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20th Anniversary of RMS's Original GNU Post

An anonymous reader writes "Sep 27, 2003 is the 20th anniversary of Stallman's original Usenet post describing his vision of GNU. Good time for reflecting over GNU's successes and failures, about how it has changed our world."

23 of 526 comments (clear)

  1. Remarkably, he said... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Imagine in 20 years when this makes the front page of Slashdot on a Saturday morning at 1am. I bet no one will see it."

  2. Usenet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What is Usenet? What are newsgroups? Your opinions and thoughts please.

  3. Sounds good and all... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    For a man on his way to hell, that is...

  4. Arpa? by coene · · Score: 4, Funny

    For more information, contact me.
    Arpanet mail:
    RMS@MIT-MC.ARPA


    What's an "ARPA", and why wont Network Solutions let me register one!?!?!

    1. Re:Arpa? by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 5, Funny

      What's an "ARPA", and why wont Network Solutions let me register one!?!?!

      I could register one for you, but then I'd have to kill you.

      --
      "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  5. GNU's greatest accomplishment.. by Gortbusters.org · · Score: 4, Funny

    has been teaching us to love again. *sniff*

    --
    --------
    Free your mind.
  6. Repeat the holy mantra by The+Revolutionary · · Score: 1, Funny

    GNU is God and RMS is His Prophet.

    GNU is God and RMS is His Prophet.

    GNU is God and RMS is His Prophet.

    There is no God but GNU.

    1. Re:Repeat the holy mantra by screenrc · · Score: 3, Funny

      If RMS is a "nutso prophet," ESR is the televangelist version. :-)


      -- Henry Spencer

  7. An Empire game? by deltagreen · · Score: 2, Funny

    From the post:
    To begin with, GNU will be a kernel plus all the utilities needed to write and run C programs: editor, shell, C compiler, linker, assembler, and a few other things. After this we will add a text formatter, a YACC, an Empire game, a spreadsheet, and hundreds of other things.

    Dreaming of world domination was obviously among the top priorities already at that point... ;)

  8. And only 20 more years by Klerck · · Score: 2, Funny

    Until The Hurd finally reaches beta

  9. Re:weirdo by jon787 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Not one person in a million has the vision to have thought up the GPL
    So there are 1,000 of him in China? We're screwed!
    --
    X(7): A program for managing terminal windows. See also screen(1).
  10. Re:weirdo by coene · · Score: 5, Funny

    No no no, every technically competant person in China has one job: keep their mail server operating as an open relay.

  11. Whoa by multiOSfreak · · Score: 2, Funny

    Two details stuck out to me from that posting:

    1) there was actual email "arpanet mail" back in '83

    2) they were calling it "snail" mail back in '83 (while I was still in pre-school)

    Jeez, I feel really behind the curve.

  12. Hey RMS, by dghcasp · · Score: 4, Funny

    So where's that Empire game you promised?

  13. Re:Back to the software. by Bob+Cat+-+NYMPHS · · Score: 5, Funny

    I offered him a beer once - "Hey Richard, free beer?"
    He said beer was vile. I don't know if he got the joke.
    Then he made me give him a dollar for a GNU sticker.

  14. Twenty Years Ago... by HopeOS · · Score: 4, Funny

    Twenty years ago I was 11. By then I already had 5 years of coding experience, mostly assembly, and a bit of Basic. Everything I knew about code came from reading books, reading other people's Basic code, and disassembling binaries. At no point was I actually aware that there were people out there fighting to make possible what I largely took for granted... the complete availabilty of source code as well as the unrestricted ability to read, modify, and distribute it.

    As an adult, I nearly gave up coding altogether. I felt like a farmer without my own land. I owned no share of the programming tools that I used daily. All the API's were immutable, opaque, and hostile (VFW comes to mind).

    Then I found Linux, and from there, the FSF and GNU. Beyond a doubt, without the work of Stallman and everyone fighting for Open Source, I'd be doing anything but writing code today. And aside from my family, few things are more integral to who I am than writing software. I was born to code.

    So thank you Richard! It took me awhile to find everyone, but now that I'm here, I'm glad you started when you did. That said, if we had to start from scratch today, I would be part of it.

    -Hope

  15. Re:weirdo by 2Bits · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, that's right.

    Everyone of us in China competent enough is trying to keep the mail servers as an open relay, so that you all western evil capitalists can scam the blood out of those poor Nigerian people to pay to enlarge your penis and breast, and still have enough money to get tons of viagra, in order to get into permanent decadence.

    That way, we Chinese will rise up, set up a Moon base and throw rocks at you decadent capitalists! Yup, that's right!

    End of conspiracy theory.

  16. Java is dangerous by Jonner · · Score: 2, Funny

    I sure hope not. We all know how much safer the typical C and C++ programs are.

  17. Re:A suggestion for the next 20 years... by dan+dan+the+dna+man · · Score: 3, Funny

    Where would he be now if he charged for EMACS all those years ago?...Think about it!

    We'd all be using vi?

    --
    I don't read your sig, why do you read mine?
  18. His post is 4242 bytes long. Coincidence? by Frodo420024 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Anyone digging Douglas Adams just has to wonder how this filesize came about. Divine intervention? Or just an auspicious sign :)

    --
    I'm in a Unix state of mind.
  19. Re:Thanks by Thomachen · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's propose RMS for the Nobel prize for peace!

  20. Re:weirdo by humming · · Score: 2, Funny

    That way, we Chinese will rise up, set up a Moon base and throw rocks at you decadent capitalists!

    If you promise to do webcasts from your gymnasiums, you've got a deal.

    --
    I'm too stupid to preview.
  21. Re:Thanks by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 3, Funny
    Upon arriving at the party, we were both thirsty so we drank three bottles of beer apiece, along with five cups of lemonade. Michelle finally arrived and she drank another four bottles of beer. We were there for a total of two hours

    Is this a dirty story, or one o' them brain teaser things?