[GTALUG] my take on Richard Stallman's contributions

[Warren McPherson]

I love that George Bernard Shaw quote. In my life, I try to be as
unreasonable as possible. My wife probably would not mind if I would dial
that back a bit.  My quote is not quite as much fun.

"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will
lead others to join you."
Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I think the challenge we have is leadership, drawing other people in a
constructive direction. In that dimension, I suspect appointing RMS to a
board is likely a mistake. Maybe not so much an outrage, but I feel it is
not the right thing for either party. I have not been following closely
enough to have a strong conviction on that point.


On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 9:36 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
wrote:

> [This is nothing to do with the current topic of the propriety or
> wisdom of RMS rejoining FSF board.]
>
>  “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one
>   persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
>   depends on the unreasonable man.”
>
>   ― George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman
>
> I first saw this quotation pinned to Henry Spencer's side of the cubicle I
> shared with him at the University of Toronto.
>
> I think that this is very apt when discussing RMS.
>
> I'm not going to recite the history.  It's available elsewhere and in more
> accurate form than my memories.
>
> From my standpoint, RMS has been on the right side of many fights.  Even
> when the prospects of success have been low or distant.
>
> The purity and simplicity of his messages (not to mention their repetitive
> nature) have made his ideas understandable.  They have a logical clarity.
>
> He has taken a hard line that has often been or seemed impractical,
> especially annoying pragmatists.
>
> All wins for the side he champions have been provisional.  For example,
> the GPL has not prevented Linux to be "enclosed"; GCC is in the process of
> being supplanted by LLVM.  He/we can never rest.
>
> Many critics argue practicality against purity.  Often convincingly: they
> often are not wrong.  "Open Source" vs "Free/Libre Software" was an
> example.  Evan has been our most assertive representative of this view.
>
> (I certainly let the pragmatic overrule the principled.  For example, I
> used to use MythTV when I got an unencrypted TV signal.  Then everything
> became encrypted (except OTA TV, which we cannot receive).  Now I use
> proprietary devices and streams (Rogers, Netflix, ...).)
>
> Again, we depend on the unreasonable people to protect us.
>
> ================================
>
> The reasonable person will use whatever works.  This is exploited to
> steer the reasonable person towards enclosure.
>
> Off the top of my head, the most important things that Stallman did were:
>
> - crystallize a movement
>
> - create a defensive wall for Free Software (the GPL)
>
> - produce GCC and related tools
>
> - create cogent and clear analysis
>
> The GPL has proven important.  It is inconvenient.  But look at how Apple
> has co-opted BSD-licensed software.  Initially I preferred "permissive"
> licenses for things I produce but no longer.---
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