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Richard Stallman: Cell Phones Are 'Stalin's Dream'

jbrodkin writes "Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream,' says free software pioneer Richard Stallman, who refuses to own one. 'Cell phones are tools of Big Brother. I'm not going to carry a tracking device that records where I go all the time, and I'm not going to carry a surveillance device that can be turned on to eavesdrop.' Even the open source Android is dangerous because devices ship with proprietary executables, Stallman says in a wide-ranging interview on the state of the free software movement. Despite some progress, Stallman is still dismayed by 'The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.'"

792 comments

  1. Open source vs proprietary by Billy+the+Boy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh come on, trying to get everyone to stop using mobile phones is a little bit far fetched. It's also not like you can make the cell phone technology in any other way, location tracking will always be possible. That's why there are laws that restrict access to such records. AND if you really want to blow up a pizza place, leave your phone home that one time.

    And the social problem of non-free software? People do not care. They never have, they never will. I doubt Stallman cares about every little detail about things he uses but isn't that interested in. When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works. When Stallman goes to his weekly pony riding classes, he just wants a pony that works without going into every mundane detail. Some little girl could think that Stallman is evil because he doesn't raise, feed and have the pony at his home as part of the family, but while Stallman doesn't have time to raise a pony, he wants to ride one. That's when you take what's easy for you without going in to details.

    1. Re:Open source vs proprietary by divxio · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There's also nothing wrong with proprietary executables, expect maybe for OSS geeks. We can have them both. Instead of attacking proprietary software and companies like Microsoft by saying they're the root of evil, MAKE BETTER SOFTWARE. Let the quality show how good choice OSS is.

    2. Re:Open source vs proprietary by balls+of+steel · · Score: 3

      I agree. By far open source advocates have mostly attacked Microsoft and other software companies that produce closed source applications.

      Where is FOSS answer for Visual Studio? There just isn't anything as good.

      Where is open source games that beat the hell out of commercial games?
      Where are the games like Call of Duty (a hugely popular game), Civilization V, Portal 2, World of Warcraft.. the list goes on and on.

      And no, being open source alone isn't enough reason. The applications and games have to be better than their commercial competitors!

    3. Re:Open source vs proprietary by wjousts · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works.

      I doubt his TV dinner is open sourced either. Most people would be (or, at least, ought to be) more concerned about what's in their food that what's in their software.

    4. Re:Open source vs proprietary by captainpanic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Tracking people is a matter of supply and demand. The supply side (mobile phone vendors, and networks) are only too happy to get a few extra euro/dollar for nearly nothing. In our capitalist world, it's the only goal of a company to maximize profit. If it's therefore necessary to screw all citizens and track them all, the company will do it.

      It's the governments, on the demand side, which should not want the information. It's governments who can (and should) regulate it. But they don't.

      Don't blame the mobile phones for a side-effect of an otherwise practical invention.

      The constant spying by governments on its citizens is the real problem... not the inventions that enable it.

    5. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yea, that's why Stallman eats nothing but the fungus that's growing between his toes. Open Source, Open Sores, it's basically close enough.

    6. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice to see the latest reincarnation of devxo.

    7. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people do care. At least in Europe the information is not far: it's obligatory to list the contents on food packaging.

    8. Re:Open source vs proprietary by c0lo · · Score: 1

      Where is FOSS answer for Visual Studio? There just isn't anything as good.

      I for one prefer Eclipse to VS. Even when developing C++.

      And no, being open source alone isn't enough reason. The applications and games have to be better than their commercial competitors!

      With this, I cannot do anything but agree.

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    9. Re:Open source vs proprietary by erroneus · · Score: 5, Informative

      If only quality were the determining factor. It's not and rarely ever is. MS Office is a frustrating and infuriating product for my users. I have to teach them how to use it and advise them of its limitations daily. MS Office is not "the best thing" out there. In many cases, I find OO.o (and now LibreOffice) to be quite sufficient for the vast majority of tasks out there except where 100% compatibility is required and that's the catch -- only one thing is 100% compatible with MS Office... that's the exact same version and patch level of MS Office. And it's "viral" by MS's definition of the word because when one user goes to a new version, eventually they ALL have to go to a new version or else that nearly 100% compatibility gets lost.

      Quality is NOT the determining factor -- in the case of MS software, it's "critical mass."

    10. Re:Open source vs proprietary by LordStormes · · Score: 1

      While (as a game developer) I agree on the open-source game front, I've used both and I can say that Eclipse roundly thumps every square inch of Visual Studio's ass.

    11. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Nursie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you're going to rant about this, at least understand what the man is on about. It's not "OMG FOSS is just so better and Miscro$oft is teh evils!!!11!1ONE!!!"

      His position is basically that if you don't have the source you don't have the freedom to control your own computing.

      With closed source programs you are:

      • Never sure what they're doing
      • Unable to adapt them to your needs
      • Unable to share them with other people (sharing being a virtue, not a vice)

      He considers those points (and at least one other, and possibly wider points than I have made) to be essential for a person to be free and to be in control of the device they are using. A computer is a general purpose device, shouldn't a user/owner be able (within their technical bounds) to make it do what they want?

      Now, you may or may not agree with his stance (I don't agree with all of it, certainly), but for him and people like him this is not a question of utility.

      Saying "where's the software" is therefore totally irrelevant to RMS and people of his views, because it becomes a moral issue. They wish to control their computing devices, they believe that it is their right to do so. Therefore they will not give money or time to those that promote a different agenda. Just like some people don't buy DRM, or Sony.

      So yes, for them, being open source is enough reason. Or rather the reverse, something being closed source is enough reason to avoid it.

      As I say, I do not necessarily buy into his stance, the guy has some views I don't agree with, but if you're going to rubbish him at least try to understand it instead of mindlessly bleating about how proprietary software is better. That's may be so, but it isn't the point.

    12. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cell networks could be more like the Internet. Although every router knows roughly how to reach a specific IP, it's only the final and often small operator who knows exactly who's behind that IP. More and smaller operators would be good both for privacy and competition.

    13. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Informative

      FOSS games suffer from one big problem: Graphics. For some odd reason it's fairly easy to find good programmers who are willing and able to contribute to free software, but finding a graphics guru that doesn't want more money than he's worth is like pulling teeth.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    14. Re:Open source vs proprietary by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I doubt Stallman cares about...

      Oh, come on. We've been here before. Stallman loves to talk shit.

      He's a hoot.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    15. Re:Open source vs proprietary by i-linux123 · · Score: 0

      You are comparing two completely different things that can't be compared.
      Ok, take a car analogy, for instance; Each time your car breaks down, would you care if it's a minor problem that you could easily have fixed but MUST take it to the repair shop because it's all a box that can't be opened? In the case of Microsoft (Which is usually the first thing that comes to mind), they would have taken your car and said "We might fix it in two months, or maybe in a few years, or maybe never, we'll contact you when it is ready.".

      Similarly, you don't have electricians creating addons to microwaves and ponies, where it would sometimes help to know the internals for better integration. It seems you don't know what you're talking about.

    16. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      In the states, ingredient listing is mandatory, but I don't know if listing requirements are as strict as those in Europe.

      The Stallmanist open source food equivalent is him cooking his own food or going to establishments that give him the recipe along with the food. The first is easy, the second is a lot harder, I don't think there are a lot of restaurants that share recipes.

    17. Re:Open source vs proprietary by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      You are correct.

    18. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Shinobi · · Score: 1

      It's how chefs truly compete. Any skilled chef can cook well, but the master chefs can successfully come up with entirely new courses on a whim, and combining them in new menus, without having a culinary catastrophy on their hands. And that competition is what keeps the world of culinary delights from stagnating.

      I myself brew beer. And unlike many Free Software/Open Source adherents, I don't want the exact recepies for Guiness or Innis&Gunn Rum Cask ale or anything. There is nothing creative about that. The real joy of brewing is to come up with my own recepies, to actually be CREATIVE.

    19. Re:Open source vs proprietary by peragrin · · Score: 3, Informative

      The funny thing is MS Office isn't 100% compatible with itself. Older document versions don't always open the same. Usually it is formatting issues.

      I use open office because I dont have $300 for a license for software that gets used occasionally.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    20. Re:Open source vs proprietary by dintech · · Score: 1

      trying to get everyone to stop using mobile phones is a little bit far fetched

      You can't blame Stallman for trying, I mean it's easier goal than getting everyone to use linux on the desktop. /joke

    21. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Lundse · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And the social problem of non-free software? People do not care

      Not the point. The point is that they should, and Stallman is trying to make that happen. I am not saying he is going about it in the best way (I'd would say that Eben Moglen is, more or less).

      I doubt Stallman cares about every little detail about things he uses but isn't that interested in. When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works.

      You know what, I think Stallman does care whether his microwave has a microphone in it, that he is not allowed to control. And I think he cares about whether his sneakers have a GPS that will not let him decide when it is off or on. I even think you do.

      The difference is that the telephone has a microphone and gps already, for good reason. But that is not a good reason not to let the end user control those -
      I do not care if you installed a bug in my house, or installed software on my phone behind my back, the end result is the same.

      People would be alarmed, if every book came with surveillance technology and screamed bloody murder if it came near a photo copier. The 'political arm' of the free software movement is saying you should be equally alarmed with the current state of affairs.

      --
      IAIFARSIJDPOOTV - I Am In Fact A Reality Star; I Just Don't Play One On TV
    22. Re:Open source vs proprietary by nschubach · · Score: 1

      AND if you really want to blow up a pizza place, leave your phone home that one time.

      Are you trying to say that every person that does not like tracking is a terrorist?

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    23. Re:Open source vs proprietary by jareth-0205 · · Score: 2

      "People do not care"?

      What's your point? Isn't that the reason you might want to have someone thinking about this sort of stuff and perhaps persuading those people that might care? Or are you claiming that because the majority of people don't care, then any minority's efforts are irrelevant? Because of RMS we have the free software movement. Just because he cares much more than I do, doesn't mean I can't recognise that the wealth of open source code available (created by people that *do* care) isn't a great thing.

    24. Re:Open source vs proprietary by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      MS Office was not the best when it achieved dominance, but it is the "best" now - for most definitions of best.

      Yes, Word is overkill for writing letters and underpowered for book writing and Powerpoint is not as pretty as Keynote. But Excel is simply unmatched in its balance of ease-of-use and ease in scripting, despite it's many warts. I use OpenOffice whenever I can, but sometimes you just have to fire up MS Office.

      As a concrete example, I tried to set up a mail merge that included pictures. This was impossible in OO.org without loading a module, and I can't ask users to do that. Word is kludgy, and I had to write some macros to support it, but it did work. This is somewhat ironic, because Word handles images terribly in general.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    25. Re:Open source vs proprietary by nschubach · · Score: 1

      Agree here. I use Eclispe/Aptana whenever I need to work on the web. It's far, far better than ASP.NET throwing all kinds of crap on my page and Visual Studio is just not built for "regular" web development (IMHO.)

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    26. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not the GP but while VC++'s code facilities suck, it's unmatched for debugging and profiling. I like Eclipse a lot too, but usually only use it for Java. Both are good IDEs.

    27. Re:Open source vs proprietary by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      There's also nothing wrong with proprietary executables, expect maybe for OSS geeks. We can have them both. Instead of attacking proprietary software and companies like Microsoft by saying they're the root of evil, MAKE BETTER SOFTWARE. Let the quality show how good choice OSS is.

      To just flat-out say "there's nothing wrong with proprietary executables" is ignoring his main point, and doing nothing to counter it. It's not that OSS is *necessarily* a better way of working, it's that closed-source software *takes away your freedom to use the software*. Proprietary software leaves you at the mercy of the existence and will of the manufacturer to continue to support it, and not do anything evil to you.

    28. Re:Open source vs proprietary by microbee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have to teach them how to use it and advise them of its limitations daily.

      Yes, open source software doesn't require teaching. Just tell the uers to RTFM.

    29. Re:Open source vs proprietary by nschubach · · Score: 2

      That's really a bad analogy though. The software industry is rampant with patents, but beer is an age old process where most methods have been released to the public. Could you imagine if beer companies started patenting bottle colors, barrel designs, methods for distilling grain, etc.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    30. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Heian-794 · · Score: 1

      ... location tracking will always be possible. That's why there are laws that restrict access to such records.

      Are there? A week or so ago, a boy taking the entrance exam for the University of Kyoto tried to cheat by sneaking his cell phone into the exam room, posting questions on the Japanese equivalent of Yahoo Answers, and getting answers from the internet hive-mind.

      You'd think that being caught would just invalidate his test and havie him kicked out, but in fact the ridiculously-overzealous police then charged him with the crime of "obstruction of business", They then found the boy a few days later all the way up at his home in Sendai (hope he's OK now, quake-wise) using his cell phone GPS records.

      Did the police get a warrant from a judge so that they could obtain that information? Who knows? Given how quickly they got it, and the total lack of debate of the legality of this in the press afterward, no one seems to care.

      There are only laws to restrict access to this kind of tracking because the police departments of the world choose to let those laws stand. Given how ignorant the average person is to this kind of thing, I worry that the indifferent majority will crush the concerned majority.

    31. Re:Open source vs proprietary by somersault · · Score: 1

      I'd say it's not that hard to do decent graphics programming, especially with the raw power of today's graphics cards, and the open source engines already available - it's more the modelling and texturing that is the problem.

      I suppose you could say that it is hard enough for most artists to make a living without working for free on top of that. Young artists would probably be happy to work for free to gain exposure, but any musician or graphic artist who already has started to achieve success isn't so likely to want to work for free. It's probably the same case with a lot of programmers too.. apparently the vast majority of popular open source projects are actually driven by paid developers anyway..

      --
      which is totally what she said
    32. Re:Open source vs proprietary by DrgnDancer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Stallman's answer to that would be "It's doesn't matter". He has regularly and without the least sense of irony said that he would always rather use "worse" Free Software than "better" closed software. This is fine in my opinion, it's his computer and he can put whatever he likes on it. The telling bit is here: "The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem." As soon as one side of the debate has labeled the other side "evil", the entire concept of "debate" is becoming worthless. This is the problem with Stallman as an advocate. He's got no shades of gray. Fanatics make terrible representatives for a cause, because in a world with billions of people, the chance to get even part of what you want, without some sorts of compromise, is non-existent.

      Some would argue "Well that's silly, obviously he's gotten some of what he wants look how popular certain free software projects are." I'd argue that this has happened largely in spite of Stallman, not becasue of him. It's only since guys like Eric Raymond started the more compromise oriented "Open Source" philosophy (strange to think of ESR as a compromiser, but by comparison he is), and guys like Torvalds have written popular FOSS software in a non-political way; that FOSS has started getting traction.

      As as side note, Stallman could care less about the lack of a VS equivalent; or whether or not Eclipse is worse, comparable, or better than VS. If you ever read him describe how he uses a computer, it more or less froze in the 1970s. He uses almost exclusively text and terminal based tools. Last I heard he doesn't even use the internet beyond FTP (for posting the stuff he writes), mail, and USENET; and he get the mail and USENET from a periodic UUCP connection.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    33. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As usual, you are totally missing most of the point with Free software. It is a tax dodge.

      However, if you want to donate software to your own non-profit society and get a tax receipt for some millions of dollars and not get audited and denied by the taxman, then you got to walk the walk and talk the talk. RMS is good at that, so stop giving him grief.

    34. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does Billy the Boy remind anyone of Sopsa, et al?

    35. Re:Open source vs proprietary by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1

      The funny thing is MS Office isn't 100% compatible with itself. Older document versions don't always open the same.

      They don't even always have to be older versions. Sometimes documents opened by the same version of MSOffice will be displayed differently. OOo and its variants are, if anything, more consistent than MSOffice, and it certainly is compatible with more formats.

      But preservation of formatting just is not that critical in an editor. Anyone who really needs an (almost) unbreakable display format should use PDF or PS.

    36. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With closed source programs you are:

      • Never sure what they're doing

      Disassemble it; attach a debugger; check function imports; log important API calls.

      • Unable to adapt them to your needs

      Inject a shared library; rewrite assembly; attach a new code section.

      • Unable to share them with other people (sharing being a virtue, not a vice)

      Granted, if you're subject to or care about relevant laws.

    37. Re:Open source vs proprietary by JWW · · Score: 1

      Damn, I wish I had mod points. Epic post!

    38. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Ephemeriis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And the social problem of non-free software? People do not care

      Not the point. The point is that they should, and Stallman is trying to make that happen.

      The obvious question is why should they? Just because we're geeks and we care about such things doesn't mean that they're actually important.

      Sure, it's good to have the source... It's nice to be able to see how things work, to make sure that they're doing the job we think they are, etc., etc. But that doesn't mean it's actually important to everyone that their software (and associated electronic devices) be open source.

      I doubt Stallman cares about every little detail about things he uses but isn't that interested in. When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works.

      You know what, I think Stallman does care whether his microwave has a microphone in it, that he is not allowed to control. And I think he cares about whether his sneakers have a GPS that will not let him decide when it is off or on. I even think you do.

      I think you're being a bit obtuse here...

      The point is that Stallman probably doesn't insist on full schematics for his microwave. He probably doesn't ask for the complete recipe for the TV dinner he's nuking. He probably doesn't tour the facility where the TV dinner (and/or microwave) was built. He probably doesn't check to make sure that the cows that were used to make the leather for his sneakers were free-range and humanely slaughtered.

      Obviously covert surveillance is something to be at least vaguely concerned about... And a cell phone could be put to that use... But that isn't the point that's being made. The point is that everybody cannot pry into the intimate details of everything involved in their lives.

      RMS is passionate about software and thinks it should all be free. That's fine for him. The average human being doesn't care. They just want to be able to turn on a computer and check their email and waste time on Facebook.

      Other people are passionate about animals, or cooking, or cars, or sewing, or art, or carpentry, or gardening, or whatever... And they'll tell say you really ought to do things a certain way... And that way may very well be superior and better for everyone involved... But the average human being just doesn't care.

      People would be alarmed, if every book came with surveillance technology and screamed bloody murder if it came near a photo copier. The 'political arm' of the free software movement is saying you should be equally alarmed with the current state of affairs.

      See, that's the thing though... Most people wouldn't be alarmed if every book came with surveillance technology and screamed bloody murder if it came near a photo copier.

      Some individuals - like school teachers - would have a problem with it. They'd want some kind of bypass or educational license or something so that they could make copies for students...

      But your average person doesn't care all that much about books. Seriously. As long as they can pick up a novel and read it, they'd be happy.

      --
      "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
    39. Re:Open source vs proprietary by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 2

      Speaking of laws, reverse engineering is a breach of license terms for just about every closed source application. That's why they're closed in the first place. So your answer to the problem is "break laws". Good plan, AC.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    40. Re:Open source vs proprietary by PhilHibbs · · Score: 2

      Oh, come on. We've been here before. Stallman loves to talk shit.

      You don't change the world by being meek, mild, and reasonable.

    41. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Borland · · Score: 1

      I use Libre Office quite a bit too, but it's not necessarily easier to use -- even with a cold start and no prior training in MS Word. If you are advising students of the limitations of Word vs Libre Office then you are interjecting as much personal belief as fact I think. I prefer Libre Office because it's free, and absent student discounts I do not use Word Processing software often enough to justify paying for Office.

    42. Re:Open source vs proprietary by erroneus · · Score: 2

      My point of mentioning that was not to show that F/OSS is superior for learning, but to show that I know from first-hand experience how typical users find MS Office to be frustrating. I, actually, don't find MS Office to be frustrating -- I have been all over it and know its ins and outs well enough that I actually don't notice its shortcomings. I just know what it does and doesn't do and leave it at that. To remain frustrated with MS Office is like being pissed off that I can't fly with my own wings. It's not a feature I was born with and that's that -- same as MS Office.

      Users have to learn these lessons too and it does frustrate them when they can't do something or don't easily understand something. (And heaven help them when they break a table of contents structure and want to piece the links back together again...)

    43. Re:Open source vs proprietary by jedidiah · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      It's amazing how the Lemmings can turn this into something about Microsoft. Although that sort of brand fetish is part of the problem.

      The sort of regime that RMS is complaining about now doesn't even allow for the likes of WinDOS. This is a new level of restriction above the old school problem of just the applications being proprietary. At least something like a kludge clone is a device that's in your control and you can run anything you want on it. The proverbial "off switch" is still under your control.

      The new regime even strips of of freedoms a WinDOS user would be accustomed to.

      Namely the freedom to run whatever program you want (free or not).

      This also makes it a lot easier for platform vendors to control and distort standards regarding user data.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    44. Re:Open source vs proprietary by old+man+moss · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I went to a talk by Richard Stallman in London last week where he discussed this issue and others. Whilst you are free to disagree with him, I think it is short-sighted to disregard his arguments as "shit", since they are perfectly rational. As he said in his talk - it is too late to worry about surveillance after your government has gone bad: now is the time to do something about it... assuming you think you are currently free.

      --
      rt
    45. Re:Open source vs proprietary by return+42 · · Score: 2

      Or even better, LaTeX. Designed by one of the best computer scientists in the world to give consistent results no matter what. 100% integer calculations, nothing device-dependent.

    46. Re:Open source vs proprietary by uradu · · Score: 1

      Agree 100%! That's the thing with this man: while possibly brilliant in some respects, his entire world is so foreign to what most people are familiar or could ever be comfortable with. I still expect him to cut off his ear one of these days...

    47. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Politburo · · Score: 1

      Breaking a license agreement is not breaking the law. And as you are no doubt aware, the enforceability of various license terms in civil court is unclear, and reverse engineering in certain contexts has been found to be a fair use.

    48. Re:Open source vs proprietary by nedlohs · · Score: 2

      GNU/Linux you heathen scum.

    49. Re:Open source vs proprietary by pinkushun · · Score: 2

      The 'games problem' comes full circle: GFX Hardware and drivers were signed to large corps to ensure profit, as such they were only developed for these closed proprietary systems.

      This only allowed those in bed together, to access the technical specs needed to develop these cool graphics drivers.
      That is why, to this day, FOSS systems suffer this effect; progress on this front was locked down to a certain sector only.

