Stallman inspires trolls and jealousy, as usual

Stallman inspires trolls and jealousy, as usual

Posted Mar 26, 2008 5:52 UTC (Wed) by grouch (subscriber, #27289)
In reply to: Protecting the Internet Without Wrecking It (Boston Review) by engineer_1
Parent article: Protecting the Internet Without Wrecking It (Boston Review)

I do wish people would stop quoting Richard Stallman. It makes it seem like we don't realize what a complete crackpot he is.

Please specify who you include in that "we". Please also publish the results of whatever election was held which placed you as spokesperson for that "we". It would also be handy if you offered your definition of "crackpot", as it varies significantly in usage.

Can you name another "crackpot" who has conceived a software license which garners as much support from individuals and corporations as Mr. Stallman's GPL? Can you name another "crackpot" who has worked as hard, as long, or as consistently to bring the benefits of free software to users of software? Can you name another "crackpot" who has inspired more developers to create software with freedoms for users than Mr. Stallman?

If not for the GPL, would Linux be as widely used or rapidly developed? Would Red Hat exist? Would IBM have invested so much or moved to make it a replacement for their own, closed AIX? What stopped SCO cold? If RMS is a "crackpot", why did GNU not have to change policies regarding code submissions when SCO reared its litigious head?

How many years have you worked to gain some bit of freedom for everyone else? How much positive influence has any project you've started and continued had on the lives and livelihoods of individuals?

Remove Mr. Stallman's life's work and the world would be a much, much poorer place. Remove the trollish, spiteful (perhaps jealous?) comments such as yours and at least one other, above, which always seem to follow any public mention of Mr. Stallman, and the world would be none the worse for their removal.

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