Voice of the Masses: Should we pay more attention to Richard Stallman?
Some people dismiss Richard Stallman as a kook, an old hacker who’s out of touch with the computing industry today. Conversely, many of us in the Linux and Free Software community have huge respect for the man, but sometimes have trouble reconciling our computing habits with his hardline views on proprietary software.
In the end, however, RMS has an uncanny knack for being right – even way down the line. His Right to Read short story, for instance, dates back to 1997 and discusses how DRM-like technologies are used to restrict information and prohibit sharing. Here in 2015, this has become a reality on e-Readers.
So should we listen more closely to Richard? Should we hang on every word he says, even if it seems extreme or far-fetched? Or does he have a grand vision for Free Software that’s overly idealistic, and we can’t be attained in the modern world? It’s a broad question, but let us know what you think in the comments below, and we’ll read out the best in our upcoming podcast!
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About The Author
Mike Saunders
Mike stores his data by printing out hex dumps and laminating the sheets. He's the author of The Haynes Linux Manual and the creator of MikeOS, an operating system hand-built from assembly language.
Listen to RMS!
As stated above he “…has an uncanny knack for being right “.
A few months ago he made a speech and part of it said how although slavery was illegal it still went on in the UK. I live in the UK and have no knowledge of this. I thought what a kook you are Stallman. Then arrests were made of people who were keeping other humans as slaves.
RMS is a genius. It is like he takes advantage of glitches in the matrix to see into the future.
He does set high standards which we fail to live up to but so does every religious leader.
All Hail St IGNUcius and the Church of Emacs. Forgive us for using Vim.
I don’t think we are (should be) dependent on RMS in person to fulfil this role.
Other people can articulate a position based on what makes RMS be right.
He is not really a genius in the sense that what he says is rarely surpising: it’s just the stringent application of a relatively small set of principles.
If more and other people put a staunch free software position on the table (and act in accordance with them, importantly), these arguments will be less easily dismissed with reference to the supposed lunacy of RMS himself.
RMS has a rare gift of being able to see past the noise that distracts most of us and to percieve the important points that the rest of us miss. Like all of us he is human and not without fault yet when a balance is taken of his errors against the things he gets right he turns out to be one of the people most worth taking into full account.
The good he has done for free software and all who make use of it, and arguably the wider world as a result, is impossible to overstate.
RMS’s opinions on and vision for free software are admirable but not always practical. With my free software geek hat on I would wholeheartedly agree with his philosophies as they go even deeper than mere 1’s and 0’s. When you really listen to him his message is very simple: sharing and collaboration will make everything – not just software – better. It’s hard to argue with that.
With my realist hat on, however, I despair. His vision is still a long way from becoming the norm. Proprietary software and hardware is good for business or so we’ve been told. The Open Source model has seen a lot of success in recent years but it’s very difficult to see the Microsoft’s and Apples of the world opening up their source code any time soon.
I think we should listen to him, but only as one voice amongst many. He raises some interesting and insightful points, but his uncompromising position sometimes undermines what he’s trying to say. He’s okay when speaking to the choir, but I wouldn’t want to use an RMS speech/talk/article as my initial opener with someone who knows little about open source.
I normally see somewhere between Linus (pragmatic) and RMS (idealistic) as being the right place for me.
RMS is the equivalent of a military vegan for the software world.
The content of what he says and writes is true and noteworthy. But the way it is delivered is problematic and more damaging for the cause because it just sounds like some crazy person is talking.
Yes we should. But I think many people need to develop the capability to separate his ideas from his presentation of those ideas.
In particular, he often seems to spark a defensive reaction in people – as if he’s judging them for making different decisions than he would – even when I don’t think that’s his intent, but is rather just a consequence of his speaking or writing style.
He’s been right – a lot – but only in recent years has it started to be really obvious that his predictions of the eventual outcomes from proprietary software are not ivory-tower doomsday predictions. Now that hopefully everyone can see that these are indeed real-world outcomes, perhaps that realization can make it easier for many to start judging him on his ideas and his track record in this area, rather than on his personality quirks.
