http://informage.net/articles/2003/02/27/on-free-software-for-freedom-advocacy en-us 40 tales from anglospheric la-la-land <p><a href="http://www.stallman.org/" target="_blank">Richard Stallman</a> is one of the most ardent advocates of Free Sofware (also sometimes knows as "open source" although he <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html" target="_blank">insists</a> that the two are distinct). He perpetually irritates others in the open source/free software world with his pedantic insistence on his political and ethical principles. Despite this, and the fact that I don't agree with all his positions, I have huge respect for him. I think it is best summed up by the post below by "4of12" <a href="http://interviews.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=54529&cid=5346953" target="_blank">posting</a> on <a href="http://slashdot.org" target="_blank">Slashdot</a> </p> <p> <i>I can believe that he does. </p> <p> I can also believe that Richard holds his principles so strongly that he himself is constantly being rubbed the wrong way by nearly everyone around him. </p> <p> History is witness, though, of many men of principle and vision, unwilling to sacrifice or compromise with the conventional wisdom. These are the key people that leave a legacy of progress from which all of society benefits. </p> <p> More common, though, are plain garden variety assholes that do not possess principles or visions, or at least none apart from a primal need for ego maintenance and inflation. </p> <p> I think Richard belongs to the former category of "perceived assholes" rather than the latter.</i></p><p></p> Thu, 27 Feb 2003 17:05:58 +0000 urn:uuid:09d6c46467806471098d8e991948c2be sean http://informage.net/articles/2003/02/27/on-free-software-for-freedom-advocacy postage http://informage.net/articles/trackback/59