      Cases in point, only for two companies, there are many others, this is just a subset to strengthen my point:

      - (2000) NVIDIA Licenses Breakthrough 3D Technology to Microsoft:
      http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_20010613_6025.html

      - (1998) NVIDIA and Microsoft Jointly Promote DirectX 6.0 at GDC:
      http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_20020114_4700.html

      - (2002) NVIDIA Announces Co-development of Microsoft DirectX 6.0:
      http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_20020114_4871.html

      - (2002) Microsoft lauds NVIDIA's commitment to DirectX:
      http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_20020114_4700.html

      - (2009) NVIDIA Collaborates With Microsoft:
      http://www.nvidia.com/object/io_1234354371335.html

    50. Re:Open source vs proprietary by hawkinspeter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think RMS viewpoint is more about people's freedom, rather than open source being a better software methodology.

      By just comparing software on how well it works, you're missing out on the whole ethics side of the argument.

      I can't think of a car analogy, but here's a vegetable analogy. It's like comparing organic produce with non-organic produce and saying that organic farming is a waste of time as the tomatoes are smaller and until organic farming can produce bigger tomatoes than non-organic farming, it's a waste of time.

      --
      You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
    51. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You speak of the 'plan' as if it's not already in effect. Most commercial programs have been privately vetted for the most part.

      Furthermore...
      (1) only applicable to US
      (2) EULA isn't necessarily 100% enforceable there anyway
      (3) amount of people sued on such grounds are far less than have been arrested for jaywalking
      (4) nobody knows unless you're stupid
      (5) few people care about breaking some minor laws (dmca isn't minor and it only had minor impact on those REing copyright protection)

    52. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Draek · · Score: 2

      Fanatics make terrible representatives for a cause, because in a world with billions of people, the chance to get even part of what you want, without some sorts of compromise, is non-existent.

      Obligatory XKCD.

      The problems of "compromising" is that far too often, all you get is to screw over the views of both sides of the debate. Sometimes the world really is black and white.

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
    53. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As they said about Mussolini "at least the trains now run on time". People generally prefer dictatorships because they generally work better, which is virtually every business is strictly hierarchical, and why people all over the world buy Apple products. There isn't anything really wrong with that, it's just how humans are. We just have to be open about the costs of this preference. Stallman is right that we've given up a vast amount of information about ourselves by the technological choices we make.

    54. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm surprised to see this kind of talk on /. Especially after the article yesterday that the DHS collected more data in a single day than the library of congress holds. Are we really to think that the NSA spent billions of dollars on data interception, storage and mining only to shut it all down because silly congress passed some law. Of course not. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn all American's calls, emails, texts and locations were being stored and data-mined by the NSA. Stallman is probably one of the few who actually has a solid grasp of the situation we're in.

    55. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Syberghost · · Score: 0

      He only eats Open Source food from under his own toenails.

    56. Re:Open source vs proprietary by binarylarry · · Score: 1

      Eclipse CDT's C++ debugging and profiling tools have gotten much nicer in the past couple of releases.

      And Eclipse actually works on any platform, big big plus IMO.

      --
      Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
    57. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firstly, breaching a license isn't the same as breaking a law.

      Secondly, how enforceable are the EULAs?

      Thirdly, reverse engineering software often doesn't involve agreeing to an EULA (although sometimes it will - depends on the techniques used), so it's often not even breaching a license.

    58. Re:Open source vs proprietary by zeroshade · · Score: 1

      Disassemble it; attach a debugger; check function imports; log important API calls.

      Much proprietary software prevents this from the average engineer. Unless you're trained in reverse engineering and circumventing the many ways there are to prevent your program from being debugged, simply "dissassemble and attach a debugger" won't help much.

    59. Re:Open source vs proprietary by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2

      Yes, open source software doesn't require teaching. Just tell the uers to RTFM.

      At least with OO.o / Libre Office, you don't have to pay for the privilege.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    60. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're talking about the guy that doesn't browse the internet. He's completely disconnected with reality. It's no wonders he doesn't own a cellphone, he's a social shut-in.

    61. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Kid+Zero · · Score: 1

      Stallman's more like the boy who cried wolf; he just hasn't been eaten yet.

    62. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Americano · · Score: 4, Interesting

      MS Office is a frustrating and infuriating product for my users. I have to teach them how to use it and advise them of its limitations daily. MS Office is not "the best thing" out there.

      What software, in your opinion, is "better" than MS Office that's available today? It may not be the "best of all possible software packages," but it certainly seems to be the "best office package available on the market today."

      I've used OO.o and LibreOffice, and while they do an adequate job for most word processing needs I have, I certainly wouldn't call them any "better" than Office. And then there's also the question of advanced features that Office has - they may only be used by 1% of the company, but when you're making a choice for an "enterprise-wide" package, you choose the one that fits all (or "the most") of your needs - support & rollout costs far exceed the licensing costs, and OO.o/LibreOffice will require ongoing support just as much as MS Office - trying to buy MS Office for the "advanced" users while rolling out OO.o for the basic users also means that:

      1) You don't get as good a bulk deal on enterprise licensing;
      2) You have to pay to support TWO software packages;

      If your company has a need (even in a small proportion of users) for the advanced features of Office, you'll probably end up paying just as much to rollout Office to your whole company as you would trying to rollout and support a blend of MS and OO.o tools.

    63. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very well said.

    64. Re:Open source vs proprietary by hawkinspeter · · Score: 1

      It might be fun to point and laugh at the "funny looking" man who doesn't wear shoes and dress up smart to give talks, but you're focussing on the man and not the ideas.

      He is very rational and has very good reasons behind everything he says. Whether or not you agree with him is less important than THINKING about the issues that he raises.

      --
      You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
    65. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Ultra64 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I wish that you could see the intensity with which I just rolled my eyes while reading your comment.

    66. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless you're dealing with crap like SecuROM then the most normal programs do is check for IsDebuggerPresent, or a few other sneaky detection methods... and those were dealt with in the beginning either manually or generically by plugins such as PhantOm.

    67. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stop calling it a pony. It's a GNU-Pony.

    68. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK so I know it's harder, but c'mon, it's still possible ;). Everyone hates it when people speak in absolutes...

    69. Re:Open source vs proprietary by slim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is the problem with Stallman as an advocate. He's got no shades of gray. Fanatics make terrible representatives for a cause, because in a world with billions of people, the chance to get even part of what you want, without some sorts of compromise, is non-existent.

      I think hardliners (to pick a word without the connotations of "fanatic" or "extremist") are quite useful in achieving a compromise.

      I spent my youth disagreeing with hard-line Welsh nationalists, but I've come to realise that without their extreme demands (which they have not achieved), the Welsh language would have been killed by London-led government policy. I think the moderate situation we have now is about right, but it wouldn't have come about without the hardliners demanding something stronger.

      Likewise, I'm glad of hard-line anti-war campaigners. I know there are situations on the global stage where the last resort of armed conflict becomes appropriate -- but I want peaceful resolution to be pursued wherever possible, so I'm grateful that there's a lobby demanding there be no war under any circumstances.

    70. Re:Open source vs proprietary by TapeCutter · · Score: 1, Troll

      If RMS was really interested in other people's freedom he would not be trying to stop them from growing non-organic tomatoes.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    71. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So what's your point? You can't complain about something that's wrong, if you don't complain about everything that's wrong?

      Stallman himself has said that there are more important issues than free software, but, since he's a software guy, he talks about software.

      The whole "How can you talk about A, when there's B in the world?" is just cheap rhetoric.

      And just as a FYI, here's Stallman on hardware: http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=1999-06-22-005-05-NW-LF

    72. Re:Open source vs proprietary by abigor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The first three posters in this thread have brand new, nearly consecutive uids and are sitting around agreeing with one another about proprietary software and MS. Just saying.

    73. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      When one share's a book with another person, one does not have access to the book until it is returned. Please explain how "sharing" software will work. Explain how only one copy of the work will exist if you "share" it with, say, Stallman.

      As for such complaints as "unable to adapt them to your needs" and "never sure what they are doing", tell you what you do: Either write it yourself or go pay someone to write it for you.

      . A computer is a general purpose device, shouldn't a user/owner be able (within their technical bounds) to make it do what they want?

      This is about the most foolish comment you could have made. If the user/owner technical bounds allow him to adapt programs to his needs, then the user/owner has the technical abilities to create his own software thus alleviating his need to use proprietary software. Put simply in deference to you and RMS, if one can actually make use of the freedoms of free software, one does not need to use proprietary software.

      If you and stall man are going to rubbish proprietary software, at least make a rational argument on how it is better for Joe Average User with no programming and development skills or interests rather than bleating on about how much freedom it provides everyone when most everyone could not exercise said freedom. The point is very simple: FLOSS really doesn't provide anymore freedom to 90% of computer users than proprietary software and proprietary software provides a much more usable product. If you don't like proprietary software, don't use it, shut the fuck up and and stop whining that proprietary software still exists.

      To be blunt, the only reason I can see for RMS and his acolytes to keep whining about the existence of proprietary software is that they KNOW that the proprietary software is more popular and useful than the FLOSS offerings and want to be able to use the proprietary software but can't because doing so goes against their principles. RMS and companies complaints are nothing more than sour grapes.

    74. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stallman riding a pony? I thought he rode a GNU?

    75. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 1

      FLOSS software prevents this for the average user. Understanding of the source code requires training in programming in whatever language it is written.

    76. Re:Open source vs proprietary by chemicaldave · · Score: 2

      It might be far fetched to convince people to stop using cell phones, but at least it's the right move. Instead of arguing that producers should make their code open to ensure that tracking isn't possible and all that hullabaloo, he's decided to take the easy road and just not use one. Are people glossing over this bit of information?

    77. Re:Open source vs proprietary by hawkinspeter · · Score: 2

      That makes absolutely no sense.

      --
      You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
    78. Re:Open source vs proprietary by DrXym · · Score: 1
      Eclipse is great although it can get horribly busy and fragile just from tossing in a few plugins. One major issue I constantly face is running out of permgenspace or encountering plugins that insist on Eclipse running from full path specified JDK + JRE to function.

      Netbeans is decent IDE too. Much cleaner than Eclipse but suffering in other ways especiall on large projects where you might have more than one thing to debug. One incredibly frustrating about both is how orthogonal they can be sometimes. E.g. Netbeans has great integrated maven support but the XML editor is awful, conversely Eclipse has useless Maven support but m2eclipse plugin is pretty great. Netbeans has a dreadful code formatter & refactoring, but it's great at editing UIs. Eclipse has a fantastic code formatting / refactoring but abysmal editor. Sometimes you have to use both to accomplish a single task.

      For C++ development I haven't tried Eclipse but it looks passable, certainly better than nothing. I think QT creator also has potential depending on what you're making. I think C++ development on Linux would be massively more pleasant if gcc were dumped for clang and gdb for a LLVM source level debugger.

    79. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works.

      I doubt his TV dinner is open sourced either. Most people would be (or, at least, ought to be) more concerned about what's in their food that what's in their software.

      Actually, it's well known that he eats almost exclusively organically raised, handfed ponies.

      Sorry, couldn't resist.

    80. Re:Open source vs proprietary by emj · · Score: 4, Insightful

      15 year old mobile phones could be recycled if you could modify the software.

      So I think you need the whole spectrum of views, it's good that we have someone who is very vocal about software freedom, I think RMS be even more hardline just to counterbalance. I too have been annoyed by the unfree software in mobile phones, I have 10 year old Sony Ericsson phones that would be useful if I could modify the software.

    81. Re:Open source vs proprietary by DrgnDancer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, the best compromise is one in which neither side is happy. 99.99% of the population is unable or unwilling to use a computer the way Stallman uses a computer. The Freedom provided to them by the availability of source is largely immaterial to them. They can't read it, and don't really want to be able to. They don't mind giving up that Freedom in exchange for usable, useful software. Even those of us who can read and understand the source code can find value in giving up the right to do so in exchange for better, more useful, or more fun software. Even as someone who can write, understand, and modify source code, and someone who often uses OSS software; I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually modified someone else's code before using the their software. On each of those occasions I'd have been just as happy if I'd just been given a binary blob that hadn't required it.

      That said, if Stallman (or you for that matter) wants to use exclusively Free software I have no problem with it. I've made my choice to use a combination of OSS and commercial software depending on what works better. He's made his choice to use exclusively Free software regardless of what works better. Both are valid choices for an individual to make. My problem with Stallman is that he actually wants to remove that choice. He wants to free me by process of removing my choice to be non-free. I'd be just unhappy with a proprietary software company trying to take away my right an ability to use Free software.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    82. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He is harming peoples freedom by trying to convince them to do things his way?

      Seriously? He isn't allowed to talk? Why are you harming his freedom?

    83. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You still have to grow up.

    84. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Jorl17 · · Score: 1

      I actually think there are good alternatives all you said, but some times the proprietary counterpart is better, albeit Windows-centric (or, as a friend would say: lus3r-ce3ntr1c)...

      To me, the problem lies in intrinsic properties of the FOSS community, which has too much negative inner conflict.

      --
      Have you heard about SoylentNews?
    85. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Hatta · · Score: 1

      I doubt Stallman cares about every little detail about things he uses but isn't that interested in. When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works.

      Why wouldn't you want to reprogram your microwave? You could have a defrost program that uses constant power at first, but cuts back as you reach the end of the program. Or you could hack in a thermometer, and cook until a desired temperature. You could put in a delay timer, so you could put a piece of squash in in the morning and it would be ready for dinner when you got home. Or you could jack up the power and make bigger plasma balls.

      It says more about you that you haven't thought of the possibilities of what you could do with the many various computers you have, if you could just replace their source code.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    86. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's interesting you should bring that up.

      I once asked Richard Stallman what he thinks about the hardware industry, and if he thinks there should be an open source *hardware* movement as there has been for software. I wondered, at the very least, why there isn't more of a push for open source drivers and hardware design specs. Sure, most people can't assemble a video card in their garage, but I felt that with the advent of DRM hardware and the like it might be important to at least think about.

      But he just kind of brushed the issue aside--said it wasn't all that important. True, the difficulty of building hardware at home is a limiting issue there, but perhaps there could also be a business model for open source hardware manufacturing. But then again, just open source != libre, so he doesn't care. But I'd disagree with him that it's a nonissue.

      [Also, while I was talking to him he sat down, took his shoes and socks off, and started picking lint out from between his toes, as if to show how little he cared. True story! I have the utmost respect for his intellect and the things he's accomplished, but he's clearly a bit autistic and has a single-track mind.]

    87. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The difference is that the telephone has a microphone and gps already, for good reason. But that is not a good reason not to let the end user control those...

      You're right! Quick everyone let's start using landlines again. After all NO ONE could tell where you were calling from then.

    88. Re:Open source vs proprietary by HeckRuler · · Score: 2

      Oh come on, trying to get everyone to stop using mobile phones is a little bit far fetched. It's also not like you can make the cell phone technology in any other way, location tracking will always be possible.

      Well, yes, but only when you explicitly allow them to, as opposed to covertly tracking you even if the phone is set to "airplane mode" or simply off. Right now, they can. And that's a matter of who is making and controlling the mobile market. Mobile devices are here to stay, but our metaphorical Stalin would much rather you use a state-controlled phone as opposed to hardware and software that you control.

      And not everyone has to craft their own cell phone and compile their own kernal, the ABILITY to do so means that suits (ideally) won't be able to abuse their users without them jumping ship to the awesome version.

    89. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Yusaku+Godai · · Score: 1

      Argh. Above was me. Did not mean to be cowardly.

    90. Re:Open source vs proprietary by VMaN · · Score: 1

      "As as side note, Stallman could care less about the lack of a VS equivalent; ..."

      No he couldn't.

    91. Re:Open source vs proprietary by LordLimecat · · Score: 0

      The point is that they should, and Stallman is trying to make that happen

      Im not sure when it happened, but around the time Stallman started demanding that the world as we know it cease to function, he went from "insightful" to "loon".

    92. Re:Open source vs proprietary by CheerfulMacFanboy · · Score: 1

      With closed source programs you are:

      • Never sure what they're doing
      • Unable to adapt them to your needs

      And with FOSS you can be sure what they are doing only if you check every single LOC for yourself. Relying on somebody else doing that job for you will doom you. And for adapting you often need to dig deep into the code - and good luck keeping your little fork up to date.

      --
      Fandroids hate facts.
    93. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just saying, the tracking problem could easily be solved by making it impossible, technically or legally, to use more than 1 tower at a time for a single phone.

    94. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      it's more the modelling and texturing that is the problem. I suppose you could say that it is hard enough for most artists to make a living without working for free on top of that. Young artists would probably be happy to work for free to gain exposure

      Only if they're self-taught or if it's a hobby. 2D and 3D artists in college are instructed to refrain from doing any work for free, lest they never make money.

    95. Re:Open source vs proprietary by DrgnDancer · · Score: 1

      This is actually an interesting and valid point. I may have rethink my view of Stallman to some extent. None the less one must continue to argue against the hardliners on either side to keep the debate mostly in the middle.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    96. Re:Open source vs proprietary by bravo_2_0 · · Score: 1

      Yes but Mussolini didn't make the trains run on time, he just convinced people that they were. The Italian people knew the trains weren't running on time because they were the ones who were sitting around waiting for them but they still accepted him and to this day the falicy is still quoted. Now the train service did improve remarkebly after the first world war but all of that happened before Mussolini came to power but he still claimed it was thanks to him.

      Basically people will believe what the government tells them even when they know it isn't true. Maybe believe is the wrong word but they will accept what they are told even in the face of the obvious.

      --
      I AM A SEXY SHOELESS GOD OF WAR!!!
    97. Re:Open source vs proprietary by gknoy · · Score: 1

      When one share's a book with another person, one does not have access to the book until it is returned. Please explain how "sharing" software will work. Explain how only one copy of the work will exist if you "share" it with, say, Stallman

      When things are infinitely reproducible with nearly-zero cost (limited only by the cost of infrastructure, electricity, and so on), why should copying something be bad? The only reason people care about copying is because most haven't figured out how to monetize the creation of art (music, books, software, cars) without enforcing scarcity and forcing consumers to pay for their copy of it.

    98. Re:Open source vs proprietary by dotancohen · · Score: 1

      The first three posters in this thread have brand new, nearly consecutive uids and are sitting around agreeing with one another about proprietary software and MS. Just saying.

      Twitter's back?

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
    99. Re:Open source vs proprietary by sosume · · Score: 1

      If you are insisting on being able to do this, moving to a country with more freedom is always an option.

    100. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of the open source engines are based on outdated code that was provided by id almost a decade ago. There is no open source engine that is even remotely close to CryEngine, id Tech 5 or the last few iterations of the Unreal engine.

    101. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I doubt his TV dinner is open sourced either.

      No, but it is open-sauced!
       
      I'm sorry.

    102. Re:Open source vs proprietary by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 3, Funny

      we welcome our sequential-serial-number bearing fake-grass-roots posters.

      we really do.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    103. Re:Open source vs proprietary by kelemvor4 · · Score: 1

      And the social problem of non-free software? People do not care. They never have, they never will. I doubt Stallman cares about every little detail about things he uses but isn't that interested in. When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works. When Stallman goes to his weekly pony riding classes, he just wants a pony that works without going into every mundane detail. Some little girl could think that Stallman is evil because he doesn't raise, feed and have the pony at his home as part of the family, but while Stallman doesn't have time to raise a pony, he wants to ride one. That's when you take what's easy for you without going in to details.

      I couldn't disagree more that non free software is a social problem, or any other kind of problem for that matter. Why is there inherently something wrong with creating a piece of software and selling it. If I created a piece of clothing with a sewing machine, then sold the clothing would he oppose that as well? Now, the current laws about patenting "concepts" are completely out of control, but that's a whole separate discussion. Free software is fine, as is non free software if you choose to purchase it. I suppose what would make Stallman happy would be for everyone to learn assembler in primary school and write their own software for anything they wanted to do? Of course then you've got the problem for which architecture to teach :)

    104. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The logical conclusion of a free software movement is the elimination of professional programmers, which quite frankly is one of the stupidest ideas out there.

      Civilization was founded on socialization + cooperation, and the economic efficiency benefits inherent to that system. The shoe maker can use a hammer without having to smith one himself. The farmer can protect her feet from animal droppings with shoes without having to cobble them herself. The blacksmith can eat meat without having to raise the animals himself.

      All of those specialists trade their valuable skills for currency which they can then triad to other specialists for the use of that specialists valuables skills.

      Software design and development is a valuable skill. If all software were free, that would require that everyone who uses software be a programmer because there's no incentive for a specialized programmer who writes software to solve other people's problems in exchange for currency. Instead everyone who needs (or wants) a software tool has to write it themselves, or hope they know someone who has for some unrelated reason written something that solves the same problem.

      That is why software will never and should not be free.

      A better goal would be increasing technological knowledge among general society. So while not everyone needs to be a programmer, they could have some knowledge of how software works (like how the shoe maker knows that hammers are pounded out on anvils, even if he doesn't know enough of the details to do it himself).

    105. Re:Open source vs proprietary by kvezach · · Score: 1

      It's also not like you can make the cell phone technology in any other way, location tracking will always be possible.

      Sure you could. Use a mixmaster type network on top. The first tower will see some unspecified mobile phone doing something unknown (because the payload is inside the encrypted envelope), the second tower will see something either encrypted or decrypted coming from the first tower, and so on down. Communication in the other direction would be done by the initiator specifying which tower he's using, then the other person creates a mixnet route ending at that tower. The lag might suck, but it would be *possible*, and without traffic analysis, the first tower could only track unspecified mobile phones (no IDs or anything).

    106. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Ectospheno · · Score: 1

      Whilst you are free to disagree with him, I think it is short-sighted to disregard his arguments as "shit", since they are perfectly rational.

      I don't know about the OP, but my problem with Stallman has nothing to do with his sanity or his ideology. What annoys me most about him is that for some reason people still find his comments newsworthy. There are plenty of odd people on earth who spout crazy all day long. I fully support their right to exist and their right to spout crazy all day long. I just wish Richard's comments were reported at the same frequency as all of the other crazies.

    107. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sopsa... and all the other aliases he's been creating.

    108. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So do you drive a car? Because you're using a device with non-free software and it probably has a built in GPS even if you're not paying for service.

    109. Re:Open source vs proprietary by layabout · · Score: 2

      Stallman is not about people's freedom. I had a dustup with him a few months ago on accessibility issues. Today, the only way to provide accessible system is to start with a proprietary package for text to speech or speech recognition then with proper bridge code, you can make a connection to an open source system and use it as your computing base. Tried to get support for doing this with Emacs (VR-mode) and was soundly rebuffed by the Emacs community and Stallman himself. At the end of the conversation, I was left with the official stance that disabled people are less important than free software. That if there was going to be any disabled support, they would have to wait until the free software community got around to doing what they needed even if it was going to take the better part of a decade. This is unacceptable. The disabled person has as much right to use free software as any other person even if the hands or eyes have been replaced by self-contained proprietary module. It does not make sense to force potential advocates and talent down a path of end to end proprietary solutions when there is a hybrid solution that would let them move to open-source incrementally. The needs of the human should never be subordinate to any form of technology. Technology is here to serve us.