If more people start taking software freedom seriously, there is no downside.
And for guidance regarding what it means to take software freedom seriously, how could anyone argue against the several decades scholarly treatment that RMS has given to this topic?
RMS strikes me as a highly rational and consistent thinker and as a result speaks with great clarity and conviction. The problem for me is that my work colleagues, friends, family members and nearly everyone else are far less rational and consistent. This means I’m forced to compromise constantly. But we need people like RMS to remind us what the consequences of too much compromise or lazy thinking might be.
RMS is the only person consistently defending the freedom of the individual as regards computing. If this technology is taking over the world, doesn’t that matter? I will always support RMS. Most of the people criticizing him have not done a hundredth of what he has done.
RMS is not out of touch with the computing industry, to the contrary – he’s got it sassed out all the way through and back. It’s the industry who is out of touch with basic humanity, unlike RMS who (despite often being described as “not quite fitting with other human beings”) has always respected humanity above profit, dogma or convenience. His ability and willingness to stay true are what makes him able to see through all the smoke and mirrors that the industry and governments try to fool us with. We should listen to him, in fact I really wish he had a regular column in Linux Voice.
Of course we should.
When I first got into Free Software I was happy to pay due respect to RMS but thought his view were a bit hard-line and puritan. Then Open Source started being used as a term, which seemed, and is, more pragmatic, and I firmly supported that.
But, over the long haul, RMS has proved to be quite the seer.
Having been on the wrong end of some shenanigans by proprietary, closed source software vendors, I’ve had to shake my head and admit that RMS has been right all along. We need his principles and his refusal to compromise as an example to aspire to, as we mere mortals stumble along the path to true freedom.
I’m now very much aligned with RMS. I support his principled stand because it’s not just about code, it’s about our freedom … and that matters.
Check out his collected writing, Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. I picked it up for 10p at a library book sale – best 10p I ever spent.
Also check out this interview with him that took place in Brighton last year, and pay attention to how he deals with a critical young man towards the end during audience questions (the impertinence): https://ind.ie/summit/videos/richard-stallman/
Let’s be honest. We all know he’s always proven right in time. We know we should follow his example. But it’s so hard to live without the things we’ve gotten used to. Many staunch privacy advocates still use Google, for example. I’m sure I can speak for others when I say that I wish I had the integrity of Richard Stallman.
We need to listen to more of RMS even though he is a crazy odd coot that I disagree with most of the time. I really am glad he is alive and speak about his ethics to help us keep re-examining our stances on free/open source software.
He’s been correct all along. Sometimes Ive disagreed. It has always been a mistake. Every engineer consultant that dismissed ideas reminiscent in any way of RMS has come back with a complete change of heart. Sometimes for the wrong reasons. But they come around.
Many have made predictions about the future, nearly all have failed. Stallman’s track record shows his firm grasp on technology and society. He should definitely be listened to.
We MUST listen to RMS.
Because he is one of the very few experts of a science that he has almost created alone: the “FLOSS-ology”: Discerning the FLOSS amongst the ocean of proprietary software, finding the obfuscating codes for the user, the closed hardwares, etc.
On his example, I hope one day we will create a FLOSSology diploma in university (or even a certificate for high-schoolers) to make other RMSs.
Stallman is right and we should listen to him. Proprietary software is evil and should be banned worldwide. It should be illegal to distribute proprietary software.
We always need someone like RMS pushing us hard the other way to keep the free ship of data on anything like a reasonable course. Who wants a DRM Hell?
People might have some personal dislike towards RMS, but his record speaks for itself. He won’t compromise an inch of his integrity and I must admit I do have admiration for that. I’ll be listening if he keeps talking anyway.
We should definitely listen to RMS. He has always been right and we wouldn’t even have a freedom respecting OS if it weren’t for him. He is far from being out of touch with modern computing.
