and SaaS in inherently antithetical to freedom. Am I missing something?



The service I was talking about was for support services (installation, administration, troubleshooting, consulting, maintenance, etc.) rather than SaaS.

IMHO, SaaS is just a marketing buzzword for putting a taxi meter on a piece of code rather than licensing it outright. To me, it's a revenue model - not a technical or functional distinction. And it has its place (I suppose) in corporate IT planning and strategy.

But definitely not in a FOSS environment. 8)

TaoPhoenix

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2012, 07:20 PM »
I for one, do not see a significant difference between software and SaaS. The freedom issue is still the same as far as I can see, and SaaS in inherently antithetical to freedom. Am I missing something?

Last I understood, Software was this ... "stuff" ... that you acquired, and installed it on your computer, and it Did Stuff. Software As A Service might be like Google Apps, where your data is theirs to DEIGN to LET YOU use out of the goodness of their bottom line. Some of the music stores were pretty bad on this front too, when the DRM activation servers etc closed, leaving users stuck with unplayable music.

I agree it's fun to play with your data anywhere, but almost all the Cloud offerings (with the odd exception of email in my mind for some reason), strike me as that movie Total Recall on Mars where they began to charge you for air.

Microsoft is going to try this with Office, and that just scares me, everyone is praising "better cash flow" but renting an office program just feels like a nice comfy fish hook which would like to rip your throat open.


ewemoa

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2012, 11:41 PM »

When the Linux Action Show (or GNU/Linux Action Show for this episode :mrgreen:) decided to celebrate their 200th show with something special, they scored a major coup by getting RMS himself to be on the show for an hour of give & take. It's interesting to watch with RMS on his soapbox and Brian Lunduke trying to work around something (that for RMS) is already settled. In many respects it's the perfect example of why this argument continues - and where both sides of the argument come up short and fail to reach any sort of agreement.

Thanks a lot for this. :up:  FWIW, the interview looks to be starting around 0:10:19 here.



I have found it worth my time to read what he has to say -- may not agree with it all but definitely worth attention IMHO.

...
One of the difficulties I experience is his use of the concepts of Good and Evil.




Been working through Free Software Free Society (PDF with table of contents) and have found the issue of control being expressed clearly.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2012, 12:15 AM by ewemoa »

Stoic Joker

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2012, 07:06 AM »
IMHO, SaaS is just a marketing buzzword for putting a taxi meter on a piece of code rather than licensing it outright. To me, it's a revenue model - not a technical or functional distinction. And it has its place (I suppose) in corporate IT planning and strategy.

Agreed 100%, it's a BS gimmick to keep the customer from "wasting" money on in-house IT staff by making them piss it directly uphill to the vendor.

40hz

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #15 on: September 25, 2012, 07:23 AM »
IMHO, SaaS is just a marketing buzzword for putting a taxi meter on a piece of code rather than licensing it outright. To me, it's a revenue model - not a technical or functional distinction. And it has its place (I suppose) in corporate IT planning and strategy.

Agreed 100%, it's a BS gimmick to keep the customer from "wasting" money on in-house IT staff by making them piss it directly uphill to the vendor.

LOL! That sums it up exactly. :Thmbsup:

zridling

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Re: Interview with Richard Stallman
« Reply #16 on: October 01, 2012, 11:24 PM »
I've watched that show many times, 40hz, but missed that episode. Thanks! Loved the Russia Today interview, too, since Keiser let him talk. Fortunately, I have RT on my TV channel lineup, but their website is even better and has every show on it.