    110. Re:Open source vs proprietary by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      Don't be silly, since when does open source software have a usable FM? The appropriate response is RTFS.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    111. Re:Open source vs proprietary by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 1

      Well, RMS has been in the game for quite some time. It's understandable how, seeing Microsoft's antics, the failure that Android was as a FOSS mobile operating system, Sony's crap and a bunch of other examples for years and years might induce a us v. them mentality. I know I have my extremist moments when a stupid airline or bank won't work on anything but IE.

    112. Re:Open source vs proprietary by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That is why the law requires a list of the things in food to be on the packet. The process used to create food has be largely open and subject to rigorous standards too.

      Okay, people still eat shit for breakfast but look where that has got us. I think most people would accept that making people more aware of what they eat and how to stay healthy and at a sensible weight is a good thing.

      Similarly if people don't care that their personal data is being logged and sold or that their phone can be used to spy on them then maybe we should try to do something about it.

      Also, WTF Slashdot, modding up the "x is worse than y, therefore who cares about y" argument? Yeah, kids are starving in Africa but this stuff still matters.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    113. Re:Open source vs proprietary by surgen · · Score: 1

      Not the point. The point is that they should, and Stallman is trying to make that happen. I am not saying he is going about it in the best way (I'd would say that Eben Moglen is, more or less).

      I'd go even further, listening to Stallman's bullshit makes people who care about freedom not care so much about software freedom.

    114. Re:Open source vs proprietary by nabsltd · · Score: 0

      Whilst you are free to disagree with him, I think it is short-sighted to disregard his arguments as "shit", since they are perfectly rational.

      No, they aren't rational. A rational argument from such a "smart" person would include the design for a portable communications system that does not have the "flaws" that he is whining about.

      Instead of actually doing something with open source software and hardware, he just talks a lot. Basically, until Stallman comes up with an alternative to current cellphones that fit his model, he's just a well-known, loud-mouthed crackpot.

      BTW, does anybody have know when the last time his name was on the "commit" of any open source project?

    115. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      > A lot of people hate it when people speak in absolutes...

      FTFY

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    116. Re:Open source vs proprietary by slim · · Score: 1

      The logical conclusion of a free software movement is the elimination of professional programmers,

      Let me stop you right there, halfway through your first sentence.

      There are lots of professional programmers, writing free software for a living.

      Even if that were not the case, lots of "progress" has eliminated certain jobs. I believe the buggy-whip manufacturer is the usual one to cite.

    117. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you steal the latter paragraph of your post off of the video where Stallman eats something he picked from between his toes, or were you actually there at the time? Search YouTube if you don't believe me.

    118. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Not the point. The point is that they should, and Stallman is trying to make that happen.

      I'll bite. Why should I care? Give me the elevator pitch. Try not to use any lies or paranoid delusions.

    119. Re:Open source vs proprietary by kevinmenzel · · Score: 2

      And your solution to this is?

    120. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Timmmm · · Score: 1

      > Stallman could care less about the lack of a VS equivalent

      *Twitch*

      I agree that he could care a lot less than he does. In fact I've heard it is one of the things that he cares most about.

    121. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Rizimar · · Score: 1

      On the contrary, he makes and packages his own TV dinners. Rumor has it that he uses found Lunchables trays and fills them with mushrooms and potatoes that he grows in his back yard. These dinners are a part of his open dieting plan that he calls "Gnutrition".

    122. Re:Open source vs proprietary by pD-brane · · Score: 1

      Sure, it's good to have the source... It's nice to be able to see how things work, to make sure that they're doing the job we think they are, etc., etc. But that doesn't mean it's actually important to everyone that their software (and associated electronic devices) be open source.

      This might be so, but this is not just about having the source code. It is about user freedom, as Stallman would put it. You might make a similar argument for free software, but that is less trivial. Then you will touch upon something fundamental like user freedom, which more people might care about than you now presume in your current argument.

    123. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1, Funny

      If only quality were the determining factor. It's not and rarely ever is.

      Maybe not, but it would be nice if the open source community actually produced better software anyway.

    124. Re:Open source vs proprietary by hawkinspeter · · Score: 0

      That's an interesting post. I disagree that RMS isn't about people's freedom - he's just refusing to compromise on the licensing to allow proprietary software to "piggyback" onto GPL code.

      I agree that it's a shame that the accessibility components aren't available in GPL form, but he's not affecting your right to use free software, it's just that you may not have the capabilities to use it.

      The problem with the hybrid solution would be that it opens the door to allowing all kinds of proprietary software to interface with GPL code without respecting the license.

      To be honest, I'm not quite sure how a "self-contained" proprietary module can't be used with free software unless it requires to be linked with the GPL code, but if I had to bet money, I'd put it on RMS' interpretation of the GPL. It's a real pity that there aren't more GPL accessibility components, but it's not stopping you from using open source - you just have to go for differently licensed open source (e.g. BSD).

      --
      You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
    125. Re:Open source vs proprietary by nabsltd · · Score: 0

      The difference is that the telephone has a microphone and gps already, for good reason. But that is not a good reason not to let the end user control those

      And how would you propose to "control" the GPS on your cellphone more than you already can?

      First, if you want arbitrary access to the GPS just because it's in the phone, sorry, there's no reason for that. You bought a phone, and the cellphone company can quite reasonably say that the GPS is an "extra" you have to pay for, since it absolutely is not required to make cell phone calls.

      Second, you already do have control over what outside your phone gets access to the GPS data, so although the phone could be used to spy on your movements, it would require a court order, which you would never have any control over, anyway.

      Third, there is no way for you to control the other location information available (the cell phone tower you connect to), as that is required by the phone company to give you service.

      So, other than malicious software (which could even be open source) and court orders, you really do control any GPS that you paid for (and similarly the microphone).

    126. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Sloppy · · Score: 1

      Stallman never demanded anything; he doesn't have a gun. Stallman is trying to persuade you.

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    127. Re:Open source vs proprietary by greg1104 · · Score: 1

      If I were going to live my live and set my goals based on what the average person thinks is reasonable, I'd be reading about this week's episode of "American Idol" instead of browsing here on Slashdot. The point you're missing is that people should be able to pry into whatever level of detail they feel like on the things they own. My ability to tinker with my microwave is limited only by my electronics skills, but some types of software hacks can land you in jail. That should bother you.

      And Stallman wrote about some other reasons why software is different ten years ago using a car analogy. One reason he works on software is because it's possible to replicate it infinitely for little cost. Even if I wanted to tinker with my microwave, without some tools that cost more than a PC I couldn't really do so, and others couldn't easily adopt any improvements I made. Focusing on software gives you more leverage to really do something that impacts the world, relative to your investment, than any other type of technical work.

    128. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      Apparently the programmers should do coffee-house gigs to make their living. Oh, and sell tee-shirts.

    129. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Tranzistors · · Score: 1

      But that doesn't mean it's actually important to everyone that their software (and associated electronic devices) be open source.

      Stallman doesn't care about open source either. He cares about free software. And other stuff as well. Like privacy and other stuff people care about when asked, but not on the ground. For example, I know quite a few people how don't care about right to share information with others, bet when they end up in trail for copyright infringement, then suddenly they do care.

      And no good topic should go without Nazi reference – should you care if government would wrap up Jews in cosy camps? Or a terrorist suspect? Of course not! Because they would never do that to you.

    130. Re:Open source vs proprietary by icebraining · · Score: 1

      Disabling such check is obviously a circumvention of a technological measure to prevent access to the binary and hence it's illegal according to the DMCA anti-reverse engineering clauses. Whether it's easy or not to bypass them is irrelevant.

    131. Re:Open source vs proprietary by next_ghost · · Score: 1

      That's why the above poster said "the exact same version and patch level of MS Office". I know that crappy style system of MSO which juggles three different styles over the document (only one of which is actually part of the document) can still break the layout but it's still the only thing that has any chance to render the document exactly as its author intended.

    132. Re:Open source vs proprietary by abigor · · Score: 1

      Oh, how I wish! That guy was comedy gold.

    133. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The solution in the past (especially before copyright law was invented) was having patrons of the arts i.e. people get paid to produce stuff. Of course, a lot of people feel a need to create without a monetary incentive.

    134. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Impressive. You have missed the entire point of the free software movement.

      Civilization was founded on socialization + cooperation, and the economic efficiency benefits inherent to that system.

      Which is part of the argument for free software: writing software and then keeping it locked away makes no sense.

      Of course, the more important reason for free software is the type of issues this article discusses: so people actually know what their technology is really doing and can hire any programmer to modify it if they so desire. Yes, I said hire: most free software is written by programmers who develop it for a living.

    135. Re:Open source vs proprietary by nnull · · Score: 1

      MS Office is a frustrating and infuriating product for my users. I have to teach them how to use it and advise them of its limitations daily. MS Office is not "the best thing" out there.

      I find Openoffice/Libreoffice just as infuriating when you get to its limitations. You have to teach people how to use OO the same was you would Word. Neither OO or Word is the best thing out there, since OO is basically just copying the old interface of Word which isn't really that great to begin with.

    136. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      LaTeX. Designed by one of the best computer scientists in the world

      Leslie Lamport is one of the best computer scientists in the world??

    137. Re:Open source vs proprietary by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Which is a much lower barrier to entry. Thanks for making his point for him.

    138. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      the question of advanced features that Office has - they may only be used by 1% of the company,

      That 1% of the company would be better off, 90% of the time, not dicking around in the arcana of MS Office. There's work to get done, even if it means losing one's "guru" status because one knows all the flipper-key sequences in WordPerfect^w^wMS Office.
      .

    139. Re:Open source vs proprietary by slim · · Score: 1

      Come on, he ain't bad. I mean if you had to choose between him an Knuth to be your CS conference keynote speaker, you'd pick Knuth -- but you'd happily settle on Lamport if Knuth wasn't available.

    140. Re:Open source vs proprietary by icebraining · · Score: 1

      When one share's a book with another person, one does not have access to the book until it is returned. Please explain how "sharing" software will work. Explain how only one copy of the work will exist if you "share" it with, say, Stallman.

      First you need to explain why should we care if there is more than one copy of the work.

      This is about the most foolish comment you could have made. If the user/owner technical bounds allow him to adapt programs to his needs, then the user/owner has the technical abilities to create his own software thus alleviating his need to use proprietary software. Put simply in deference to you and RMS, if one can actually make use of the freedoms of free software, one does not need to use proprietary software.

      If you and stall man are going to rubbish proprietary software, at least make a rational argument on how it is better for Joe Average User with no programming and development skills or interests rather than bleating on about how much freedom it provides everyone when most everyone could not exercise said freedom. The point is very simple: FLOSS really doesn't provide anymore freedom to 90% of computer users than proprietary software and proprietary software provides a much more usable product. If you don't like proprietary software, don't use it, shut the fuck up and and stop whining that proprietary software still exists.

      Even if you don't know about programming, you can:
      1) Pay someone to support the application when the original company isn't interested in doing so
      2) Not be locked-in to a certain product because competitors have access to the source and can import your files
      3) Enjoy modifications made by third-parties that better suit his needs
      4) Pay less in general for products because these don't need to waste 80% of its resources reinventing a wheel the user already paid for

      Car analogy: Let's assume you don't know enough to fix your own car. Do you think there are no benefits in having access to the internals of the car, making it possible to send it to any car repair shop versus having to send it to the original manufacturer and be subject to their monopoly?

      ---
      If you don't like opinions against proprietary software, don't read them, shut the fuck up and and stop whining that opinions against proprietary software still exists.

      To be blunt, the only reason I can see for RMS and his acolytes to keep whining about the existence of proprietary software is that they KNOW that the proprietary software is more popular and useful than the FLOSS offerings and want to be able to use the proprietary software but can't because doing so goes against their principles. RMS and companies complaints are nothing more than sour grapes.

      You can't comprehend why anyone who give their opinions about their principles in an interview besides being jealous?

    141. Re:Open source vs proprietary by slim · · Score: 1

      BTW, does anybody have know when the last time his name was on the "commit" of any open source project?

      I don't -- but since he wrote huge chunks of GCC, bash and all the standard UNIX command clones used in Linux, Cygwin etc. I daresay you execute some of his code hundreds or thousands of times a day.

      He cannot be accused of not practising what he preaches.

    142. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Rasperin · · Score: 1

      Yeah Eclipse is a damn good replacement for VS. As for games, I do believe many incarnations of Unreal Tournament were OSS. Not FOSS, but OSS. I will admit, the cost to build games and the requirement for constant updates does make it hard for a FOSS game to exist. There is just no doubt to that, but there isn't any reason why you can't play those games on FOSS OS. The problem with games is simply that parts of games leaves the abilities of developers and requires outside resources.

      --
      WTF Slashdot, why do I have to login 50 times to post?
    143. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If someone isn't a programmer, they're not rational? Wow! And people are calling RMS an egotistical loon?!

    144. Re:Open source vs proprietary by slim · · Score: 1

      Not the point. The point is that they should, and Stallman is trying to make that happen.

      I'll bite. Why should I care? Give me the elevator pitch. Try not to use any lies or paranoid delusions.

      Stallman began his computing career in an environment where if something irked you about the way a system worked, you'd fix it. Even though he was working on the proprietary DEC UNIX (I think), customers got the source code, and it was fairly routine to fiddle with it to make it more like how you wanted it, and where appropriate, send a patch back to DEC in case they wanted to merge it into their core distribution. Of course it was early days, and source code control was a bit haphazard, and nobody really thought too hard about the ownership of the code, since the money was in the hardware. That's why if you look for a diagram of UNIX/BSD's heritage, it's so complex.

      So one day, Stallman gets fed up of going to the print room only to find that his job's not printed yet because it's stuck behind someone else's. And he thinks, I know, I'll do a quick mod to the print queue code so that it emails the user when it's printed. So he asks for the source code, and he's told, no, he can't have it. This is a completely new paradigm for him -- he had not until then considered that anyone might deny him the ability to improve the software he's using.

      And he thinks, how can this be a positive thing for anybody? This is preventing the software from improving, for no reason. He can see how the software might be better, he knows how to achieve that, yet somebody is actively denying him from doing that.

      And that's still the question today. How can it be a good thing, that you are not *allowed* to improve the software you supposedly "own"? Even if you can't program, how can it be a good thing that you're not allowed to ask your programmer buddy, or programmer employee, to improve it to your specifications?

      And that's why you might care. You don't have to .

      Many of us have got accustomed to using software under these restrictions; we might decide there are factors that mitigate the restrictions (e.g. we might argue that the software would not have been written in the first place, if it were not going to be distributed under a restrictive licence). Stallman cut his teeth on software that didn't have those restrictions, and it upsets him sufficiently that he never uses non-free software where a free alternative exists - creating free alternatives wherever he can.

    145. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > But Excel is simply unmatched in its balance of ease-of-use

      Hurr...

      Copy a cell value. Move to another cell, type in a heading. Try to paste the copied value below the heading. It isn't on the clipboard anymore!

      That is not "ease of use".

    146. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0

      So, what you are saying is that computer programmers is child's play which anyone can do and the pay for programmers should be accordingly small, say minimum wage, yes?

    147. Re:Open source vs proprietary by wjousts · · Score: 1

      Yeah, kids are starving in Africa but this stuff still matters.

      Perhaps we can feed them with old Linux distros?

    148. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Android users certainly do care, when they find that their phone won't let them install CyanogenMOD or that their new Android tablet doesn't have Gmail support because the manufacturer didn't get the proper paperwork in on time.

    149. Re:Open source vs proprietary by DogDude · · Score: 1

      The point is that if every single person went into tedious detail investigating each and every thing in their lives the same way that Stallman is suggesting that people do with computer software and telephones, nothing would get done. Society has something called "division of labor" which makes life better for everybody. Instead of reading each and every line of code in each and every electronic device that one uses, you get to simply use the device. Instead of being familiar with every nut and bolt in a car, the metal smelting process, the plastic manufacturing, the paint, ad infinitum, people get to simply get into a car and go somewhere. Instead of being familiar with the details of how one's shoe is manufactured, the machines used, how the materials were created, we just buy shoes, and wear them.

      I happen to be an expert on pet supplies. Does Mr. Stallman know where his dog's food is made? Does he know what kind of meat goes into his cat food? Does he know how the meat was raised? Does he know if the vitamins are synthetic or natural? Does he know the difference between "as fed" and "by volume" guaranteed analysis? Does he know if it was extruded or baked? Does he know the difference between chelated and non-chelated minerals? Does he know the proper protein to fat ratio for his dog? Does he know the purpose of each and every individual ingredient in cat food? Probably not, and nor would I expect him to. That's MY specialty, and I'd have to have the reasoning ability of a 12 year old to assume that everybody should or has any reason to know the minutiae of pet supplies that I do.

      To describe his view of the world as myopic is an understatement. Different people have different specialties in life, and everybody working together enables us to have better lives than if we all were solitary people living on the dirt, hunting our own food and making our own clothes.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    150. Re:Open source vs proprietary by blahplusplus · · Score: 1

      "The obvious question is why should they? Just because we're geeks and we care about such things doesn't mean that they're actually important."

      Because they ARE IMPORTANT. It's like saying 'just because we think morality is important, doesn't mean it is!'

      Ultimately stallman despite his flaws is getting at the MORALITY of software ownership, right to modify, right to fix, etc. Games especially could benefit from what stallman is preaching. It's really about taking back the public domain, which is important whether or not the masses don't realize it.

      Things like this occur because of our insane IP laws.

      http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/

      That is the kind of society we live in where fan's cannot take stuff they invested their own money in and create their own works based off it or fix up / refurbish old games.

      There are a tonne of old games that could be kept updated with the various changes in operating systems and direct x updates, a game like Mech warrior 2 could run natively on modern hardware without resorting to more cumbersome fixes if we had the source code.

      Just because the people who care and are smart enough to modify their own software does not mean these people do not benefit society as a whole by being able to spread derivative works or fixing up old software for others. That is the kind of society we should want to create.

    151. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0

      Patrons paid to have works created for themselves, not for everyone. Your solution would make most, if not all, works out of the reach of common people.

    152. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Debugging checks are not a copyright protection measure, although they are occasionally used to make removing such measures more difficult -- simply patching such debugger checks does not allow access to the protected content.

    153. Re:Open source vs proprietary by t2t10 · · Score: 1

      Instead of attacking proprietary software and companies like Microsoft by saying they're the root of evil, MAKE BETTER SOFTWARE.

      The world is littered with the corpses of companies that made better software than Microsoft and got killed by Microsoft's dirty tricks. Microsoft has never competed fairly.

      And even when they are not doing something illegal or monopolistic, they are still not winning on quality: Windows Mobile, WP7, Bing, and Xbox exist only because Microsoft is sinking a shitload of money into them, merely to produce something that is at best comparable to what startups and other companies produce on a shoestring. "Quality" not only includes the product itself, but also its price and its development cost, and on those metrics, Microsoft is probably the worst company in the business.

    154. Re:Open source vs proprietary by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Yes it is. You have auto calculation turned on, so the contents of the copied cell might have changed. The clipboard might behave in an unexpected way, so they invalidate it.

      There is room for improvement - they could have the copy action reset only when a calculation is performed or only when one of the copied cells changes, but then the behavior would be even more vexing to people who don't know what is going on. I can definitely see why they made this particular design decision.

      Contrast this with OO.org - it always will paste a value based on the value at the time of the copy, not the time of the paste. Also reasonable, and I'm comfortable with this as well since I know what the behavior is. But you have to admit, it's not as idiot-proof as the Excel method.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    155. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But your average person doesn't care all that much about books. Seriously. As long as they can pick up a novel and read it, they'd be happy.

      Apathy is a prison without bars, from which there is no escape and no rescue.

    156. Re:Open source vs proprietary by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Nope, like all jobs it should pay what the market will bear. If that means minimum wage or a high way that is fine. Either way programming is easier than programming while having to fight some closed source blob that is trying to prevent you from messing with it.

    157. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0

      So, should artists, authors, programmers, etc. not be paid for their work? Or, should they charge enough to live on per creation? Or, should they do something else to earn money and not create anything? Or, should they get a patron, as suggested below, and only create what they are told by their patron and have their works enjoyed only by those the patron chooses?

    158. Re:Open source vs proprietary by t2t10 · · Score: 1

      This was impossible in OO.org without loading a module, and I can't ask users to do that. Word is kludgy, and I had to write some macros to support it, but it did work.

      Whether you "need to load a module" or not is a question of distribution and packaging, not the office suite. On many Linux distributions, OpenOffice's mail merge is a package or comes preinstalled. Furthermore, it's questionable whether mail-merge should be inside the word processor at all or a separate application. If that's the best you can come up with, we have to conclude that OpenOffice is match for MS Office.

      Personally, I haven't had any need to fire up MS Office in years, neither for compatibility, nor for any of its functionality.

      Excel is simply unmatched in its balance of ease-of-use and ease in scripting, despite it's many warts.

      I find Google Apps a lot easier to script. And they run in any browser, no install required, and none of the security issues that come with MS Office.

    159. Re:Open source vs proprietary by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Oh, and if you want a persistent clipboard in Excel, just go to the Edit menu and select "Office Clipboard".

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    160. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Radtoo · · Score: 1

      [...]The point is that Stallman probably doesn't insist on full schematics for his microwave. He probably doesn't ask for the complete recipe for the TV dinner he's nuking. He probably doesn't tour the facility where the TV dinner (and/or microwave) was built. He probably doesn't check to make sure that the cows that were used to make the leather for his sneakers were free-range and humanely slaughtered.[...]

      You actually can modify (fix or alter) your sneakers or microwave with not much more effort than the original producer. Looking at the components from the outside as they are will generally tell you exactly what they do, too. And here, unlike with software, an occasional surprise inspection and scrutiny of the equipment available and used in the industrial facilities and tests of samples is quite good to ensure animals get butchered humanely or that food is created according to a certain recipe.

      But with software, you generally need all of the code, build instructions and documentation as well as access to the binary in order to meaningfully be able to either inspect or modify it. And evil can be done in the slightest fraction of it, generally without any good means of detection and with maybe only one programmer knowing that it was done.

