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Free software guru speaks on patents (Register)
The Register covers
Richard Stallman's London talk on software patents. "Against this political backdrop, Stallman's message is an important one, so it is a real shame that it gets clouded by his choice of analogy. There is little doubt that allowing patents on software will have a devastating impact on the free software community, and good reason to believe, based on the current situation in the US, that it will hurt smaller companies working in the field.
Likening this impending doom to the AIDS crisis in Africa is counterproductive, and merely allows pro-patent groups to label Stallman, and by association the anti-patenting movement, as a crackpot."
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Free software guru speaks on patents (Register) Posted May 26, 2004 17:02 UTC (Wed) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link] It's unfortunate that you choose to quote the only paragraph that attacks Stallman in a generally positive article. I hope that people follow the link, and don't just think that your summary provides the jist.
Quote choice Posted May 26, 2004 17:18 UTC (Wed) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link] Hmm...I guess I didn't really see it as "attacking" RMS; it's more of a "this argument could be presented more effectively" discussion.LWN readers get their noses rubbed in the evils of software patents often enough; I didn't see that as the interesting part of this article. As we carry forward this argument, we need to think about how we present our case. The interesting message from this article is that we will turn off potential supporters if we are not careful about how we talk. The quote I chose reflects that.
Quote choice Posted May 26, 2004 21:15 UTC (Wed) by ordonnateur (guest, #6652) [Link] I was at Stallman's talk of Friday last. It was pretty much the same as the one I heard him give at the University of Westminster (just down the road from UCL) last year. No doubt others have heard the same at various venues.I don't think the Register's account really represents the intent of Stallman argument. As I recall it point of comparison was that it would not be valid to argue that only a few people would be affected by software patents: that would be like saying AIDS didn't matter because there were still lots of people in Africa. Another similie he used was a counter to the argument of "why should software be treated different to other inventions"; his reposte: that was like saying "other people get cancer why not you". I have heard his talk twice now and each time I have been impressed by the way he delivers his argument: passionate, commited certainly, but not despite the impression generated by critics a wild rant. On the contrary it is a very patient careful exposition of a complex argument, ninety minutes or thereabouts well spent.
Quote choice Posted May 27, 2004 3:53 UTC (Thu) by a_hippie (subscriber, #34) [Link] Does anyone know of a url to get an audio feed of this speech, or even atranscript of it? I've come to really enjoy hearing Stallman present various ideas, and would certainly like to learn what he actually said. Thank you. Wishing you well.
Quote choice Posted May 27, 2004 9:06 UTC (Thu) by ordonnateur (guest, #6652) [Link] I can't find any link to the speeches I heard but the following page has a transcript of a speech on Patents he gave at Cambridge in 2002http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/Patents/patents.html link to http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/Patents/danger-of-software-patents.txt It appears to be pretty similar in outline to those I have heard more recently
Quote choice Posted May 27, 2004 12:21 UTC (Thu) by j_heald (guest, #15398) [Link] Audio of RMS's talk in London:http://www.ffii.org.uk/events/040521_Stallman/RMS-UCL-May04.ogg Audio of RMS's talk in Dublin: Indymedia.ie report on RMS in Dublin:
Quote choice Posted May 27, 2004 14:00 UTC (Thu) by pimlott (guest, #1535) [Link] As I recall it point of comparison was that it would not be valid to argue that only a few people would be affected by software patents: that would be like saying AIDS didn't matter because there were still lots of people in Africa. Further, I think it implied a comparison to drug patents, which can in fact result in people in Africa dying. I don't think RMS was being flip.
Quote choice Posted May 28, 2004 3:12 UTC (Fri) by XERC (guest, #14626) [Link] OK, add that: what do you think, will happen withsmall software companies, that provide drug-screening software? Drugs are not produced without LOADS OF VARIOUS forms of special-purpose software, and, thank God, M$ does not provide drug-screening software yet.
Quote choice Posted Jun 3, 2004 9:13 UTC (Thu) by Cato (subscriber, #7643) [Link] I was there too and was very impressed overall - Stallman has a very clear speaking style, cranking out logical and well constructed sentences without hesitations, and his arguments are very powerful. A non-technical friend who was with me was able to follow his entire speech without any problems.However, the AIDS/Africa comparison was jarring and quite unhelpful. This will not help the case against software patents, since nobody is actually going to die from software patenting; Stallman should drop this analogy and stick to the music one, which was very good.
Quote choice Posted May 27, 2004 13:24 UTC (Thu) by pimlott (guest, #1535) [Link] As we carry forward this argument, we need to think about how we present our case. Even so, having listened to the recording linked in another post (I had actually never heard RMS speak before), this article--and certainly that excerpt--was not representative of how RMS presented the case. If we want to have the discussion you propose, we would do better to focus on his actual tone and content, and how it's received by the actual audience, not what some reporter decided would his article an edge. (Granted, we need to think a little about how reporters paint RMS, but there's not much we can do about that.)
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