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Stallman Attacked by Ninjas
vivIsel writes "When RMS took the stage to address the Yale Political Union, Yale's venerable parliamentary debate society, it was already an unusual speech: instead of the jacket and tie customary there, he sported a T shirt, and no shoes. But then he was attacked by ninjas. Apparently some students took it into their head to duplicate an XKCD webcomic before a live audience — luckily, though, Stallman didn't resort to violence. Instead, he delivered an excellent speech about DRM."
This is, as far as I can tell, a reasonably accurate interpretation. His exact words are:
The simplest way to make a program free software is to put it in the public domain, uncopyrighted. This allows people to share the program and their improvements, if they are so minded. But it also allows uncooperative people to convert the program into proprietary software. They can make changes, many or few, and distribute the result as a proprietary product. People who receive the program in that modified form do not have the freedom that the original author gave them; the middleman has stripped it away.
Care about privacy? Read this!
There is a dress code for speakers on the Union floor. (as opposed to audience members, although many, particularly those on the Right, dress up whether or not they're speaking) I'm told that we knew Stallman wouldn't follow it, and that (obviously) we invited him anyway. I think the Union blog remarks on it not so much out of any anger at RMS, but more out of surprise--the Union is a pretty old organization, I'd be willing to bet that this was our first-ever barefoot guest.
So: those of you who are accusing the Political Union of some kind of sartorial elitism; fine, fine. We have a dress code. But, clearly, we didn't let it get in the way of good debate. (Actually, we have it because we *want* good debate.)