    161. Re:Open source vs proprietary by slim · · Score: 1

      I would say that it's less about programming, and more about game design. A bazaar software development method can assemble a reasonable game engine -- but that's only a tiny fraction of what makes a game -- and many kinds of game, like novels or movies, require an overall vision, a director or an author.

      Then, that author can't really make use of what they've created, because they already know it inside out. Whereas if you write EMACS, you can use EMACS for the rest of your life, if you write Silent Hill, you're unlikely to play Silent Hill for fun -- so that "scratching your own itch" thing doesn't happen with games.

      I know that's not the case with all game styles -- e.g. something like Quake 3 Arena. Then again, as the developer, you probably wouldn't mind playing Q3A with placeholders for characters and scenery, because from a technical and gameplay perspective, everything's there. Yeah, you'd get user-generated content once you were up and running -- but you need compelling content to draw those users in in the first place.

      Also, for many kinds of games, OSS's strength -- that you can modify it -- is not such a win. You don't want to look at the source for Monkey Island, because it will contain spoilers (I do know someone who solved Zork by writing a Z-code decompiler). I don't really see why you'd want to modify Monkey Island once you'd played it. There is a healthy scene of free interactive fiction created by hobbyists -- but again, because they are "auteur" pieces, they are usually one-person projects and the source isn't shipped presumably because it would be a source of spoilers.

      I don't particularly mind, because I don't think games are "important" enough that their being proprietary is a problem. (Can't find a better word than "important"; I don't wish to denigrate games or gaming. I happily pay money for proprietary console games. I feel like a sellout when I work with other proprietary programs.)

    162. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Why is there a problem creating a copy? Because, then you are not sharing. When two people share something, a single thing is used by both. When creating a copy, two things are used by two people, that is not sharing. So, you have just admitted you are not sharing but copying. And, copying without the copyright holder's permission is illegal, whether or not making the copy is easy. The person who cares is the copyright holder whose livelihood depends on the creation distribution of said copies. Or, do you suggest that those who create should not be compensated? How long do you think people would continue to create works if they had to work full time doing something else to support themselves? Perhaps, they should resort to patronage, creating works solely at the whim of and for the use of a patron and whomever the patron dictates.

      How much does it cost to higher a programmer?

      So, you would do away with trade secrets too. Nice to know.

      Who is going to pay for a modification when one can purchase something that works the way one wants?

      And, what of the one who invents the wheel? How does the inventor of the wheel gets recompense for his time, effort, and materials used to create the wheel?

      Your car analogy fails because we are talking software and not computers. Each component of a car would is the equivalent of a piece of software. So, when a computer breaks, you take it to a repair person who finds the problem and fixes it. This can be as simple as a "tune up" by cleaning out old files, registry entries, etc. It could be by replacing a broken component such as a hard drive, faulty ram, re-installing a corrupted program or removing malware. It could be something serious such as a bad motherboard, processor, or having to reinstall the operating system. Really, try to use a valid analogy because I have no problem pointing out your failures.

      I see, so I should be able to call you an evil person because you do something I don't like and if you don't like it, you just don't have to read it and all is well, yes?

      It stopped being giving his opinion when he and his acolytes started trying to duplicate the functionality of proprietary software and complaining when their inferior software failed to gain market share. If one makes an inferior product, one should not spend all one's time whining that one is losing and how everyone should be using one's, often admittedly, inferior product for ideological, and not practical, reasons. Either step up and provide a quality product or shut the fuck up and stop whining. Do the job and stop fucking crying because people want things that work, work well, are easy to use, and don't require hours of searching to get installed and running. Oh, and stop bitching that people want to use modern technologies and paradigms instead of the 40+ year old text terminal tech.

      All of RMS' bitching about people using proprietary software just because it is more usable and effective definitely sounds like jealousy to me. As does his insistence that the capability and effectiveness of a tool should not be considered when one is choosing a tool, and by tool I mean software. He would rather use an inferior FLOSS product than a proprietary product? Fine, now shut the fuck up and the rest of us will use the best tool for the job.

    163. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Having used both, and spending most of my time in Eclipse doing other things, I've got to disagree. VS is way better than Eclipse in my book.

      A good chunk of this is just a matter of taste, VIM vs EMACS, etc. While your particular taste might be to Eclipse, when you poll a lot of people, I doubt you are going to be in the majority. But I think the original post still stands. The OSS offering just isn't as good or better in most peoples terms. Just because a handful of folks like some particular OSS game, it doesn't mean the OSS games are proving as good or better than proprietary games. The market is speaking.

    164. Re:Open source vs proprietary by t2t10 · · Score: 1

      What software, in your opinion, is "better" than MS Office that's available today?

      For most people, Google Docs meets their needs better: it's cheaper, easier to "install", easier to use, easier to script.

      For people who do need to do stuff locally, LibreOffice is also better for most people: it's cheaper, it has a traditional user interface, and it gets the job done.

      And then there's also the question of advanced features that Office has - they may only be used by 1% of the company,

      These "advanced" features are usually used for collaboration, security, and/or analytics, and there are far better solutions out there than those built into MS Office. You save yourself a lot of trouble by keeping people from using MS Office for those purposes.

      If your company has a need (even in a small proportion of users) for the advanced features of Office

      Nobody ever has a "need" for the "advanced features of [MS] Office"; there are better solutions for each and every one of them.

    165. Re:Open source vs proprietary by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      Sure, it's good to have the source... It's nice to be able to see how things work, to make sure that they're doing the job we think they are, etc., etc. But that doesn't mean it's actually important to everyone that their software (and associated electronic devices) be open source.

      This is one reason why Stallman uses the term "Free Software" and does not use the term "open source." He recognizes that most people may never have a need to actually access the source code to a program. The point is the freedom, not the source.

      The point is that Stallman probably doesn't insist on full schematics for his microwave.

      It wasn't long ago that I owned a battery-powered AM/FM radio that had the full schematic printed inside the battery compartment. Why shouldn't Stallman want that?

      RMS is passionate about software and thinks it should all be free. That's fine for him. The average human being doesn't care.

      I'm sure that's what Muammar Qadaffi says about democratic government.

      But your average person doesn't care all that much about books. Seriously. As long as they can pick up a novel and read it, they'd be happy.

      So your point is that people don't care and therefore people shouldn't care. Nice circular argument in favor of ignorance and totalitarianism.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    166. Re:Open source vs proprietary by RockoTDF · · Score: 1

      Basically, he is stuck with a tiny little netbook running an obscure linux...I'm sorry, GNU/Linux distro.

      http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/

      --
      There is more to science than physics!

      www.iomalfunction.blogspot.com
    167. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Nursie · · Score: 1

      Hey, I never said it was easy, generally applicable or even necessarily useful, I'm just explaining that that's what the attitude is!

      FWIW I agree that in practice adaptation is the preserve of those with the skill to do so (or the money to pay others), and checking every line of code is impractical and unlikely.

      But they are still freedoms that RMS finds to be important to the point of being moral imperatives in his view on the world.

    168. Re:Open source vs proprietary by BZ · · Score: 1

      Well, let's see. His most recent code commit to emacs was in November 2009, looks like: http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/log/?qt=author&q=stallman

      So at least that recent, even assuming he's not worked on anything else.

    169. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Nursie · · Score: 1

      And porting to a different architecture is just a matter of trapping the right errors and individually interpreting the instructions? Or run in an emulated environment?

      I get your point, if one is truly in control of the machine, with enough effort one can make many things happen. It's not exactly easy though!

    170. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which then raises the question - how do you contact that specific phone when it has a call incoming.

    171. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      What Stallman wants is to allow the user to fix/replace any software. However there are many times when this can not be done. There may be government regulations that forbid end-user replacement of the firmware or customization of operation. For instance medical nuclear radiation therapy machines, you really don't want your hospital going in and mucking around with things, or bypassing firmware limits, etc. Or a wifi chip that should not allow configuring to exceed limits (I don't understand why moving this into hardware satisfies the FSF people, since the hardware undoubtedly has algorithms as well even if the original "software" was VHDL or Verilog).

      There are other ways too in which proprietary software is necessary. Business is cut throat. If you're a small start up it's impossible to compete with the big boys if you keep everything open and visible at all times. The FSF model works if you assume every small company is just a consulting business and that only the giant corporations can afford innovation. But if you want a small company to compete they need some secrecy even if it's only temporary.

      Finally there are security issues. This is a two edged sword though. There is some level of openness that you want in some critical devices so that you have confidence in the security (ie, voting machines). But at the same time the general public gets very irrational over this and do not want the source code of our nuclear missiles or smart meters or ATM machines to be made public. So it's a business necessity to lock things up.

      People bashed Tivo for the ultimate evil of binary object files linked to Linux, and yet all the competing DVRs that are driving it out of business are highly proprietary. Open source advocates shot themselves in the foot on this one by discouraging the use of open source operating systems in commercial systems.

      You've got proprietary firmware or hardware all over the place, and Stallman uses these devices.

    172. Re:Open source vs proprietary by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Whether you "need to load a module" or not is a question of distribution and packaging, not the office suite.

      It's a feature that is included by default in Word, therefore Word was the simpler solution here. My company already licenses Word, so cost is not a factor here. But even if it were, we'd have to include my time to "package" the solution up. With Word I have users download a doc file and run a macro. With OO.org, they'd have to download the file, download and install a package, and then run a macro. How is the OO.org solution a "match"?

      I find Google Apps a lot easier to script.

      Google Apps scripts are nice, but the spreadsheet is not anywhere near as powerful as Excel. Charts alone, which Excel doesn't exactly - ahem - excel at, are far below Excel's ability... almost useless for any kind of scientific work.

      I'm not an Office fanboy - I use OO.org to track my hours, for instance. I keep simple spreadsheets on Google Apps. At home, I prefer Apple's Pages word processor and Keynote to Word and Powerpoint. But the fact is that Office has more features than any of those packages. Even when it does something poorly, it can almost always be wrestled into submission. Except Word - I've never been able to totally tame Word. :)

      And love it or hate it, there is no real desktop competition for Access. OO.org is coming along nicely, but it still isn't there. At work I mostly use PHP/MySQL/javascript apps to avoid Access, but I still get pressure to use it sometimes since it seems "easy" at first blush and everyone has it installed.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    173. Re:Open source vs proprietary by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      stallman is a friggin idiot who doesn't get it. and if he were to embrace information, well, that would show him it.
      stallman apparently doesn't read the news on the bus either. he could never be part of a flash mob. stalin would have never allowed cellphones for they would have seeded a revolt against him, letting people talk to each other is a big no-no if you want to keep an oppressive system going...

      the tracking is part of it working in the first place, a landline is easier to track though and so is amateur radio. disposable cellphones used by millions which are sometimes unlicensed and wrongly serial numbered are a big haystack. maybe he really thinks he's accomplished so much that the gov wants to track him and control his contacts or whatever.. stallman: "talking shit since 1990 and eating large.". maybe he'll get one that runs hurd.. visionless baF*SDF*..

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    174. Re:Open source vs proprietary by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      he should have read the news for the past 3 months before making this statement.

      cellphones are how you do something about it even if it was shit when you got the cellphone.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    175. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      The sort of person who not only calls ideas different than his own crazy, but wants to avoid them... not by clicking on something different, but by having them be suppressed, hidden... this is exactly the sort of person that RMS wants to protect us from.

    176. Re:Open source vs proprietary by binary+paladin · · Score: 1

      "Hardliners" draw the lines and basically create a zone for most people to even have an opinion. I'm fine with them (and I should be since on some subjects and topics I could easily be described as a hardliner) as long as they're not hurting anyone—and even then, sometimes they still help push ideas and policy.

      The "marketplace of ideas" is really more like the "warzone of ideas." Haha. You have to have opposing sides to get anywhere. Even wrong ideas help strengthen and sharpen the right ones as they have to be tested.

      With all that said, Stallman is a wack job and I have a profound amount of respect for him.

    177. Re:Open source vs proprietary by binary+paladin · · Score: 1

      Yes, open source software doesn't require teaching. Just tell the uers to RTFM.

      Exactly!

    178. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Adm.Wiggin · · Score: 1

      So Stallman's still crazy. Where's the news?

    179. Re:Open source vs proprietary by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Then you should "advertise" that the free Office apps are as good as (in your opinion) MS Office, and tell people about them/show them how they can do all they need to do in those versions. Saving people money is likely a good way to help convince them.

      Getting on the open vs proprietary high horse is just preaching to the (very small) choir.

    180. Re:Open source vs proprietary by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I think it is short-sighted to disregard his arguments as "shit"

      I'm sorry. When I say "talk shit" I'm using the term as it's used here in the states. When someone "talks shit" it can mean that they are saying inflammatory things using strong language, like on a urban basketball court. As in, "Dude started talking some shit and we then engaged in spirited fisticuffs".

      I think Richard Stallman is an insightful guy. I'm just saying he likes to make very jarring and controversial pronouncements, which create discussion and (hopefully) a valuable interchange. Sometimes, he talks shit.

      No aspersion on Stallman was meant.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    181. Re:Open source vs proprietary by jahudabudy · · Score: 1

      Wow, thanks for the tip! The "inconsistent" behavior of clipboard in Excel is one of those mild irritants that annoyed me whenever I ran across it, but not enough to actually figure out why it was behaving that way or how to fix it.

      --
      ...sometimes, in order to hurt someone very badly, you have to tell that person terrible lies. - PA
    182. Re:Open source vs proprietary by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      "WinDOS"? Is it still 1999 where you live?

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    183. Re:Open source vs proprietary by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      First you need to explain why should we care if there is more than one copy of the work.

      Because the !@$# author needs to put food on his table.

    184. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I assume that by "WinDOS" you're trying to cleverly convey that Windows is nothing more than a shell for DOS. This stopped being true a long time ago; Windows ME was the last product built that way. If you're merely trying to say that Windows and DOS share properties, e.g., they're both closed operating systems by Microsoft, I would again point out that DOS has not been widely used for quite a while. It seems to me that either way you're marginalizing your target audience. I don't think it's an effective rhetorical tool anymore; it makes you sound like someone who made their mind up in 1999, which isn't intrinsically bad but it turns your point into an old-man rant with not a little condescension. If you want people to actually listen to you, you might address these points. If you're just ranting then carry on.

    185. Re:Open source vs proprietary by lgw · · Score: 1

      It's an idiom. Silly or not, it's here to stay - that fight was lost years ago. Maybe there's still a chance to save "literally", but "couldn't care less" is dead and buried.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    186. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is that if every single person went into tedious detail investigating each and every thing in their lives the same way that Stallman is suggesting that people do with computer software and telephones, nothing would get done. .

      And that's your error right there. Stallman does not suggest that all people go into every tedious detail of their software. He just argues that those who want should be able to.

      (...) I happen to be an expert on pet supplies. Does Mr. Stallman know where his dog's food is made? Does he know what kind of meat goes into his cat food? Does he know how the meat was raised? Does he know if the vitamins are synthetic or natural? Does he know the difference between "as fed" and "by volume" guaranteed analysis? Does he know if it was extruded or baked? Does he know the difference between chelated and non-chelated minerals? Does he know the proper protein to fat ratio for his dog? Does he know the purpose of each and every individual ingredient in cat food? Probably not, and nor would I expect him to. That's MY specialty, and I'd have to have the reasoning ability of a 12 year old to assume that everybody should or has any reason to know the minutiae of pet supplies that I do.

      I haven't asked him, but I'm sure that RMS would strongly support your right to know all these things, and to share your knowledge with anyone who might listen.

      To describe his view of the world as myopic is an understatement. Different people have different specialties in life, and everybody working together enables us to have better lives than if we all were solitary people living on the dirt, hunting our own food and making our own clothes.

      Everybody working together is precisely what proprietary software makes impossible, and what RMS strives for.

      (Posting AC because I have moderated)

    187. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Creepy · · Score: 2

      RMS hails from the days when software was free but tied to hardware, so even if the source was available, it only ran on VMS (for instance) and needed to be ported to other platforms, which was non-trivial. With the advent of 'C' and hardware independence, the hardware ties are removed.

      So the question is who pays the software developers for their time (and I don't mean hobby time - I mean even a base survival income)?

      From what I've read of RMS's view, that should be the hardware developers. That WILL NOT HAPPEN. The problem is you need ALL of the hardware vendors to agree to pay for it, and there is no penalty if one chooses not to pay for it. That company that skimped out can then undercut the competition on price and gain marketshare, so the competition will be forced stop paying for the software development. The alternative is proprietary hardware and probably proprietary compilers, and we're back to 1970.

      Funny that RMS argues for free software, but he is essentially a communist dictator. Copyleft is communism - if you use it, you need to use it for everything and therefore must share everything with everyone for free (MS calls this cancer - I call it communism, and no, I don't mean that with the negative context that word has in the US). GPLv3, which he presides over is dictatorship - it allows for no deviancy from the communist path.

        Communism is awesome if everyone buys in, but it doesn't work if someone doesn't (look at communal groups - Amish, Mennonites, etc - all are essentially ideal communists - if you need a barn built, your neighbors pitch in and when they need one built, they pitch in - that is idealistic communism). In the ideal world, all of the hardware manufacturers I mentioned above would pitch in because it is the right thing to do. In the real world, everyone doesn't share the same ideology, so it is doomed to failure without a dictator in charge.

      I personally don't mind communism, but I don't like dictatorship. Yes, it is there to protect greedy capitalists from using your work and calling it their own (which is why my OSS project requires attribution but is otherwise BSD), but I actually don't mind someone value-adding to my hobby-time programming and sell it commercially - in fact, my OSS project has seen some trickle-back where two of our key developers are getting paid full time right now as long as they defer a feature 3 months (since both are professional contractors, that works well for them, and a 3 month head start time seems like a good deal to me - I've worked with apache project devs that do the same thing in the commercial software world).

    188. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0

      Ok, so you believe that programming should pay minimum wage or less. Glad to know. Now, are you a professional programmer and what company do you work for?

    189. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for helping RMS to make his point. First of all, he is not against creating software and selling it (you may argue that the GPL makes it impossible, but that would be a different discussion). Most importantly though, clothing is quite how RMS proposes software to be. Sure you can create a piece of clothing with a sewing machine and sell it, but you cannot stop your customer from taking the piece apart, reconstructing the pattern, changing it or not, nor even from selling the derivative work. It's one of the reasons why brands count for so much in fashion.

    190. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The logical conclusion of a free software movement is the elimination of professional programmers, which quite frankly is one of the stupidest ideas out there.

      Seems the shills are out in full force today. I guess you didn't know people get paid to work on free software, and professional companies full of professional programmers can and do release source code under various licenses.

      Civilization was founded on socialization + cooperation, and the economic efficiency benefits inherent to that system.

      I don't believe free software has anything (directly) to do with economics. Free software is more cooperative I might add.

      All of those specialists trade their valuable skills for currency which they can then triad to other specialists for the use of that specialists valuables skills.

      Equating freedom with "no currency" and "no professional programmers" is all in your head. Your argument is as crazy as saying freedom of speech means there won't be any singers or music or writers or motivational speakers because there won't be any motivation.

      Software design and development is a valuable skill. If all software were free, that would require that everyone who uses software be a programmer because there's no incentive for a specialized programmer who writes software to solve other people's problems in exchange for currency. Instead everyone who needs (or wants) a software tool has to write it themselves, or hope they know someone who has for some unrelated reason written something that solves the same problem.

      Again, freedom != price. Everyone having to write it themselves is the result of proprietary software. Free software means anyone can pick up where someone left off instead of having to start over.

      Specialized people can specialize in certain areas. This doesn't seem incompatible with free software at all except in your head.

      That is why software will never and should not be free.

      An alternate question...assuming something (say, a cure for cancer) could be duplicated at little to no cost, why should it artificially cost enormous amounts of money when it provides a greater benefit to society to let it be duplicated freely? Why is software different?

      A better goal would be increasing technological knowledge among general society. So while not everyone needs to be a programmer, they could have some knowledge of how software works (like how the shoe maker knows that hammers are pounded out on anvils, even if he doesn't know enough of the details to do it himself).

      Source code increases technological knowledge and "how software works."

      Not having source code decreases knowledge, and restricts the number of people who "know how it works."

    191. Re:Open source vs proprietary by BancBoy · · Score: 1

      Basically, he is stuck with a tiny little netbook running an obscure linux...I'm sorry, GNU/Linux distro. http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/

      The netbook seems pretty obscure too. The link on his own site to the info page on it returns -

      Not Found
      The requested URL /english/yeeloong.html was not found on this server.

      --
      [UID-HeinzIntel]
    192. Re:Open source vs proprietary by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      Sometimes documents opened by the same version of MSOffice will be displayed differently.

      This is almost certainly because the printer and/or page setup is different. It's doing exactly what a WYSIWYG word processor *should* do.

      But preservation of formatting just is not that critical in an editor.

      That depends on what you mean by "formatting". Explicit formatting (say, a manually inserted page break) should absolutely be preserved. Implicit formatting (like, say, exactly where a paragraph of fully justified text flows) should change automatically to account for different page sizes, printer capabilities, etc.

      Anyone who really needs an (almost) unbreakable display format should use PDF or PS.

      Yes. If you want something that looks the same regardless of output device, then you should use a format designed for that purpose. Word processor files are not, any more than HTML is.

    193. Re:Open source vs proprietary by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      MS Office was not the best when it achieved dominance, but it is the "best" now - for most definitions of best.

      Actually it was, precisely because Microsoft expended a huge amount of resources finding out what it would take for people to switch from the alternative products, and then implemented those features (including, for example, compatibility modes with the other products that emulated their keyboard shortcuts).

    194. Re:Open source vs proprietary by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      It's not that OSS is *necessarily* a better way of working, it's that closed-source software *takes away your freedom to use the software*. Proprietary software leaves you at the mercy of the existence and will of the manufacturer to continue to support it, and not do anything evil to you.

      Astute readers will notice that, as a rule, the same is true of nearly any product or service you pay someone else for.

    195. Re:Open source vs proprietary by haruchai · · Score: 1

      Well, it's nice to be able to redefine "best". It's worked for marketers for a very long time.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    196. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Noughmad · · Score: 1

      As as side note, Stallman could care less about the lack of a VS equivalent; or whether or not Eclipse is worse, comparable, or better than VS. If you ever read him describe how he uses a computer, it more or less froze in the 1970s. He uses almost exclusively text and terminal based tools. Last I heard he doesn't even use the internet beyond FTP (for posting the stuff he writes), mail, and USENET; and he get the mail and USENET from a periodic UUCP connection.