For anyone new to GNU/Linux, Stallman’s explanation of the 4 freedoms is absolutely essential. But I quit paying attention to him, because after the first 4 or 5 talks, it was like a broken record; every talk was almost exactly the same.
Recently, I looked at one of his recent presentations, and was pleasantly surprised to find there’s quite a bit more to his schtick these days. The explosion of smartphone and tablet devices, app stores, ‘The Cloud’ (and the associated unethical business practices) have given Stallman so much more to sink his teeth into that it’s breathed new life into his presentations.
I, for one, like this new Stallman. I hope he continues to sharpen his rhetoric and generate new and improved arguments against proprietary software. Stallman is at his best when he’s fresh, relevant, and entertaining.
Taken directly from stallman.org – “I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children. The arguments that it causes harm seem to be based on cases which aren’t voluntary, which are then stretched by parents who are horrified by the idea that their little baby is maturing.”
Maybe we shouldn’t hang on every word he says.
Bloomin’ heck! Just when you think you’ve found someone you can trust, admire and wholeheartedly support you find they said something stupid ten years ago.
Bryan Lunduke is quite thoughtful on the “problem” of RMS:
– http://bit.ly/1hoKOtG
– http://bit.ly/1hoKPOb
I saw the interview Bryan did with Stallman for Linux Action Show a while back. It’s a great interview, very painful to watch I thought, in a good way. Bryan does a great job of articulating a lot of the doubts I have with open source purism and Stallman is like a wall he’s pounding his head against. I really felt for Bryan in that. But as uncomfortable as what RMS says often is, I still think he’s often right (except for on that pedophile thing, pretty damn creepy)
Stallman inspired me to look at Linux and free software or maybe the other way round but he does talk a lot of sense, oh and smelly fart bum and poo is my current favourite stupid thing to say
I saw RMS speaking in Australia in 2010, as a guest of the Australian Computer Society.
The most memorable part of his address was when he suddenly exclaimed:–
Btw, pls fix css on the blockquote tag 🙂
Absolutely, I think it is amazing that he is still out there fighting for our internet and computing freedoms. I am not 100% convinced that there is no place for proprietary software models along side open source. Currently open source projects like Linux thrive, in part, because they are leveraged so heavily by proprietary software vendors. Linux and other open source tools have become a shared software infrastructure. That having been said, it’s worth pursuing a world where that is not the case. I think we should always be pushing for more openness.
Computers are soon going to be driving us, embedded into every facet of our homes, and most likely implanted in our bodies. It’s important to consider that when you have no control over your software you also have no control over your data. Consider the recent case of the John Dear tractor that collects info about the soil density as farmers drive over their fields. That data is then sold to other corporations but not to the farmer who owns the tractor. Imagine if that was health data being collected by your pace maker. Now more than ever we need to think long and hard about whether the conveniences offered by proprietary vendors are really worth their costs (How many people if they actually read and took seriously a EULA would actually use any of the products on the market).
In the end though change is tough. The fact that Stallman has been so unwavering is not to me a sign that he is out of touch, but rather it’s what is needed to steer a ship that moves as slowly as modern society.
We have seen open source grow from a fringe movement into a dominant market force in software. That is no small part due to Stallman.
мы победим!
I search for Richard Stallman Chia Pet, and found nothing!!! The internet has severely disappointed me.
It is very difficult to convince my friends of the importance of privacy. They shrug and say “I don’t have anything to hide”. Sexiness of free (as in you don’t have to pay for them with money) and userfriendly END-USER apps blinds them. I believe we (the community) lack sexiness and user-friendliness of RELEVANT end-user apps. We’re just a bunch of nerds with quotes on our T-shirts 🙂
So make RMS have a haircut, upgrade him to charisma 2.0 and get “DuckDuckGo Translator” to translate his message to a positive, understandable message for the masses and we have a leader… then we just need to apply that sexy packaging (UX) to free software.
Until then, I will keep on preaching in the desert.