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RMS transcript on GPLv3, Novell/MS, Tivo and more
H4x0r Jim Duggan writes "The 5th international GPLv3 conference was held in Tokyo last week. I've made and published a transcript of Stallman's talk where he described the latest on what GPLv3 will do about the MS/Novell deal, Treacherous Computing, patents, Tivo, and the other changes to the licence. While I was at it, I made a transcript of my talk from the next day where I tried to fill in some info that Richard didn't mention."
Stallman is a zealot. We don't need this kind of software virus that turns everything GNU touches into a grey goo of OSS.
He was talking about usable operating system. How many people browse the web under Syllabe, Haiku, ReactOS, FreeDOS ???
And you should know that RMS is a Hurd lover. If he was going to mention all the free OS, even the unusable ones, he would have quote the GNU Hurd. That's for sure.
I think most of the people uses non-free software, he's right. I know maybe two people who has NO non-free software on their systems. One of them is an openBSD junkie.
"So yes, companines should try to maximize share holder value. But the government should protect the "people" since that is how they represent."
And yes, these companies are not owned by people that want their rights protected, nor do they employ others that would be at a disadvantage if they were put out of jobs due to laws that favor people that want to see intellectual properties abandoned simply because they cannot see the value of them.
Those of us that do work in the 'virtual' world, are glad these laws exist. The human condition is such that people are greedy. I may be able to make a living designing software for my employer, but in RMS's world, I'd get paid to simply design it. My employer would be happy for what I do, but then my employer's competitors whom have had no desire to pay for the development will then demand it for free.
It puts the folks that create and commission content at a disadvantage over the leachers. Unfortunately, the leachers are often better sales people. What was that article the other day about Samsung -- they tracked down the people responsible for ripping their phone designs (down to the chipsets) and did the honorable thing -- they offered the guys jobs because the quality was nearly identical, but the pirates were getting it done much cheaper. The pirates decided them make much more money doing so illegally and declined the offer. In a sense, they could deal with selling this at a much cheaper rate, living off someone elses name and reputation, and not have to worry about little issues such as customer service and warentees.
And that is how the industry I am in is. Its very expensive to do some of the tasks I do. A lot of equipment to do so, a lot of human time as well, but in the end, its highly reproducible once everything is done. And our competitors are more than willing to put out a crappy product if thats all they have access to, and a certain amount of customers are willing to put up with it, but the competitors would be more than willing to take our work if they could do so without getting caught (and they do this already...we've found our products byte for byte in other companies roms, though they deny it...luckily, thats someones elses mess).
So, all in all, RMS is not protecting the 'people' if he is putting hard workers out of jobs and leaches of society into jobs. Where will the human spirit be in 200 years if all we do is ride each others coattails with Good Enough. You will have reduced everything to a hobbiest level, and there will be no reason to do anything that requires a big upfront investment as the hobbiest just can't get behind this.
I agree with RMS in some aspects -- IP laws are far too far in the favor of us content creators. Unfortunately, his rhetoric goes to show that he will not be satisfied with anything less that total anarchy in this regard with an anything goes attitude. Well, anything goes, so far as it bows down to him in the end. This is why communism has also failed...the human spirit is far too selfish for it to happen. It only takes one megalomaniac in the bunch to turn it into a dictatorship as opposed to a pure and giving ideal...and that megalomaniac is RMS.
I'm posting anonymously because I do some work with GPL based product-teams, and have turned over several of my personal projects to this end as they didn't affect my bottom line. I can live with GPL 2.0, but the 3.0 is simply a power grab.
"I am a goat fucker!" -Richard Stallman, 1994
A bit of MIT/LCS lore here.
RMS used to live on the 7th floor of LCS. That's where he used to have his office before he resigned in protest over the commercialization of something or another. But they let him keep his office, and he lives there, because he refuses to have an apartment. (Given the rent rates in Cambridge, the assholeness of most landlords, I don't blame him. Rather than live in my office, I chose to move to Texas, and the change in rent rates and lack of state income tax resulted in an immediate %25 pay raise. RMS doesn't have that option because we have the death penalty for people like him down here.)
Anyway, RMS has or had a number or geek chick groupies. I wouldn't call any of the ones I've seen "hot", really -- well except for this one little psycho jewish undergrad from NYC. He would sleep with them on the sofa in his office. That's why he got kicked out off floor 7, and down to the 3 floor, is that the cleaning staff complained about pulling used condoms out from behind the sofas. No joke. You can use this information for trolling if you wish, but it's all true.
RMS has a phobia of water that prevents him from showering. This is part of this post I know from first hand experience, because I myself have observed him taking a sponge bath in the 3d floor mens room in LCS. Apparently once he had a girlfriend who he was totally in love with, and she convinced him to take one shower a week. It was a traumatic experience for him each time.
RMS also has a phobia of spider plants. When RMS starts bothering a grad student and going to his office and talking to him constantly and getting him to spend all his time writing free software, the grad student will complain to someone on the floor, and they'll let them in on the secrete -- get a spider plant in your office. The next time RMS drops by, his eyes will bulge a little and he'll say " Umm. . . I wanted to talk to you about hacking some elisp code . . . why don't you stop by my office sometime ?" and make a hasty exit.
One of his more nasty habits is picking huge flakes of dandruff out of his hair while talking to you. At least he doesn't eat them, like some people I know.
Now, I know everyone loves to make fun of RMS, and I'm feeding that a bit here, so I'd just like to say that I think he really is a genius, on the order of Socrates (another filthy slob who couldn't keep a normal living arrangement, and lived in a barrel) or Ghandi or Ezekiel. Everything he has ever said to me, while sounding naive and idealistic and stupid at the time, turned out to later be correct.
The only thing I fear in his philosophy is his interest in reducing population growth. Everyone else I know of who was obsessed with that "problem" turned out to have facist or totolitarian tendencies, and I think that the problem will solve itself as more and more of the world moves into a middle class type existence.
But on everything else, bitter experiences have taught me he is right. I will not use any non-GPLd or lGPLd software, and I look forward to being able to buy only "open" hardware. I would like to see software patents completely eliminated, and with the development of digitial communication, I see no reason why shouldn't simply repeal all of Title 17 and do away with all copyrights. They just aren't needed. I expect to spend much of my life being paid to write software, and I just don't see copyrights has helping me in anyway.