      Why would you want an equivalent for VS? It's terrible, really. Ever since I started using KDevelop4 I just can't write code if my variables aren't colored. And don't get me started on the user interface. I used VS (got it for free via MSDNAA) because I wanted to make sure my Qt app worked on Windows, and it was horrible.

      --
      PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
    197. Re:Open source vs proprietary by vux984 · · Score: 1

      stalin would have never allowed cellphones for they would have seeded a revolt against him, letting people talk to each other is a big no-no if you want to keep an oppressive system going...

      True of cellphones in the 80s/90s and maybe even today. But think ahead a bit, where they have the resources to track everyones movements from their cellphones, diagram associations, and monitor/scan/parse all conversations in real-time.

      Who is going to use their cellphone to plan a revolt if big brother is listening on the line. Not "might be listening" if they suspect you and got a warrant to wiretap you or maybe handwaved some National Security at the carrier... but actually listening. A virtual guarantee that every text is scanned and logged (and blocked / delayed if suspect), every voice calls logged and the transcripts scanned in real-time...

    198. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 1

      No, what he's saying is that only expert computer programmers should be able to understand and control what's running on their machines.

      This is not a new attitude -- it goes back to the 1960s at least. I guess somebody has to keep the old-school IBM priesthood alive, like Freemasons, Opus Dei cultists, and the guy who leaves the rose on Edgar Allan Poe's grave at midnight.

    199. Re:Open source vs proprietary by layabout · · Score: 1

      That's an interesting post. I disagree that RMS isn't about people's freedom - he's just refusing to compromise on the licensing to allow proprietary software to "piggyback" onto GPL code.

      that is the sick sad thing. the proprietary accessibility tools are more like a keyboard with feedback or a video card. They're well-defined interfaces that do put a lot of shallow tendrils into a system but those same tendrils are needed anyway for open or closed systems.

      I agree that it's a shame that the accessibility components aren't available in GPL form, but he's not affecting your right to use free software, it's just that you may not have the capabilities to use it.

      it's not just being denied use it, without accessibility features, you are denied employment opportunities, education, access to online services such as government, industry, social networks etc. effectively, without accessibility, you don't exist in our society and your disability may keep you any job no matter how mind numbingly dull it may be.

      The problem with the hybrid solution would be that it opens the door to allowing all kinds of proprietary software to interface with GPL code without respecting the license.

      As I said, self-contained module with well-defined interfaces doesn't have this problem. You can interface via network and protocol connection. The bridge could be made out of lgpl code which gets you away from the GPL. This is why I license my work under LGPL and never GPL.

      To be honest, I'm not quite sure how a "self-contained" proprietary module can't be used with free software unless it requires to be linked with the GPL code, but if I had to bet money, I'd put it on RMS' interpretation of the GPL. It's a real pity that there aren't more GPL accessibility components, but it's not stopping you from using open source - you just have to go for differently licensed open source (e.g. BSD).

      as I pointed out, there's more than one way to communicate between GPL and non-GPL code and usually a couple of them solve the problem. I think the main problem, and this contributes to the lack of accessibility, is that accessibility is not interesting to a developer until they are injured at which point they can't do anything about it and have to leave the field. According to a study I read in 1994, we were losing 30,000 developers are year to RSI. You would think with that volume of injuries, you would see injured developers working with accessibility aids so they can continue to write code. You don't because it's a hard problem and it hasn't been solved yet. one of the complicating factors is that programmers with hands have less than no clue about how to make something work for speech recognition users. They keep coming up with ideas that have been tried and failed for decades and still get offended when pointed the history books and told to "go read". a programming by speech toolkit will take about five years to complete. Other accessibility tools such as speech recognition will take at least 10 years to implement as they navigate the funding, staffing, and patent minefields that exist. I can't afford to wait and neither can anyone else. I've been waiting 15 years and been working on programming by speech issues for 10. we need working solutions now because folks have pissed away at least 15 years in which we could have made a change. don't get caught up in the question of whether or not you can interface proprietary tools to a GPL system and still respect the GPL. The real question is what is more important, supporting human beings who have needs of food, medicine and shelter to become self-sufficient or supporting a software movement which excludes some of the more vulnerable parts of our population. my vote hasn't changed as a result of my injury. The free software foundation has always had a big lack of clue on social areas that matter to people.

    200. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Americano · · Score: 1

      I see. You're an expert on the software needs of the entire population of computer users, that you can categorically state that nobody *ever* has a need for those features?

      For many *individuals*, LibreOffice or Google Docs may be an adequate solution. For many larger organizations, they are not adequate because those organizations have people who really *do* need the advanced features that Office offers. So in that case, we have some people who use LibreOffice. Others who use Google Docs. And a small number of people who DO need the functionality of the MS suite. And this is your "better" solution?

      Congratulations, you've just saddled your company with 3 different software packages that all require training, troubleshooting, and administration of upgrades; potentially exposed your sensitive corporate data to the tender mercies of Google and the "cloud"; introduced ridiculous incompatibilities in something as fundamental as word processing and spreadsheets; and caused your users tons of frustration, wasted time, and annoyance.

      You're fired.

    201. Re:Open source vs proprietary by phek · · Score: 1

      The reason that there's no great open source games is that there's no economy for it currently. Once someone figures out a good way to earn money from resources other than selling the game you'll see more open source games start popping up. Once mmo's start becoming more popular on mobile devices I think this will start changing. With MMOs you can collect a lot more money from monthly service rather than cost of goods.

      Basically it will be, pay $1/month for this game or pay $1-$5 one time for the game. At that point it would be useful (at least not a detriment) to open source the games so that you can save some money on future development costs.

    202. Re:Open source vs proprietary by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 1

      I think that's a fine reason for a person deciding to personally not use proprietary software. I think it's a terrible reason to say everyone should only use free software. I'm a software developer, but I don't want to be told "add it in yourself" when I go looking for a new feature, most especially when that feature is already available elsewhere. Certainly, non-programmers do not want to get that answer either! It is unreasonable to expect that of the general population.

      To give a concrete example, I choose to use iTunes and/or Windows Media Player because they are easy to use and provide all the features I need without any tweaking; I have never found this to be the case for any FOSS media player. (Quite the opposite.) Why should I spend my time fixing the deficiencies in one of a dozen FOSS media players when I can just use a proprietary one that I know works? "It helps everyone else" is a good ideal, but it is not a good argument. I have better things to do with my time than fix deficiencies in FOSS media players.

      My problem with Stallman isn't that he doesn't want to use proprietary software, or even that he thinks proprietary software is inherently evil; my problem is that his reason for opposing cell phones is simply paranoia. Yes, there's a chance someone will use your cell phone to track where you are.The ability to track your location is inherent in the nature of the device - you have to be connected wireless to a tower, therefore you can be tracked with some degree of precision. Has Stallman suggested an alternative technology that allows mobile communication but prevents the device from being tracked? Is it his opinion that we should not use mobile communication devices at all, merely because they can be tracked?

      More importantly, why is this small chance that someone will bother tracking my location so bad? It's not hard to find my home address; it's equally trivial to find the address of the building I work in. I must travel between the two locations, so my usual approximate location during commuting hours is obvious. Anyone passingly familiar with me knows I go to church on Sundays, and church building locations and meeting times are also public knowledge. That's all without ever tracking me through my cell phone. I don't care if people know any of that, so why should Stallman's problem with cell phones concern me? I'm not asking why I should care about privacy; I'm generally opposed to government policies that reduce privacy. I'm asking, why I should care that my phone reveals my location when my location is virtually always known anyway?

      A good solution to the problem "I don't want to be tracked when I go to location X" that does not require giving up the benefits of having a mobile communication device is to not carry your device when you go to location X. It's a silly reason to abandon mobile communication technology entirely.

      As for microphones theoretically recording me, I see no real reason for concern there, either. There is a very large difference between theoretical threats and likely threats. My computer could be recording me, too, in theory, whether or not I'm running open source software, but that theory does not mean I should abandon the use of computers, nor does it mean that computers are "tools of Big Brother".

      I'll say this another way, because Stallman and many of my fellow Slashdotters apparently don't understand the concept: in any society, we must give up some degree of privacy in order to interact with one another. It is stupid to make interaction with each other much harder on the slim chance that someone might use a person's cell phone to track or listen to that person.

      Yes, there's always the possibility that companies will screw up their software, or remove features, etc., like Sony with OtherOS. "Only use FOSS" is not the only solution, nor is it even the best solution in many cases. The most practical solution is to not buy from companies that do this. Companies aren

    203. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Americano · · Score: 1

      I see. So you have no alternative to suggest, just a hand-waving assertion that somebody who needs features offered by MS Office is better off not dicking around with Office, because they'll figure out how to get what they need done in some other fashion, if you take away their tools?

      What a compelling counter-argument.

    204. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is that if every single person went into tedious detail investigating each and every thing in their lives the same way that Stallman is suggesting that people do with computer software and telephones, nothing would get done.

      If critical investigation of minute details is what slows down a police state, that is a good thing.

      To describe his view of the world as myopic is an understatement. Different people have different specialties in life, and everybody working together enables us to have better lives than if we all were solitary people living on the dirt, hunting our own food and making our own clothes.

      This is why sharing is better than not. Unless you think proprietary software is more sharable than free software. Free software enables more "working together" by the way, not less.

      Short-sighted is enslaving yourself in the name of "progress" ignoring the bigger picture.

      It doesn't matter how fast you get there if you are going the wrong way.

    205. Re:Open source vs proprietary by jc42 · · Score: 1

      Even as someone who can write, understand, and modify source code, and someone who often uses OSS software; I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually modified someone else's code before using the their software.

      On the other hand, I'd need a lot more hands than two to count the number of times I've modified someone else's code after using their software. And they've usually thanked me for the patches I sent back.

      And on the third (gripping;-) hand, I would take many, many hands to count the number of times I've used open-source software that has been similarly modified by other users who happened to be programmers. Some of my most useful software is full of contributions from others than the original author.

      The common argument that "I'm not a programmer, so I can't read or modify the code" is just silly when used to say "... so nobody else should be allowed to read the code, either." This is the primary form of the arguments against FOSS, and it misses the point of the "many eyes" theory.

      True, it may not be important that you (or any other specific person) be able to read and modify the code. But it is important that we be allowed such access. Without this, you have no idea what nasty surprises might be lurking in your software. And even if you learn about some of the nasties, you can't do much about them. The ongoing problems with "malware" should be all the evidence we need.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    206. Re:Open source vs proprietary by kvezach · · Score: 1

      Broadcast page, as has been suggested elsewhere. The caller would send a nonce encrypted with the target number's public key, as well as a mixnet path (or path fragment, since it doesn't know where the other phone is), and all of that wrapped up in the required envelopes to get it to a random target tower. The network gets the message to that tower, and then the tower does a flood propagation system (or [insert advanced method here]) to broadcast the message. The responding phone decrypts the nonce and sends back a key encrypted by the caller's key, and a session can be initiated from there.

      Actually making sure that users can't DoS the service this way is a bit harder, but should be possible with time servers. Say there's a time server, or network of servers, that provides a digitally signed timestamp. If a tower sees a timestamp from the caller, then later sees a timestamp within a certain delta (or no timestamp at all), it doesn't propagate the message.

    207. Re:Open source vs proprietary by icebraining · · Score: 1

      Why is there a problem creating a copy? Because, then you are not sharing. When two people share something, a single thing is used by both. When creating a copy, two things are used by two people, that is not sharing.

      It figures you have never shared an idea. Software is much closer to an idea than a physical thing.

      The person who cares is the copyright holder whose livelihood depends on the creation distribution of said copies. Or, do you suggest that those who create should not be compensated? How long do you think people would continue to create works if they had to work full time doing something else to support themselves? Perhaps, they should resort to patronage, creating works solely at the whim of and for the use of a patron and whomever the patron dictates.

      Study: File Sharers spend more money on music.

      And if sharing hurts content creators, then since file sharing has been rising year after year, content creators profits should be down, right?
      MPAA celebrates 5th consecutive year of record profits.
      Swedes confirm UK study: Artist income rising.

      Has for software, creating and adapting OSS is a valid business model for thousands of companies. I'll be working on one a few weeks from now.

      How much does it cost to higher a programmer?

      How is that relevant? Is it or not an advantage for the buyer, which you claimed not to exist?

      So, you would do away with trade secrets too. Nice to know.

      How the **** did you read that? If competitors can buy a copy of the program and study the code that reads the files, they can implement it in their programs.

      Who is going to pay for a modification when one can purchase something that works the way one wants?

      I don't get your point. Do you mean that the existing software already covers all the the needs for all the users, forever?

      And, what of the one who invents the wheel? How does the inventor of the wheel gets recompense for his time, effort, and materials used to create the wheel?

      First, that wheel was already created from other wheels. In fact, huge amounts of proprietary software are made using open source languages, libraries and tools.
      Second, there are other ways of making money. Do you think the companies who develop Linux, just because it can be used for free? Or do you think that Java isn't lucrative just because you don't have to pay to develop software in it?
      Or to move to applications, do you think Oracle does not make money from OpenOffice?

      Your car analogy fails because we are talking software and not computers. Each component of a car would is the equivalent of a piece of software. So, when a computer breaks, you take it to a repair person who finds the problem and fixes it. This can be as simple as a "tune up" by cleaning out old files, registry entries, etc. It could be by replacing a broken component such as a hard drive, faulty ram, re-installing a corrupted program or removing malware. It could be something serious such as a bad motherboard, processor, or having to reinstall the operating system. Really, try to use a valid analogy because I have no problem pointing out your failures.

      Yes, if you apply my analogy to something different than I did, no wonder it fails.

      Cars are like applications, which is what we were talking about, not computers. Now go re-read the analogy.

      I see, so I should be able to call you an evil person because you do something I don't like and if you don't like it, you just don't have to read it and all is well, yes?

    208. Re:Open source vs proprietary by atomicbutterfly · · Score: 1

      Don't bother. Some people simply don't want to believe that MS Office is actually useful to a lot of people, to the point where it provides functionality not available (easily or otherwise) in LibreOffice/OpenOffice.org. They'd much rather convince you that YOU'RE wrong for wanting those features, how you don't need them (despite their usefulness), and insist on a substandard option for ideological reasons, or to support their own bias.

    209. Re:Open source vs proprietary by atomicbutterfly · · Score: 1

      Most of the open source engines are based on outdated code that was provided by id almost a decade ago. There is no open source engine that is even remotely close to CryEngine, id Tech 5 or the last few iterations of the Unreal engine.

      Perhaps. However, these "outdated" engines seem to be able to support antialising even when the latest Unreal engine cannot, and I can increase the FOV to something more suitable for a PC monitor compared to the statically set, shallow FOV of most modern games (ports from consoles).

    210. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Timmmm · · Score: 1

      Rubbish. Most people still say "couldn't care less". People that say "could care less" have just misheard it. Like "for all intensive purposes". I'm not a prescriptivist, but "could care less" people are still firmly in the just plain wrong camp.

    211. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When he is cooking his tv dinner, he just wants a microwave that works.

      He doesn't care if the software that runs his microwave is not opensource?

    212. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He can't cook a TV dinner it will interfere with the tinfoul around his head.

    213. Re:Open source vs proprietary by frig.neutron · · Score: 1

      Dude.. sorry.

      MS Office is faster than OO. Faster to start, faster to use, faster to sort spreadsheets. That's the #1 problem my users have with OO. The company I work for is pretty cash-strapped, so we use old machines / FLOSS wherever we can, and while OO does not cut it on a 1.4 GHz PowerPC with a gig of ram it is absolutely dysfunctional on a 700MHz machine. NeoOffice too.

    214. Re:Open source vs proprietary by kevinmenzel · · Score: 1

      Or the patron was a religious group that raised the funds for such patronage through a variety of means, none of which, I would expect, the GP would deem acceptable...

    215. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Datamonstar · · Score: 1

      I live in the United States, you insensitive clod!

      --
      The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
    216. Re:Open source vs proprietary by exomondo · · Score: 1

      While (as a game developer) I agree on the open-source game front, I've used both and I can say that Eclipse roundly thumps every square inch of Visual Studio's ass.

      Really? You believe Eclipse is actually superior to VS in every way?

    217. Re:Open source vs proprietary by exomondo · · Score: 1

      FOSS games suffer from one big problem: Graphics. For some odd reason it's fairly easy to find good programmers who are willing and able to contribute to free software, but finding a graphics guru that doesn't want more money than he's worth is like pulling teeth.

      It's not about graphics programmers, it's about models, textures, sound effects, voice actors, music, motion capture, etc... You need to be able to get providers of all of those elements to work for free.

    218. Re:Open source vs proprietary by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Where is FOSS answer for Visual Studio?

      Fucked if I know ; what is this "Visual Studio" thing of which you speak? Does it have any competitors that will only allow me to work in one direction, or can I just do my job without caring about what people are going to do with it 3 decades from now. After all, they'll have my source code, won't they? Including my bad jokes and my explicit lack of knowledge derived from the bridge collapse of 2049.

      Oh, sorry ; like a doctor, you plan to bury your mistakes.

      Small-scale fuckwits.

      I don't expect to survive for any significant period, but I'm a geologist and for me "significant" ~= 100000 years.

      If I wanted to make a significant impact, I'd be looking at genetically engineering Hom.Sap.

      Again.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    219. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Nursie · · Score: 1

      I think GPL'd stuff is A Good Thing(TM) and and any open source work I do as part of a hobby is made GPL. It's not a lot, but I do contribute some stuff. That's because if I'm giving it away for free as part of my spare time I want other people that use and enhance it to have to give back their changes in a share and share-alike way. I like this arrangement and am perfectly happy to deny people use of that code if they don't reciprocate.

      My views diverge from RMS in about the same place yours do - I don't for a second believe that everything that's not free and open source is immoral or evil, or that GPL'd stuff should be made the only show in town. If I did then I wouldn't be working on proprietary software for a huge multinational!

      The choice is down to the user, their own ideas, ideals and competencies. As others have pointed out, it would make no difference whatsoever to my mother if the systems she use came encrypted and burnt into ROM, as she probably doesn't even know what the term "source code" means, let alone what to do with it.

      To the likes of me it's

    220. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Nursie · · Score: 1

      Bugger, hit submit by accident!

      To finish - to the likes of me it's not only useful and free (as in beer) but allows me to alter, customise and port stuff, which is awesome.

    221. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If someone takes away your bread, he suppresses your freedom at the same time. But if someone takes away your freedom, you may be sure that your bread is threatened, for it depends no longer on you and your struggle but on the whim of a master.
                --Albert Camus, Bread and Freedom, 1953

    222. Re:Open source vs proprietary by DrgnDancer · · Score: 1

      You consider it important. I consider it mildly convenient. The vast majority of people don't care. Perhaps I was a bit overenthusiastic in trying to make a point. I *like* open source software. I use quite a bit of it. I was pretty extensively involved in the development of the Samba fork about ten years ago (TNG I think they called it). I'm not knocking the concept, but for most people it doesn't matter. What they're sold in binary form is mostly good, and when it isn't there's nearly always another binary out there that is.

      In any event you're approaching this from an "Open Source" perspective. Practically you're advocating the same thing as Stallman, philosophically you're not. Overall I think the arguments for Open Source are much more practical and realistic. I wouldn't go as far as to say I see eye to eye with ESR, but I'm much more inclined to buy what he's selling than RMS.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    223. Re:Open source vs proprietary by YoshiDan · · Score: 1

      I've seen that video where he eats something from his foot. He's a disgusting dirty man.

      He's definitely mentally ill... Paranoia and all that shit. He really needs professional help.

    224. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      Writing is a valuable skill. If all writing implements and the knowledge of how to use them were free, that would require that everyone who reads a book be a professional scribe because there's no incentive for one who writes books for others to read in exchange for currency. Instead everyone who needs (or wants) to read a book has to write it themselves, or hope they know someone who has for some unrelated reason written something that provides the same information.

      That is why writing implements and the knowledge of how to use them will never and should not be free.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    225. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Draek · · Score: 1

      Yeah, he is. If the GP had been referring to Knuth, he would've left out the "one of" ;)

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
    226. Re:Open source vs proprietary by RewriteQuran · · Score: 0

      Proprietary software vendors hate their customers.
      If they love customers, they cannot make money out of them for their Product or Service.

      --
      Govt must constitute a panel to rewrite US Constitution and Quran
    227. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Americano · · Score: 1

      Wow. Baseless assertions with absolutely no basis in fact! Thanks for sharing.

    228. Re:Open source vs proprietary by quantumphaze · · Score: 1

      I'd need a lot more hands than two to count the number of times I've modified someone else's code after using their software.

      Over 1023 modifications? I call bullshit.

    229. Re:Open source vs proprietary by SomeStupidNickName12 · · Score: 1

      Buddy, thats a bullshit argument. for 99.99999% of the population OSS software offers zero additional benefit other than its normally free.

      If you are not a developer then open source vs closed source becomes a free vs paid for software and has nothing to do with freedom.

    230. Re:Open source vs proprietary by trickyD1ck · · Score: 1

      At least not to the worse. Stallman said multiple times that he wants the living standards of software developers to drop dramatically. It is truly bizarre that so many of the so-called geeks support him.

    231. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Narcogen · · Score: 1

      Oh, come on. We've been here before. Stallman loves to talk shit.

      You don't change the world by being meek, mild, and reasonable.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi

      You sure about that? Sure, it's not easy, but I don't think changing the world ever is, no matter how you do it.

    232. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Narcogen · · Score: 1

      I suppose that means you routinely check your shoes for microphones before you buy them, right?

    233. Re:Open source vs proprietary by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      Just before *you personally* cannot provide any additional contribution to a project doesn't mean that you can't benefit from that 0.00001% who *can*.

    234. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0
      Ah, so a computer program, song, or book is an "idea". OK. You don't need anything other than your head to have an idea, so you don't need a computer to share a program or song, yes?

      I am supposed to believe a poll of "1,000 16- to 50-year-olds with internet access" commissioned by a politically biased group without knowing how the poll participants were chosen nor the questions asked? Would you accept a poll commissioned by RIAA with blind faith?

      ZeroPaid as a source? Really? Do you have access to any non-biased sources? No? Didn't think so, you closed-minded fuck.

      From your third link:

      A new analysis of music industry revenue in Sweden confirms an earlier UK study that showed that artist income, mostly from live concerts, is growing even as revenue from recorded music has declined.

      You are hoisted on your own petard, dumbass.
      I saw what you are trying to do, but I am not going to let you do it. Forever? No. But, one can always go out and BUY more appropriate software. Just like when one outgrows one's bicycle, one can buy a new one or a motorcycle or a car. And, when that married couple has a kid and their two seat sports coup is no longer appropriate, they can buy a sedan, or a minivan. Tell, shithead, do you still wear the clothes you did 15 years ago? Did you alter them yourself or take them to a tailor to be modified? Or, did you BUY NEW ONES? Well, what was it, asshole?

      I read your analogy, asshole. Did you? Here, let me help:

      Let's assume you don't know enough to fix your own car. Do you think there are no benefits in having access to the internals of the car, making it possible to send it to any car repair shop versus having to send it to the original manufacturer and be subject to their monopoly?

      Your analogy has the car as the software, not the computer. Now, if you don't know what you have already said, maybe you should shut the fuck up. Or, is it that you are trying to change your argument on the fly?

      Wikipedia is software? No, it is a website whose articles are often biased and/or wrong. Android and WebOS are both Linux, are operating systems, and are almost exclusively run on proprietary hardware where loading a new OS is difficult at best. The same goes for all those embedded Linux devices, in which the user almost never interacts with the OS, but are in fact appliances. That leaves Chrome and FireFox. Even giving you every single item you listed, that is less than 1 in 500,000. So, there are over 500,000 FLOSS FAILURES, including Linux on the desktop, for every moderate success. Tell me, where is OOo in your list? How about GNUCash? How about GIMP? Oh, wait, none of those are really successes. Most of the users for GIMP would prefer to use Photoshop. Even FLOSS supporters don't like GNUCash. All I ever hear about OOo is how slow it is and how it has crappy compatibility with MS Office.

      Oh, and don't think I haven't noticed how the two big IDEs for Linux are cheap, crappy knock-offs of Windows and Darwin.

    235. Re:Open source vs proprietary by SomeStupidNickName12 · · Score: 1

      But thats the problem, to a non-developer it doesn't matter if its closer or open source for somebody to benefit.

      If I develop an app and make it available, the end-user who uses it has benefited. They don't care if its closed source or open source. For most people if the app is open source and I stop supporting it the app the useless to them and they will move onto something else.

      Open source is only valuable to the development community, been able to share source code, design patterns, architecture designs is incredible valuable and beneficial.

    236. Re:Open source vs proprietary by icebraining · · Score: 1

      Ah, so a computer program, song, or book is an "idea". OK. You don't need anything other than your head to have an idea, so you don't need a computer to share a program or song, yes?

      To have an idea, no. To share an idea I might need language, or paper and pencil or even a whole movie to adequately do it.

      I am supposed to believe a poll of "1,000 16- to 50-year-olds with internet access" commissioned by a politically biased group without knowing how the poll participants were chosen nor the questions asked? Would you accept a poll commissioned by RIAA with blind faith?

      OK. A study by the University of Amsterdam:
      http://www.ivir.nl/publications/vaneijk/Communications&Strategies_2010.pdf
      By the Business School of Norway: http://www.bi.no/Content/Article____74866.aspx
      By the Canadian Department of Industy:
      http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ippd-dppi.nsf/en/h_ip01456e.html

      All biased.

      ZeroPaid as a source? Really? Do you have access to any non-biased sources? No? Didn't think so, you closed-minded fuck.

      Zeropaid is just the guy who made an article from MPAA own number. Who could have clicked on their source, on Hollywood.com:
      http://images.hollywood.com/site/HISTORICAL_AND_YTD_BOX_OFFICE_2009.pdf

      You are hoisted on your own petard, dumbass.

      No, Mr, I didn't. The total income is still greater. If it comes from recorded or live, I don't really care. It still means the increase on file sharing is not hurting artists.

      Tell, shithead, do you still wear the clothes you did 15 years ago? Did you alter them yourself or take them to a tailor to be modified? Or, did you BUY NEW ONES? Well, what was it, asshole?

      So what you are saying is that, even when people have the possibility of fixing their stuff, they buy new?
      Well, then by that argument open sourcing is not that bad.

      To answer your question, yes, I paid for tailors to fix my clothes, and yes I have 10+ year old clothes I still use. Not 15, since I've grew somewhat since I was 10.

      Your analogy has the car as the software, not the computer. Now, if you don't know what you have already said, maybe you should shut the fuck up. Or, is it that you are trying to change your argument on the fly?

      Where do you see the word computer on my analogy? Just because you're unable to apply it to software doesn't mean it wasn't my intent.

      Wikipedia is software? No, it is a website whose articles are often biased and/or wrong.

      Wikipedia is software, yes. You can download it here. Whether is on web format or a rich client is irrelevant.

      Android and WebOS are both Linux, are operating systems, and are almost exclusively run on proprietary hardware where loading a new OS is difficult at best. The same goes for all those embedded Linux devices, in which the user almost never interacts with the OS, but are in fact appliances.

      So? It's still open source being run by millions of people.

      So, there are over 500,000 FLOSS FAILURES, including Linux on the desktop, for every moderate success. Tell me, where is OOo in your list? How about GNUCash? How about GIMP? Oh, wait, none of those are really successes. Most of the users for GIMP would prefer to use Photoshop. Even FLOSS supporters don't like GNUCash. All I ever hear about OOo is how slow it is and how it has crappy compatibility with MS Office.

      Should I list the millions of c

    237. Re:Open source vs proprietary by jokoon · · Score: 1

      1. you are introducing funny jokes with a serious argument, I find it a little hypocritical.

      2. You can think that most people don't care about how stuff works, and that those people will easily give money for a car to just works, but that's also people's choice. In fact, these people that are just interested about every little detail of what they use, and that concerns geeks, maybe like Stallman and other, are just people conscious of what happens and the world and its ethics. Saying most people don't care is just like saying they're dumb. You are just insulting customers, and happily taking they money and treating them like nice milk cows. Not so much brilliant.

      3. In the OSS world, you can make those people use free software, it just needs to pay people who delivers the service of delivering it the right way, not the one who actually make the same software over and over; today, it just doesn't happen because laws favors proprietary software at 99%, and don't come and say companies aren't taking advantages of that, they are, and when they can prevent OSS to take market share, THEY DO, BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT'S THEIR ENEMY'S ECONOMIC MODEL AND THEY'RE SCREWED IF THEY DON'T.

      I find it easy to say that the proprietary software model just works better, there are obvious reasons for it to work better:
      1. we live in a capitalist/patentable world, it favors proprietary software and big companies.
      2. those huge companies don't have a monopoly in a proper sense, but they are putting a lot of barriers to keep the world proprietary: that's some kind of economic monopoly to me.

      OSS has a lot of obstacles, my answer is you can't compare.

    238. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 1

      And, the religious group would control the content of the work. Nothing that the group deemed inappropriate would be allowed.

    239. Re:Open source vs proprietary by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1

      Or even better, LaTeX.

      For unbreakable and perfect formatting for a printed page, sure, TeX and its spinoffs are stupendous, but I don't know anybody who actually uses them to render output for a screen, except via a postscript renderer.

    240. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0

      So, what you are saying is that you must make a copy of an idea in order to "share" the idea, yes? So, you are not actually sharing the idea as much as you are making a copy of the idea and giving to someone else for free, yes? Yes, I thought so.

      ZeroPaid is an anti-copyright, anti-**AA blog.

      No, you stated that content creators' profits should be down if "sharing" was a problem. Then, you linked to a article about artists making more money. But, the article said that artists are making more money from live shows even as recording profits fall. And, while the artist is making the content, they are doing so for hire. The real "content creator" is the record label that pays the artists to make and record the content and provides the money for the artist to go on tour. What about the copyright holder of the songs? You know, the guys who are actually selling the recorded music and providing the backing for the tours? You know, the people who are the members of the RIAA? How are they doing? Last I heard, recorded music sales are down yet again.

      Wikipedia is not software. MediaWiki is software. Get your facts straight, dumbass. Geez, how stupid can you get? It says it on the link YOU provided.

      Tell you what you do, go out and ask 1,000 random people using Android if Android is open source and I bet almost every response will be "What is open source?" Do the same for Firefox and Chrome and I bet you get the same result. Chrome, by the way, is targeted at users of Google's services and is pushed by Google. And, both Firefox and Chrome are arguably better than IE. What does that say about my original statement which boils down to "Stop being jealous of the success of proprietary software. If FLOSS were actually better than proprietary software, people would use it and FLOSS would be successful."

      As for those being "open source run by millions of people", how about those millions of ATMs, routers, switches, and other devices using embedded Windows, Cisco IOS, and other proprietary operating systems? What is the ratio of FLOSS used to proprietary used?

      And, yes, you should list the "millions of crappy proprietary software", especially those that are commercial successes. Please list all the crappy proprietary software that claims to be a suitable replacement for Photoshop whose proponents whine about not being able to get people to use their crappy product instead of Photoshop. Then repeat that with every other successful proprietary product that RMS and his acolytes whine about.

      IDEs, you know Integrated Desktop Environments. Are you really so stupid as to not know what those are? Maybe you have heard of KDE and GNOME. Yes? No? Are you really that much of a fucking idiot? I guess you are. Here, I will explain it to you. There are these things called computers that have something called a Graphical User Interface or GUI (pronounced gooey). The GUI is generally uses a "desktop and windows" concept managed by what is known as a desktop and/or window manager. Often, the manager is part of what is known as an Integrated Desktop Environment or IDE which provides an API and applications as well as the window management functions. On OS X for Apple, Darwin is the GUI and IDE. The Microsoft GUI/IDE is Windows. For Linux, the GUI is known as the X Window system and the most popular window managers are also IDEs. They are KDE (the K Desktop Environment) and GNOME (the GNU Network Object Model Environment). Now, on Linux, one does not have to use an IDE as there are a large number of window managers available including but not limited to Enlightenment, WindowMaker, FVWM, Fluxbox, and Metacity.

      Now that I have schooled you, do you understand now, or are going to be a willfully ignorant fuck?

    241. Re:Open source vs proprietary by LordStormes · · Score: 1

      I do. Eclipse's UI is easier (in my opinion), handles my dealings with multiple languages well, provides an easy, open plugin architecture... I acknowledge that it's a matter of opinion, and YMMV, but I'd rather develop in Eclipse than VS any day of the week.

    242. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Ectospheno · · Score: 1

      That you believe his real goal is to "protect" you is pretty funny.

    243. Re:Open source vs proprietary by PhilHibbs · · Score: 1

      Gandhi didn't change the world. He helped rid India of an occupier, but most of what he strove for didn't come to pass.

    244. Re:Open source vs proprietary by tsa · · Score: 1

      Someone please mod this guy down because of his language.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    245. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Yusaku+Godai · · Score: 1

      I may have actually been there at the time. That, or this is just something he does normally anyways.

    246. Re:Open source vs proprietary by delt0r · · Score: 1

      How about "coding live" concerts?

      --
      If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
    247. Re:Open source vs proprietary by delt0r · · Score: 1

      Do you really think it will not be possible to track and otherwise breach "privacy concerns" with 100% Free software (free as in freedom). The cell network itself can track you. Websites running Apache can track you, hell even the xray scanners at the airport could all be running 100% RS approved code. Free as in freedom software does not remove the issues of government surveillance.

      --
      If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
    248. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Lundse · · Score: 1

      The obvious question is why should they?

      Absolutely right. And I was not being obtuse, but fixing the analogy. Stallman cares about privacy, and empowering the individual and not the state/corporation. Hence, he is leary (to say the least) about surveillance. The microwave only becomes relevant to the discussion, to the degree that it (hypothetically) is bugged. The schematics for their own sake is not the issue, and the analogy is entirely false. The inner workings of a microwave does not matter for a privacy advocate, free software in cell phones does.

      People would be alarmed, if every book came with surveillance technology and screamed bloody murder if it came near a photo copier. The 'political arm' of the free software movement is saying you should be equally alarmed with the current state of affairs.

      See, that's the thing though... Most people wouldn't be alarmed if every book came with surveillance technology and screamed bloody murder if it came near a photo copier.

      Some individuals - like school teachers - would have a problem with it. They'd want some kind of bypass or educational license or something so that they could make copies for students...

      But your average person doesn't care all that much about books. Seriously. As long as they can pick up a novel and read it, they'd be happy.

      Then all the more reason to raise awareness of the problem. We need school teachers able to do their job. And we need a populace which is not being monitored.

      I do not think that you are right, that people would accept a micrphone, gps tracker and 'phone home'-capabilities in every book. They'd rightly ask 'why' and, if given the choice, opt out. They should do the same with cell phones...

      --
      IAIFARSIJDPOOTV - I Am In Fact A Reality Star; I Just Don't Play One On TV
    249. Re:Open source vs proprietary by icebraining · · Score: 1

      So, what you are saying is that you must make a copy of an idea in order to "share" the idea, yes? So, you are not actually sharing the idea as much as you are making a copy of the idea and giving to someone else for free, yes? Yes, I thought so.

      It's still called sharing an idea, that's the point.

      ZeroPaid is an anti-copyright, anti-**AA blog.

      I gave you the source.

      No, you stated that content creators' profits should be down if "sharing" was a problem. Then, you linked to a article about artists making more money. But, the article said that artists are making more money from live shows even as recording profits fall. And, while the artist is making the content, they are doing so for hire. The real "content creator" is the record label that pays the artists to make and record the content and provides the money for the artist to go on tour. What about the copyright holder of the songs? You know, the guys who are actually selling the recorded music and providing the backing for the tours? You know, the people who are the members of the RIAA? How are they doing? Last I heard, recorded music sales are down yet again.

      Creators are those who create, not people who have money. I couldn't care less about the RIAA and its associates.

      Wikipedia is not software. MediaWiki is software. Get your facts straight, dumbass. Geez, how stupid can you get? It says it on the link YOU provided.

      It's still an example of people using OSS, which is the point. Pedantism is useless.

      Tell you what you do, go out and ask 1,000 random people using Android if Android is open source and I bet almost every response will be "What is open source?" Do the same for Firefox and Chrome and I bet you get the same result.

      So?

      Chrome, by the way, is targeted at users of Google's services and is pushed by Google. And, both Firefox and Chrome are arguably better than IE. What does that say about my original statement which boils down to "Stop being jealous of the success of proprietary software. If FLOSS were actually better than proprietary software, people would use it and FLOSS would be successful."

      The point is that FLOSS is successful, so that argument makes no sense.

      As for those being "open source run by millions of people", how about those millions of ATMs, routers, switches, and other devices using embedded Windows, Cisco IOS, and other proprietary operating systems? What is the ratio of FLOSS used to proprietary used?

      There are plenty of ATMs and routers running Linux. I can't tell you the ratio since I don't have numbers. Do you?

      And, yes, you should list the "millions of crappy proprietary software", especially those that are commercial successes. Please list all the crappy proprietary software that claims to be a suitable replacement for Photoshop whose proponents whine about not being able to get people to use their crappy product instead of Photoshop. Then repeat that with every other successful proprietary product that RMS and his acolytes whine about.

      Gimp never claimed to be a PS replacement. There are people who call it that, but there are also people who call Acorn a PS alternative, and FotoFlexer an "Online Photoshop Replacement".

      And for many people GIMP is in fact better, since the price also counts.

      IDEs, you know Integrated Desktop Environments. Are you really so stupid as to not know what those are? Maybe you have heard of KDE and GNOME. Yes? No? Are you really that much of a fucking idiot? I guess you are. Here, I will explain it to you. There are these things called computers that have something called a Graphical User Interface or GUI (pronounced gooey). The GUI is generally uses a "desktop and windows" concept managed by what is known as a desktop and/or window manager. Often,

    250. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Lundse · · Score: 1

      Human beings are not amplifying their thinking with devices. This started around the time math was invented, and allowed bridges, trebuchets, trains and tanks, the internet and Windows ME. It is, as they say, a pretty big deal.

      Tomorrow, my phone, along with some servers and satellites, will bring me from this motel and back home. I will not be very much involved, at least not in the thinking department...

      We are thinking _with_ our devices. We should control them. That is all.

      PS: It is not really, there is the whole issue of a society where knowledge about everyone is a commodity (already a problem around voting nights), of monopolies that ruin markets, and of letting everyone with a cool idea work on it, or hire whoever he choses do to so.

      --
      IAIFARSIJDPOOTV - I Am In Fact A Reality Star; I Just Don't Play One On TV
    251. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Lundse · · Score: 1

      The difference is that the telephone has a microphone and gps already, for good reason. But that is not a good reason not to let the end user control those

      And how would you propose to "control" the GPS on your cellphone more than you already can?

      Like on my Android phone - I tell the OS which programs can access my location. Why should it be any different?

      You bought a phone, and the cellphone company can quite reasonably say that the GPS is an "extra" you have to pay for, since it absolutely is not required to make cell phone calls.

      So they are leasing me use of their GPS chip? Or whose chip is it now? Because if it is my chip, which me buying the phone would suggest, then I humbly suggest that it should follow my orders. Should the AC in your car require permission from the manufacturer before turning on?

      Second, you already do have control over what outside your phone gets access to the GPS data, so although the phone could be used to spy on your movements, it would require a court order, which you would never have any control over, anyway.

      Uhm... No. If the phone is not under my control, whether it sends GPS data to someone is not under my control either. iPhones already do this...

      Third, there is no way for you to control the other location information available (the cell phone tower you connect to), as that is required by the phone company to give you service.

      True. And they should not be allowed to retain it for more than absolutely necessary, of course. Also, we should, and are, building a better model for a network than that...

      So, other than malicious software (which could even be open source) and court orders, you really do control any GPS that you paid for (and similarly the microphone).

      Yes. On my phone I do. Not true for phones with non-free OS'es.

      --
      IAIFARSIJDPOOTV - I Am In Fact A Reality Star; I Just Don't Play One On TV
    252. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      You can argue about effects and needs all you want. Most of the code I've ever written is under the Perl or Ruby license when not proprietary.

      But if you deny even people's intent, you're just some a-hole kibitzer, not even at the level of a random guy with a stupid idea.

    253. Re:Open source vs proprietary by PipsqueakOnAP133 · · Score: 1

      I dunno, I was just using Eclipse and found that it still feels weird to me. Not that Visual Studio is perfect. Nor Xcode.
      They all have their own little quirks, but for starters, I just don't like the workspace model that Eclipse uses. I'm used to the project folder model that pretty much every other IDE since the beginning of my career has used. It makes sense that my project world is contained in a folder/document that moves like any other documents I carry around in other apps.

      Compiling basic Android sample code even takes much longer than I expect. And the plugin model, while flexible, doesn't add in the features in a way that feels comprehensive. In short, I feel usability is poor.

    254. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 1

      What are you, 12? Or don't you believe in free speech? Oh, and while you are at it, please show me where in the mod it says "-1 bad language"

      Now, piss off, you oppressive piece of shit.

    255. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 1

      Oh, so what it is called matters. Kind of like it is called the Theory of Gravity so it isn't really scientific fact. I guess when you dial a phone number, you are using an actual dial, yes? And, when you take a shit, you bring a turd back with you. And, when you surf the web, a board, water and waves are involved, yes?

      "Creators create"? Hmm, interesting idea. So, when you make an unauthorized copy of a song, you send a dollar to the group who performed it, yes? Or, to the person or people who wrote the song and sold it? Or, to the person who mixed it? Or, to the person who paid for it to be recorded?

      It is an example of how you don't even know your own argument, which is never pedantic and is very relevant.

      Off hand, no I do not know the numbers, but I do know that every single router used in the telecoms I have worked for ran IOS or some other proprietary OS. None of them ran Linux. And, I know that every major ATM manufacturer uses embedded Windows. In fact, it is one of those things people like to post, ATMs and digital billboards with blue screens.

      If GIMP is not a PS replacement, why does it try to copy the PS look and feel? Their actions speak for themselves.

      I did not use an ambiguous term. I used the term used by both GNOME and KDE. You don't like it, take it up with them. And, it is not my fault you are not intelligent enough to determine the meaning of an acronym from it's use. Perhaps you should actually learn about computers instead of asking me to dumb things down for you.

      Yes, you would rather be true to your rather maintain your false religious belief rather than admit the truth. You must be a good theist, tenaciously holding onto falsehoods and stupidity rather than facing reality. You don't care if you go down just as long as you don't admit anyone else is right. That is why you are a stupid asshole.

    256. Re:Open source vs proprietary by icebraining · · Score: 1

      Oh, so what it is called matters. Kind of like it is called the Theory of Gravity so it isn't really scientific fact. I guess when you dial a phone number, you are using an actual dial, yes? And, when you take a shit, you bring a turd back with you. And, when you surf the web, a board, water and waves are involved, yes?

      Those are examples of words with multiple meanings. Just like sharing has multiple meanings. As I said, software is closer to an idea than a physical object, so it makes sense to use the same meaning as in sharing an idea.

      "Creators create"? Hmm, interesting idea. So, when you make an unauthorized copy of a song, you send a dollar to the group who performed it, yes? Or, to the person or people who wrote the song and sold it? Or, to the person who mixed it? Or, to the person who paid for it to be recorded?

      No, I usually buy the CD if I like it and I can afford it at the moment. But I don't think they're entitled to it.

      It is an example of how you don't even know your own argument, which is never pedantic and is very relevant.

      Sure, whatever.

      Off hand, no I do not know the numbers, but I do know that every single router used in the telecoms I have worked for ran IOS or some other proprietary OS. None of them ran Linux. And, I know that every major ATM manufacturer uses embedded Windows. In fact, it is one of those things people like to post, ATMs and digital billboards with blue screens.

      Multiple consumer routers run Linux. But I never claimed that Linux was the only OS used or anything like that, so that's more or less irrelevant. FLOSS is widely used.

      If GIMP is not a PS replacement, why does it try to copy the PS look and feel? Their actions speak for themselves.

      It does? So have they integrated the floating windows with the main window yet? That has always been the main problem with people who knew PS to learn Gimp.

      I did not use an ambiguous term. I used the term used by both GNOME and KDE. You don't like it, take it up with them. And, it is not my fault you are not intelligent enough to determine the meaning of an acronym from it's use. Perhaps you should actually learn about computers instead of asking me to dumb things down for you.

      Gnome: "The GNOME project provides two things: The GNOME desktop environment, an intuitive and attractive desktop for users (...)"
      KDE: "KDE is a powerful graphical desktop environment for Unix workstations."

      No integrated there.

      And, it is not my fault you are not intelligent enough to determine the meaning of an acronym from it's use.

      But it is your fault that you don't know how to spell "its"?

      Yes, you would rather be true to your rather maintain your false religious belief rather than admit the truth. You must be a good theist, tenaciously holding onto falsehoods and stupidity rather than facing reality. You don't care if you go down just as long as you don't admit anyone else is right. That is why you are a stupid asshole.

      I'm religious? It's not me who is claiming to know the Truth. Personally, I don't have evidence that a moral truth even exists.

      And I'm willing to change my mind if you can convince me; if I wasn't I wouldn't discuss it. I simply don't think you've made a good case. And resorting to name calling only weakens it.

      By the way, maybe you'll like pgmrdlm, we've discussed this matter and he said the only thing that would make me a better person would be my death, and that if I ever am to go to the US, I should give him the heads up so he can gather some friends and beat me up :)

    257. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0

      Here is an example of your two-faced hypocrisy: According to you share means to make a copy of something and give the copy away rather than to let someone else use your copy. Then you complain that the other words I listed have two meanings. To you, share has two meanings as well. So stop whining, you little bitch.

      So, you don't believe the copyright holder is entitled to anything. So you have no problem if people violate the GPL right? After all, if the copyright holder isn't entitled to anything, then FLOSS supporters are not entitled to anything either.

      Gnome has two important faces. From the user's perspective, it is an integrated desktop environment and application suite.
      From the announcement of KDEAn integrated Desktop Environment for the Unix Operating SystemYou were saying, asshole?

      Actually, it is you and RMS who are claiming to know the truth, specifically the superiority of FLOSS.

      Oh, please, do you have to keep lying? Your mind was made up and will never change because you are too busy drinking the koolaid of RMS. Apparently the only thing that constitutes a good case to you is "It is better to use a crappy tool that I consider free rather than a good tool that will do the job better and easier but I don't consider free." RMS' entire philosophy is based on his own selfishness. He wants something under his terms and only his terms and if he can't have it that way, it is evil and must be denigrated and destroyed. He goes around preaching his gospel to the likes of you, who are too stupid to see what it really is. Then you try to argue how much better FLOSS is and when confronted with the truth, try to change the discussion. You make an analogy and when it shown to be false, you say "That is not what I said". You say something, and when proven wrong you say "That is not what I meant." You point to the handful of moderately successful FLOSS projects, which are invariably backed by corporate interests, as proof that all FLOSS is great and wonderful. And, when it is pointed out that the rest of the FLOSS projects are a vast smoking ruin that no average user would want to actually use, you act as though that doesn't matter. Face it, skippy, you are just a brainwashed fool for whom there would never be enough evidence. For you FLOSS is a religion and you have blind faith in it.

    258. Re:Open source vs proprietary by kevinmenzel · · Score: 1

      Which back then involved things as technical as the use of certain musical intervals. So, essentially, looking backwards as a solution to supporting oneself as a musician is obviously not going to work, as even historically, it didn't work great.

    259. Re:Open source vs proprietary by icebraining · · Score: 1

      Here is an example of your two-faced hypocrisy: According to you share means to make a copy of something and give the copy away rather than to let someone else use your copy. Then you complain that the other words I listed have two meanings. To you, share has two meanings as well. So stop whining, you little bitch.

      I didn't complain they had two meanings. I said that just because you can apply the wrong meaning to those words in that context, doesn't mean I'm doing the same with "share".

      So, you don't believe the copyright holder is entitled to anything. So you have no problem if people violate the GPL right? After all, if the copyright holder isn't entitled to anything, then FLOSS supporters are not entitled to anything either.

      I don't, IF the individual/company is not an hypocrite and supports copyright enforcement for itself.
      Is there a company that doesn't?

      Gnome has two important faces. From the user's perspective, it is an integrated desktop environment and application suite.
      From the announcement of KDEAn integrated Desktop Environment for the Unix Operating SystemYou were saying, asshole?

      So you had to do a search and find developer documents to find the term. Bravo, but it doesn't change the fact that they use only DE in the "About Gnome" page (one click from the frontpage).

      As for KDE; you should notice that Desktop and Environment are capitalized, while integrated isn't. By the way, do you know what KDE means? It's the K Desktop Environment. It's not called KIDE.

      Actually, it is you and RMS who are claiming to know the truth, specifically the superiority of FLOSS.

      I claim that FLOSS is superior for the user in certain matters, yes, and I gave reasons for that.

      RMS' entire philosophy is based on his own selfishness. He wants something under his terms and only his terms and if he can't have it that way, it is evil and must be denigrated and destroyed. He goes around preaching his gospel to the likes of you, who are too stupid to see what it really is.

      I don't want proprietary software to be destroyed. But I do find reasons why FLOSS is better for the user, so I'll promote and use it, and I'd like if everyone did the same.
      I think RMS would like to ban it through law. I wouldn't. But I'd like if people chose FLOSS, because, by the reasons I gave, I think its better for the consumer.

      Isn't Capitalism based on that? People will supply what the consumer demands?

      Then you try to argue how much better FLOSS is and when confronted with the truth, try to change the discussion.

      WHERE? WHERE THE FUCK DID I DO THAT? SHOW ME THE EXACT QUOTE.

      I gave certain advantages of FLOSS to the user. I NEVER claimed it was always superior.

      I accept either the quote or an apology. I won't respond if you don't, because there's no point in discussing with people who argue by inventing arguments the other made.

      You make an analogy and when it shown to be false, you say "That is not what I said".

      You've never shown that. For some reason you think it applied to computers (despite it never mentioning them) and suddenly I'm a liar. Fantastic.

      You say something, and when proven wrong you say "That is not what I meant."

      If it's about the Wikipedia. OK. I agree. It's MediaWiki, not Wikipedia. I'm wrong. I failed. Oh, the humanity.

      Doesn't take a single trucking word from my argument.

      You point to the handful of moderately successful FLOSS projects, which are invariably backed by corporate interests, as proof that all FLOSS is great and wonderful.

      You distort my words completely.

      YOU said that RMS complains because no one uses FLOSS.Here:
      "If one makes an inferior product, one should not spend all one's time whining tha

    260. Re:Open source vs proprietary by pacinpm · · Score: 1

      What software, in your opinion, is "better" than MS Office that's available today? It may not be the "best of all possible software packages," but it certainly seems to be the "best office package available on the market today."

      LibreOffice is better.
      1) It's cheaper
      2) More stable (I often has problems with formatting in MSO never in Libre)
      You make a mistake ignoring price and reducing quality of product to one value (one dimension).

    261. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Americano · · Score: 1

      You make a mistake ignoring price and reducing quality of product to one value (one dimension).

      That's ironic, considering the only quantifiable thing you can cite as to why LibreOffice is better is "It's cheaper."

      LibreOffice does not have all the advanced features of Office, and in a large organization (you know, with accounting departments and legal departments and writers and all of that sort of thing), those features ARE needed by some of the users. SO your choice is, by MS Office for everybody via an enterprise licensing agreement, and support one package; or buy MS Office ONLY for those who need the advanced features, and give everybody else LibreOffice - save SOME money on the purchase costs, but then saddle yourself with support of two packages for the foreseeable future, with all of their little incompatibilities causing hundreds or thousands of people headaches and wasted time across your entire organization.

      Blindly asserting that "you don't need those features, do without them" is not a reasonable answer.

    262. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, that's why Stallman eats nothing but the fungus that's growing between his toes.

      It's like he's his own ecosystem.

    263. Re:Open source vs proprietary by linuxpyro · · Score: 1

      Linux Mint would be a start.

      --
      Saying "I'll probably get modded down for this" in a post is the best way to get it modded up.
    264. Re:Open source vs proprietary by pacinpm · · Score: 1

      Blindly asserting that "you don't need those features, do without them" is not a reasonable answer.

      Why not? Feature set of LibreOffice is enough for me. Why should I pay for more features of MSO? Additionally I stated that MSO is less stable than LO. At least in my tests. In my case LO is better than MSO even if I ignore price simply because of better quality of LO.

      I agree that in some situations MSO will be better choice (you gave an example of it). But in others LO will be better. It's not black and white choice.

    265. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The first three posters in this thread have brand new, nearly consecutive uids and are sitting around agreeing with one another about proprietary software and MS. Just saying."

      Thank you for noting that. It's not obvious to everyone and good to know.

      If cell phones can be tracked, how could they be untracked? Could people take out the batteries until they want to make a call? Can you engineer phones to pretend you are calling from somewhere else, or mask your location?

    266. Re:Open source vs proprietary by Americano · · Score: 1

      Great, so you're saying you completely agree with me - I'm glad we cleared that up.

      I wasn't talking about an "individual" use - in fact, I specifically said, it may be fine for "individuals," but that if you are supporting a large organization with advanced requirements (remember - specialized jobs DO sometimes require those advanced features), LibreOffice being cheaper probably doesn't make much of a difference, because the support and ongoing maintenance is by far the larger portion of the cost of the software.

      Given that there are known incompatibilities and headaches between LO- and MSO-generated files, it simply doesn't make sense to try and purchase and support two different packages in a large business which requires the advanced features; what you will save in up-front purchase costs is vanishingly small compared to the amount of wasted time of users, and the cost of support of 2 separate packages, over time.

    267. Re:Open source vs proprietary by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      Hey! When's davev3.1 for workgroups coming out? You're a fool, but I like your style.. Looking forward to the upgrade..

      Peace out!

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    268. Re:Open source vs proprietary by davev2.0 · · Score: 0

      When you opinion is needed, I am sure someone will beat the shit out of your head to see what it is.

    269. Re:Open source vs proprietary by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      A guy like you will never have to ask first, but thanks for your response.. A little slow, but within limits..

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    270. Re:Open source vs proprietary by RewriteQuran · · Score: 0
      --
      Govt must constitute a panel to rewrite US Constitution and Quran
  2. This time of year already eh? by Anrego · · Score: 0, Troll

    I was expecting something a little less sane for his yearly fanatical rant, like revealing that Larry Ellison seeks control of the fires of eternal damnation (using non-free software) or something. This is still a fanatical rant, but definitely not RMS fanatical.

    I’d like to note that I do have a lot of respect for RMS and what he has done for "free software"; however the man can be a fanatical lunatic, and I think at this point this does the cause more harm than good.

    1. Re:This time of year already eh? by sammyF70 · · Score: 5, Informative

      You know, he may be a fanatic, but he is quite realistic with the "tracking" part. If you understand german, check out this animation (you can still watch the animation if you don't understand german and get the overall idea though).

      Basically, some politicians asked for the 6 months of basic data about his phone useage ( which towers he was near to, with whom, when and for how long he was on the phone) mobile phone providers are required to keep in germany, and journalists at Die Zeit combined those with publicly available updates from his twitter and FB account and his party's website to reconstruct where he was and what he was doing in those 6 months.

      They were not only able to track him, but also to build quite a detailled profile of his everyday life and personality that way

      --
      "DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
    2. Re:This time of year already eh? by Lennie · · Score: 1

      Well, I think it is because of this fanaticism that he was able to do what he did.

      He cared enough about the issues to do something it.

      What other programmer do you know who cares so deeply about the license restrictions/freedoms/rights of end-users ?

      Because that is what the GPL is about, it is not about Open Source for developers.

      Anyway I think the FSF and friends might be on the right track with the freedombox idea.

      --
      New things are always on the horizon
    3. Re:This time of year already eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now substract everything you know only because he himself chose to publish it on twitter, facebook and his blog, and all you're left with is the surprising revelation that he's in his office a lot.

    4. Re:This time of year already eh? by Borland · · Score: 2

      Stallman has a good point, but there is a point where Ben Franklin's quote about safety for security becomes ridiculous. The internet can be used as a means of control, as well as a source of free speech and democracy. It's really all in the safeguards and culture that surround the new technology. You can abuse GPS, but it also gets my directionally challenged arse to the proper destination 9 times out of 10.

      I support him trying to change the culture surrounding technology, but closed source has its place too. Actually, I kinda like the competition between the two philosophies.

    5. Re:This time of year already eh? by LWATCDR · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But Stalin would also have loved computers. They are the perfect tool of big brother. I mean really folks here is a news flash for everybody. Technology can be used for good or for evil.
      Jet aircraft can fly people to hospitals where they can get treatment or carry bombs.
      The printing press can be used for the Bible, Penthouse, Mien Kampf, and text books. I will let you all argue over which is and is not evil.
      And a cell phone can be used to call for help when you car is stranded or if you are hurt.

      And the internet can be used to view websites like Godhatesfags, slashdot, whitehouse.gov and REI.com. Again you can pick which of those is evil and which is good.

      Welcome to the real world. Many things can be used for good and evil. That is just the way of the universe.
      Oh and China is pushing Linux!
      EVIL!!!!!!!

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    6. Re:This time of year already eh? by Draek · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Ahh, yes. Like his fanatical rant about the evils of DRM in books, and how it could be used to control what we were allowed to read, right? glad that one never happened.

      It'd be a lot easier to dismiss RMS as a "nut" if he wasn't right so damn often.

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
    7. Re:This time of year already eh? by abigor · · Score: 1

      So your country needs better privacy laws. This sort of thing is illegal in Canada, for example. The horse has left the barn: cell phones aren't going anywhere.

    8. Re:This time of year already eh? by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 0

      Problem is, he's almost never right.

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    9. Re:This time of year already eh? by john82 · · Score: 1

      Thank you for talking sense.

      Prepare to be shunned.

    10. Re:This time of year already eh? by Anrego · · Score: 0

      Oh good grief...

      It was the publisher who decided to pull those books .. not some dystopian government bent on controlling the population.

      Yes I agree DRM is a bad thing, but it's a tool of greed more than a tool of oppression. They don't want to control what you read.. they just want to make you pay more money for it.

      Just about every technology can conceivably be used for evil. The cellphone thing is at least plausible (hense my initial point that this rant seems saner than most).

    11. Re:This time of year already eh? by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      How do you propose to have a phone that neither itself nor the phone companies know the general (ie, which cell tower vicinity) location of?

      And its worth noting that the world we live in simply isnt possible without instant methods of communication. Maybe Stallman wants to live in the 80s, not have a phone, live on campus at Berkeley, read his email by using wget, and not shower, but the rest of us have actual jobs and work to do. The man makes no money nor has a paying job; is it suprising that he thinks that a cellphone is unnecessary?

      So its fine and dandy for him to explain how the rest of the world should behave; but Ill note that he doesnt have rent or bills to pay, which makes it rather easier to do things that are simply unworkable in the real world.

    12. Re:This time of year already eh? by LWATCDR · · Score: 2

      It will not be the first or the last time.
      I swear everybody needs to read A Tale of Two Cities.

      "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

      Or as the Talking Heads said, "Same as it ever was."

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    13. Re:This time of year already eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not the point. No self-respecting control freak would ever allow something like the IBM-PC architecture on the market. A Stalin-type would do things more... more... well iTotalitarian.

    14. Re:This time of year already eh? by FridayBob · · Score: 1

      ... the man can be a fanatical lunatic, and I think at this point this does the cause more harm than good.

      By telling us it how it is? If you have evidence to the contrary, then please inform us. Otherwise, your comments are glib and baseless. I imagine that in police states with high rates of cell phone usage, such as China or Iran, the authorities do indeed track people in exactly this way. It would also be naive to assume that the DHS hasn't tried it yet.

      Personally, I've had a cell phone since 1995 and am rather disappointed with them. Even if you ignore the tracking issue, by now so much more should be possible with them. Much of my disappointment has been due to the proprietary software. I used to ask myself, Why is it that these phones only seem to do what my telco wants and not what I want? I mean, I'm the customer, aren't I? Why aren't any manufacturers offering me what I want?

      The answer is simple: I am not the customer: the telco is. Compared to the rest of us, telcos buy cell phones in enormous quantities from the manufacturers, so they end up dictating the specifications. Linux-based phones have been around for years in small numbers, but the reason each of those models always seems to die an early death is because the telcos avoid them like the plague. Why? Because it would give their subscribers too much freedom. It's hard to make lucrative deals with 3rd party software companies for the right to, say, offer the only email option on a particular phone, if that's too easy to circumvent.

      Like Internet access, since life with a cell phone has become unthinkable for so many of us, at this point I believe it would be appropriate for, e.g. the European Union (don't bother counting on Uncle Sam), to introduce some regulations and standardization that will guarantee end users the freedom and privacy that they deserve. For instance, always make it possible to install a range of operating systems (including FOSS ones) on any smart phone and make geographic tracking unlawful if not approved of by the subscriber.

    15. Re:This time of year already eh? by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      Er, that wasnt to control what we were allowed to read. That was a legal obligation due to that book not being properly licensed by Amazon; the real world equivalent would be if amazon had sold stolen merchandise-- I dont think you would be allowed to keep said merchandise.

      To date, I am unaware of DRM being used for anything except profiteering; please show me one example of its use in censorship (isnt the point of DRM to get someone to use something, just a limited number of times?)

    16. Re:This time of year already eh? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      And he would have tight control on cell phones as well. Like North Korea and Cuba does.
      Sure the IBM pc would have been allowed. The Apple II never! A mega corp under that government's control is okay. The C-64 really would have been there worst nightmare. BBSs every where and on in every bedroom. Printers would have also been tightly controlled.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    17. Re:This time of year already eh? by Catbeller · · Score: 1

      Your points are takek, but you allude to a problem you aren't addressing - they aren't phones anymore. They are personal computers, and they are completely transparent to those who want power.

      Now, how to make a "superphone" that isn't easily tracked. That's a tech problem. We have the pieces to do it, and no doubt assembling them to solve it will soon be illegal.

      Pieces:
      1. Mesh networking. No central control. Peer to peer up to a point.
      2. Encryption at all points in the communication process.
      3. Microphones with a PHYSICAL off switch. Critical.
      4. Video cameras with a PHYSCIAL off switch. Critical.
      4. GPS with a PHYSICAL off switch. Critical. No software control of the device. Cut off the power at will.
      5. A TOR-like onion routing network architecture, to prevent easily tracking the ID of a user.
      6. Use internet backbones that are not subject to government interception. No visits from people who have offers you can't refuse. Invent them if we must.
      7. Free up, for public use and no other, old TV channel spectrum for mesh networks and new radio backbones for city-city-country comm.
      8. Open sourced hardware. No secret sneak circuits. God knows what they are hiding in our PCs and phones now.
      9. For superphones to exist, and to address bandwidth issue, restrict users to audio and limited data. If you want to watch TV, get a government-approved cell phone.

      Anonymous communications is utterly, almost uniquely necessary to maintain a free society against tyranny. Without it, you are a prisoner, happily eating tacos and watching Lost reruns. As long as you don't bug anyone important (and you'll never know who), you can go on adding hot sauce. But if you ever question, or protest, they have you where they want you. Are you a prisoner, or are you a free human? Choose. Not much time left.

      Our real "bosses" in the national security meta-state certainly communicate almost anonymously. They just don't want you to do the same.

    18. Re:This time of year already eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For many people "a detailled profile of his everyday life and personality" would be really fucking boring.

      Here's mine:
      Mon-Fri: wake up, shower, go to work, come home, eat, go back to sleep
      Sat: wake up sometime after noon, eat, do laundry/try to clean up apt, go back to sleep
      Sun: wake up sometime after noon, go to Hooters to get something to eat and watch a football game, go to WalMart to buy groceries, go back home and go to sleep

    19. Re:This time of year already eh? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      The solution is to be smarter about mobile phone use. Ie, learn to use a map instead of needing a GPS if you're going somewhere where you don't want to be tracked, talk to people in person if you don't want to be overheard, etc.

      This is not much different from getting credit card records from your bank to figure out that you've been buying porn online again or that last week you went to Vegas instead of the Burbank conference that you told you boss you were going to.

    20. Re:This time of year already eh? by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      How will having an encrypted TOR'd mesh network affect my latency, do tell?

      Open sourced hardware.

      Whos footing the bill on the SOC design? How are you going to convince a manufacturer to pump out your design? Why should they expect it to be more profitable than the ill-fated OpenMoko?

      restrict users to audio and limited data. If you want to watch TV, get a government-approved cell phone.

      Im sorry, I must have missed the part in the consitution where thats the government's roll, or why that is not a state-reserved right.

      And Im rather suprised that the solution to "government is scary and wants to spy on me" is "outlaw all smartphones that arent government certified"; Im sure Stallman would be THRILLED at that suggestion.

      Anonymous communications is utterly, almost uniquely necessary to maintain a free society against tyranny

      Im not sure what makes you think thats true; and even if it is, we DO have laws which make it illegal to do unauthorized wiretaps / searches / seizures (in fact, we have an amendment). If you think the government has no issue flaunting that, what makes you think they wont operate TOR exit nodes, or insert backdoors into the smartphones @ manufacture, or forge phony certs (you didnt mention what type of encryption youre talking about, which is rather important if you want to avoid MITM attacks).

    21. Re:This time of year already eh? by HeckRuler · · Score: 2

      I'm not seeing the fundamental difference between corporations and governments.
      There are plenty of examples of corporate actions that operate at a loss to gain a little power. They can turn that little seed of power into quite the large sum of money. Arguably, abusive monopolies are pretty similar to oppressive governments. It's not exactly the same, but it's similar.

      Your initial point centered around the idea that Stallman wasn't sane, so you're a douchebag.

  3. Ugh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Too many zealots and not enough free thinkers getting air time.

  4. It is a pity by NtwoO · · Score: 1

    They are so handy. I guess the best tools of evil sucker the users in with their unmissable features.

    --
    ! /* */
    1. Re:It is a pity by Sardak · · Score: 2

      Eh. I don't own a cell phone either, but for a much different reason. People tended to call me when I used to have one, and I didn't like that at all.

    2. Re:It is a pity by LordNimon · · Score: 1

      So you had a cell phone, but you got rid it because people you know were expecting you to use it for its intended purpose?

      --
      And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
      To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
    3. Re:It is a pity by cpu6502 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >>>They are so handy

      What is needed is not to give-up the tool (cellphone, printing press) but limit the ability of government to abuse the tool by guaranteeing the right to use the tool Freely without restriction.

      Governments should not be able to use Cellphone data unless first obtaining a warrant, and informing the person that the search has taken place. The EU has such a "law" codified in its Fundamental Rights document, and the US needs something similar but with stronger effect.

      --
      My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
    4. Re:It is a pity by Nursie · · Score: 1

      I totally empathise with that.

      I resisted getting one for years because there was a phone in the house, and if I wasn't in the house I didn't want to be called.

      Of course later I realised it was useful for calling other people too. And sending/receiving SMS. And then everything else a mobile computer can do because where I ended up (N900) is basically a computer with an antenna.

    5. Re:It is a pity by jamesh · · Score: 1

      You could probably get away with one these days. Cell phones featuring an 'off' button have gotten much cheaper.

    6. Re:It is a pity by Crookdotter · · Score: 1

      I simply keep mine turned off, and turn it on when I need to use it. A mobile is for my convenience, not other peoples.

    7. Re:It is a pity by 228e2 · · Score: 0

      ^This.

      --
      Since when does being a Socialist mean 'someone who has a different opinion than me'?
    8. Re:It is a pity by click2005 · · Score: 1

      It wasn't people calling me that was my problem. It was the way they expected me to answer as if it was required and I had the phone solely for their benefit.

      --
      I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
    9. Re:It is a pity by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      You know, you can switch those things off.
      If your phone is off, you don't get calls (except on your voice box, if enabled). And you can switch it on at any time if you want to make a call (public phones are not exactly frequent these days).

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    10. Re:It is a pity by somersault · · Score: 1

      You could set the ringer off.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    11. Re:It is a pity by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

      "A mobile is for my convenience, not other peoples."

      That's very selfish of you. How else are you going to find out about FREE ROYAL CARRIBEAN CRUISES or AFFORDABLE MORTGAGE RELIEF? Plus your mom wants to ask you for help with her computer problems.

    12. Re:It is a pity by anegg · · Score: 1

      I think a user-controlled technology solution would be more reliable than an administrative process (law, regulation) to protect privacy. To be really useful yet private, we want a cell phone that isn't tracked 24/7, can make outgoing calls, and can receive incoming calls but won't reveal its location until the call is answered iff the person using the phone chooses to answer the call...

      Put a privacy button on the phone - this button disables the cellular radio function, but maintains a broadcast paging receiver function. Incoming phone calls are sent out as broadcast pages. If the user chooses to answer the phone, a fast-start cellular radio link is established and the call answered. Outgoing calls use the fast-start cellular radio to establish a link, then dial the phone as usual.

      Potential technical problems exist with the time lapse between an incoming call being initiated and the fast-start cellular radio link being established due to a) broadcast paging delay, and b) establishing the cellular radio link, but these might be solvable. Outgoing calls would have a delay as well, but smaller because its only for the cellular radio link establishment.

      Presto magico - no tracking because there is no location data unless the user decides to make or take a call, and even that data is only a point, not a track.

    13. Re:It is a pity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It should be considered implied by the fourth amendment. Our courts have failed us, allowing far too much information to be considered public, and allowing ridiculous things like remotely turning on the microphone for surveillance.

    14. Re:It is a pity by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Odd. One of the main attractions for me of a mobile phone over a landline was the easy-to-use off button.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    15. Re:It is a pity by khr · · Score: 1

      That's my attitude, too... I got my cell phone for me, not for everyone else.

      I simply don't bother to answer it if I don't feel like it, and much of the time I just keep it on silent because I'd rather pay attention to other things than be disturbed by the phone. Unless I'm expecting a particular call, I often don't even carry it around the apartment with me.

    16. Re:It is a pity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then why in God's holy name would you pay for one?

    17. Re:It is a pity by RichM · · Score: 1

      Governments should not be able to use Cellphone data unless first obtaining a warrant, and informing the person that the search has taken place. The EU has such a "law" codified in its Fundamental Rights document, and the US needs something similar but with stronger effect.

      Didn't stop the News of The World though, did it?

    18. Re:It is a pity by atisss · · Score: 1

      Doesn't the cell have to know which phones are in it's range?
      Do you propose to broadcast all called and caller numbers over the whole country?
      And what about roaming? Let's broadcast every call attempt to every country?

    19. Re:It is a pity by anegg · · Score: 1

      US Nation-wide pagers operate across the US in a broadcast paging mode. The system has no way of knowing where any given pager is at any moment in time, yet the pages get through, so the idea is not complete rubbish. I do not have data on the paging system capacity, nor do I have data on nation-wide cellular call attempt rates, so I can't compare the two. Its an idea, not a thoroughly planned out system.

      As I understand it, for regular (tracking-enabled) cell phones, the cellular data-link from a phone to any given tower is used to allow the cell system to ring a phone directly through the cell that the phone is currently connected to - so the cell system has to know where each phone is at each moment in time. Under my proposed system, for a privacy-enabled (non-tracking) cell phone, the cellular data-link would not be used to ring a phone; the cellular data-link would not be established until/unless the phone attempts to answer a call or place a call - then a cellular datalink would have to be established quickly through the nearest cell. I don't have data on cellular data-link establishment latency, nor do I have data on what significant barriers exist to decreasing this latency if it is currently unacceptable. This is the part of the system that I suspect is most problematic with current cellular technology as the expected usage is only when phones power up - migrating the cellular data link from cell to cell obviously works quite quickly, but here the problem is localized and this localization may be a requirement for keeping latency low. One possible solution would be to have an always-on data link that was only known to the localized cell region, and not the central system, but this would not be provably untraceable from the handset perspective.

      Global roaming might be problematic. I don't have data on how many call attempts per second there are world-wide, so I don't know what the potential data load for global signaling would be. If global roaming proved to be a problem due to signaling capacity, some means of providing a less-than-global but more-than-local location might be used to restrict the necessary scope of broadcast paging signals to privacy-enabled phones. Its likely that not everyone would want a privacy-enabled cell phone, especially if it cost more $$ to have one than not. This would help bound the signaling problem.

    20. Re:It is a pity by somersault · · Score: 1

      Mobile web browser, email, GPS, texting, games console, personal organiser, music/movie/document viewer, watch and more all rolled into one compact device?

      --
      which is totally what she said
  5. Gone off the deep end by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 2

    I'm not going to carry a tracking device that records where I go all the time, and I'm not going to carry a surveillance device that can be turned on to eavesdrop.

    Legit privacy concerns aside, this sentence reads "silence of the f* lambs!!!" .

    1. Re:Gone off the deep end by AHuxley · · Score: 5, Informative

      the 'turned on to eavesdrop" is very real.
      http://www.zdnet.com/news/fbi-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/150467
      "functioned whether the phone was powered on or off." "a cellular telephone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone."
      "remotely install a piece of software on to any handset, without the owner's knowledge, which will activate the microphone even when its owner is not making a call."
      That was a few years about past cases.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He is just afraid Richard Hanson will ask him to have a seat. Pedophile means before puberty. http://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html#05%20June%202006%20(Dutch%20paedophiles%20form%20political%20party) Dutch pedophiles have formed a political party to campaign for legalization. I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children. The arguments that it causes harm seem to be based on cases which aren't voluntary, which are then stretched by parents who are horrified by the idea that their little baby is maturing.

    3. Re:Gone off the deep end by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Informative

      The FBI could have planted bugs in my apartment. They could bug my landline telephone. They could point a laser device at my window and pick up voice via the vibrations. They could be following me. They could have planted a tracking device on my car.
      Am I worried about this? No. Because there is no reason for the FBI to have any interest in me, and I'm not paranoid. It's certainly within the bounds of possibility, but then so is dying today by being struck by lightening. It's nothing to worry about and certainly not anything to inconvenience myself over by hiding in a cave.

      RMS has mental issues.

    4. Re:Gone off the deep end by Tom · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The FBI could have planted bugs in my apartment. They could bug my landline telephone. They could point a laser device at my window and pick up voice via the vibrations. They could be following me. They could have planted a tracking device on my car.

      All of those except the landline require actions in the physical world, where resources are limited and distances are real. Those natural limitations will prevent large-scale invisible abuse. You can do it on a limited scale, or you can do it big scale but then the country turns visibly into a police state.

      Bugging your landline or your phone, or reading your GPS coordinates remotely requires a computer and being the FBI so you can tell the telco to go and do it. Running it on 1000 people is only marginally more troublesome than running it on 100 people. And that's a very important difference.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    5. Re:Gone off the deep end by Hazel+Bergeron · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No. Because there is no reason for the FBI to have any interest in me

      You are probably less relevant than RMS. But there are many powerful interests which would have interest in tracking and eavesdropping on him, so his argument is sound.

      But your point of view leads to the more worrying conclusion that, because most people lack the talent or the courage to take a stand, it shouldn't matter that those who do make a difference may be prevented from doing so. Essentially, you're scared of freedom and you resent those who want to enjoy it.

      Anyway, as a matter of routine I take out my cellphone battery when I don't need to use it. It probably cumulatively wastes an hour a year of quick hand movement, which is less than I waste in a couple of weeks on.. err.. masturbating? I know I'm less relevant than RMS, but being the activist type (in the sense of organisation and publication) I'm probably slightly more interesting than the average lady or gent. I know for certain by questions I've been asked at US immigration that at least someone's paying attention to what I'm doing.

      You have the right to be boring. I shall celebrate my freedom not to be.

    6. Re:Gone off the deep end by 228e2 · · Score: 1

      ^100% agree with everything he just said.

      I wish people would stop being so paranoid over every new foreign concept. If BB wants to know what you had for lunch, or how your weekend went, they will find out.

      --
      Since when does being a Socialist mean 'someone who has a different opinion than me'?
    7. Re:Gone off the deep end by Lennie · · Score: 2

      You are one of those people that has nothing to hide ?

      You think.

      There are a lot of arguments which show why that isn't a very good idea:

      http://yro.slashdot.org/story/07/07/10/2054219/Privacy-and-the-Nothing-To-Hide-Argument

      I think it left out all the psychological reasons. When you think about it, privacy is the only thing that keeps you from going insane.

      --
      New things are always on the horizon
    8. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because there is no reason for the FBI to have any interest in me

      That you're aware of anyway!

      I avoid cellphones like the plague as well, although the top issues I have are with the billing schemes. I have yet to see a sane cellphone plan. Yes, I see all sorts of free-texting plans, but I have still yet to see a sane and predictable one compared to a standard landline.

      The only time I have ever considered needing a cellphone (As a single individual) is during a job hunt, to help speed up my response time to potential employers. For every other possible instance, leave a message. I always check for them whenever I get home.

    9. Re:Gone off the deep end by Kjella · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's more than feasible to do on everyone, in fact the latest "straight out of 1984" directive from EU demand they store positions on all phone communication - which for smart phones is roughly 100% of the time - for 6-24 months.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    10. Re:Gone off the deep end by Dogun · · Score: 1

      It'd be tremendously interesting to dig into and discover the mechanism by which this capability works, if it indeed exists. My guess would be that device manufacturers are onboard, or that the standards mandate this sort of capability. Either way, something like that should destroy the public trust.

    11. Re:Gone off the deep end by Borland · · Score: 1

      The FBI could have planted bugs in my apartment. They could bug my landline telephone. They could point a laser device at my window and pick up voice via the vibrations. They could be following me. They could have planted a tracking device on my car.

      All of those except the landline require actions in the physical world, where resources are limited and distances are real. Those natural limitations will prevent large-scale invisible abuse. You can do it on a limited scale, or you can do it big scale but then the country turns visibly into a police state.

      Bugging your landline or your phone, or reading your GPS coordinates remotely requires a computer and being the FBI so you can tell the telco to go and do it. Running it on 1000 people is only marginally more troublesome than running it on 100 people. And that's a very important difference.

      I ran Google Latitude for several months. Most of the time it reported me several states away in the default location it stores. We'll probably get to the level of accuracy required for 1984 level monitoring, but for now all these paranoid cases generally are best case implementations of common GPS/Cellphone tech. So join me in the countryside if you want to be safer from monitoring.

    12. Re:Gone off the deep end by Ash+Vince · · Score: 1

      The FBI could have planted bugs in my apartment. They could bug my landline telephone. They could point a laser device at my window and pick up voice via the vibrations. They could be following me. They could have planted a tracking device on my car.
      Am I worried about this? No. Because there is no reason for the FBI to have any interest in me, and I'm not paranoid. It's certainly within the bounds of possibility, but then so is dying today by being struck by lightening. It's nothing to worry about and certainly not anything to inconvenience myself over by hiding in a cave.

      RMS has mental issues.

      Pretty much everything you say about yourself may be true, but I am not sure it would all apply to RMS.

      The truth is that my government here in the UK has followed and eavesdropped on many people who were not exactly extremists so it would not surprise me too much if at one point the US government did keep tabs on Mr Stallman and hence give him reason to be a bit more paranoid than the rest of us.

      He has spent years advocating a concept of free software that is not exactly perfectly in tune with the capitalist system as it involves giving stuff away that could be charged for. He has had personal meetings with some people like Hugo Chavez who are on a serious US state department shit list.

      There is also the fact the people who are doing the monitoring are usually extreme paranoid individuals too, quite often with good reason. You only need to look at McCarthyism to realise that sometime they can either make mistakes or overstep the mark. There is also a certain amount of suspicion of anyone who does not want to be monitored and the assumption from those doing the monitoring that they have something to hide.

      In light of this I find it quite easy to believe that he has spent at least some small period of time on some sort of state department watch list.

      From a personal perspective though I have long since decided that none of this is really worth bothering about though as I have nothing to hide. If some big brother really want to track me then let them, it will just be a big waste of money though as my life is really not that interesting.

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    13. Re:Gone off the deep end by Terrasque · · Score: 2

      That's kinda like saying "If Big Bubba wants to rape you, he will find a way to do it. So you might just as well buy some vaseline and some flowers, get a nice dress, go visit him, and bend over."

      --
      It's The Golden Rule: "He who has the gold makes the rules."
    14. Re:Gone off the deep end by 228e2 · · Score: 1

      Those 2 are nothing alike.

      Im saying if BB wants to tap or monitor you, they wont be foiled by you not having a cell phone so carry on with your life as usual.
      You are saying make yourself easily accessible to be wiretapped. No, just go on your day as usual.

      As far as you know, in 2007, BB may have been following you around for a month and realized you were of no importance to them and left you alone. And you would have been none the wiser.

      --
      Since when does being a Socialist mean 'someone who has a different opinion than me'?
    15. Re:Gone off the deep end by c0d3g33k · · Score: 1

      He has spent years advocating a concept of free software that is not exactly perfectly in tune with the capitalist system as it involves giving stuff away that could be charged for.

      Bullshit. Nothing in the 'concept of free software' stipulates giving away stuff for free - it can be charged for. The problem for the connoisseur of monetization is that others aren't prohibited from sharing source code free of charge if that is what they wish, thus making business models based on scarcity difficult. The latter the challenge for capitalists seeking an easy way to force payment from people, but that's not the same as mandating 'free of charge'. Get your facts straight.

    16. Re:Gone off the deep end by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      His point wasnt just that "ive got nothing to hide"; we live in a world where any number of bad things can happen to us at any time. In order to not end up hiding under a rock, we need to evaluate the liklihood of threats; and the utility of cellphones outweighs their danger.

    17. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why does the scale bother you?

      Is it better that surveillance was limited to people like MLK, instead of people like you, too?

      I'd say the more the merrier. If the government is going to be monitoring some people for nefarious reasons, it might as well monitor all people.

    18. Re:Gone off the deep end by Hazel+Bergeron · · Score: 1

      the utility of cellphones outweighs their danger.

      I'm guessing an RMS-style response would be: the security of cellphones outweighs liberty? I imagine he's thinking in the longer term and of the bigger picture:

      One side of the debate: People kill, tools don't. There is no justification for the restriction of useful tools.
        -vs-
      Possible RMS side: Any tool which can be used for oppression will eventually be used for oppression. So it's in the interest of individuals to avoid such tools from becoming ubiquitous/powerful.

      The obvious compromise is to carry a cellphone but keep it unpowered when you're not using it, and to use encryption. But cellphone utility is overrated, and - for many people - it may be just as good (or better, to avoid interruptions to work and leisure) to simply not have one at all.

    19. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By extension, I conclude that no one has an interest in harming anyone, so making things insecure by design is just fine. Thanks to your enlightening logic, I now realize that all the attack attempts I see in my Apache log are merely delusional products of my paranoid imagination.

      An alternative way of looking at it, would be that "the FBI has no interest in me" is totally irrelevant, because we already know that they do have an interest in someone, and furthermore, that their interest isn't always even in the line of doing their legitimate job of law enforcement. Furthermore, we know that the FBI isn't the only power in the world, and that if we go out of our way to make communications insecure, other parties than our own governments, even completely non-government entities, might decide to take advantage. But that's just paranoia.

    20. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The guy is a crackpot - a flippin LOON fer crying out loud. Why would anyone care what he says anymore than the mental patient downtown on the corner with tinfoil on his head screaming that the government is infiltrated by aliens and is scanning his brain?

      That's a good question. Obviously, you do, and I do, and the poster to whom you're responding does, else we wouldn't be talking about him. What is it with us, are we nuts?

    21. Re:Gone off the deep end by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      How do they take an interest in you in the first place?

      Yesterday there had to be anonymous tips. Today they just sift through databases of random people looking for "suspicious behavior."

    22. Re:Gone off the deep end by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      it's not stuff coming from your "smartphone" that is stored. it's the billing and tracking information from basestations. if it's gsm, it's "smart" enough for that, it wouldn't work otherwise.

      now, real cases in finland where that stuff has been used usually involve a dead body, proving that it was on somebodys person is another issue afterwards. live tracking is used with missing persons and such but there's a significant delay in pushing the permits(and even then, there's no gps fix, so depending on the size of the network cell it's accurate or not). the same data is used to prove you talked on a cellphone when doing a fatal crash and so on(a skype call from it through a vpn connection would be harder to prove though, and it's that freedom of just having a data link from your mobile that makes smartphones more capable of dodging mandatory billing style logging).

      telecommunications privacy has gone a long way since the times of switchboard hoe's, but this just shows how disconnected stallman actually is.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    23. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The FBI could have planted bugs in my apartment. They could bug my landline telephone. They could point a laser device at my window and pick up voice via the vibrations. They could be following me. They could have planted a tracking device on my car. Am I worried about this? No. Because there is no reason for the FBI to have any interest in me, and I'm not paranoid. It's certainly within the bounds of possibility, but then so is dying today by being struck by lightening. It's nothing to worry about and certainly not anything to inconvenience myself over by hiding in a cave. RMS has mental issues.

      You have much faith in the FBI and others if you think "have no reason" is sufficient to stop those abusing power. Have you never heard the phrase "because I can" ? How about "because you let me"?

      The fact that someone worries about something that noone else is worried might be called unselfishness, or seeing something that noone else does...call it a perfect opportunity if you prefer...and you call it mental issues...I guess you think if noone worries about something, it will magically solve itself...a million people ignoring a problem seems to be what you suggest...I reckon that will guarantee it does become a problem...and you claim that he has mental issues...

      If he doesn't worry about, who will solve it?

      If everyone thinks it is a non-issue, it is guaranteed to become an issue, because noone will ever place any importance on it, and hence things will get worse and worse and noone will decide it is ever important enough to worry about.

      I see a broom and a rug.

    24. Re:Gone off the deep end by Ash+Vince · · Score: 1

      Bullshit. Nothing in the 'concept of free software' stipulates giving away stuff for free - it can be charged for.

      Regardless of what the licence actually allows most open source software is given away free, with any money being made on services based on top. Now I personally do not like that model as it put my job (software development) as the loss leader that can be done away with most easily. The support services are all very well but it is very easy for a company to do away with that and just wait for the OSS community to develop any features they need adding.

      I like OSS software as a concept but I am also forced to earn money for rent and such like. I would rather earn my living do something I enjoy (writing code) without having to constantly justify why my company needs to contribute something back to the open source projects whose software they use.

      It is very easy for some people to see open source software as anti-capitalist, regardless of what the licence actually allows.

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    25. Re:Gone off the deep end by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      and - for many people - it may be just as good (or better, to avoid interruptions to work and leisure) to simply not have one at all.

      I imagine you dont do any type of on-call or urgent work. I imagine consultants, Server-room techs, doctors, attorneys, secretaries, and anyone on call would disagree with you. You see, if they dont have cellphones, their competitors will, and they simply wont be able to compete.

    26. Re:Gone off the deep end by Hazel+Bergeron · · Score: 1

      I would do none of those jobs if it meant having to be interruptible 24/7, except perhaps doctor. Even then I'd only be contacted if I were sufficiently senior in some specialisation that someone might die if I wasn't there. In other cases, it's just some corporation saving money by not employing shift workers.

      Might it not be that all these interruptions are unhealthy and damaging to productivity? When people complain constantly about a world full of idiots, might it be because there is so much stimulation that no-one wants to promote sitting down, shutting up and concentrating?

    27. Re:Gone off the deep end by godel_56 · · Score: 1

      Anyway, as a matter of routine I take out my cellphone battery when I don't need to use it. It probably cumulatively wastes an hour a year of quick hand movement, which is less than I waste in a couple of weeks on.. err.. masturbating? I know I'm less relevant than RMS, but being the activist type (in the sense of organisation and publication) I'm probably slightly more interesting than the average lady or gent. I know for certain by questions I've been asked at US immigration that at least someone's paying attention to what I'm doing.

      You have the right to be boring. I shall celebrate my freedom not to be.

      An RF shielding case might be easier to use and phone batteries and cases aren't designed to be inserted/removed on a regular basis.

      For example http://www.9mart.com/products/RF-Shield-Block-Pouch-BAG-For-Cell-Phone-Mobile.html looks like it might be suitable. Not tested.

    28. Re:Gone off the deep end by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Times change. Technology moves on.

    29. Re:Gone off the deep end by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      But your point of view leads to the more worrying conclusion that, because most people lack the talent or the courage to take a stand, it shouldn't matter that those who do make a difference may be prevented from doing so. Essentially, you're scared of freedom and you resent those who want to enjoy it.

      WTF? RMS is scared (like a paranoiac). I'm not.

    30. Re:Gone off the deep end by BasilBrush · · Score: 0

      In theory I can charge you for sucking my cock. That doesn't make it a rational capitalist venture.

      With few exceptions, programmers of OSS get paid fuck all, with only individuals and companies that support the OSS software (often written by others) being able to make a living.

      RMS's ideology is a recipe for programmers to be worth less than refuse collectors. It's somewhat popular with those that want to use software for free. Much as bittorrent is somewhat popular with those who want movies for free. OSS is rather less popular with people people that actually create software.

    31. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Julian Assange is that you?

    32. Re:Gone off the deep end by NateTech · · Score: 1

      Ahh. That must be the reason government got no more transparent after the new President who promised such, was elected.

      They'd obviously go insane.

      --
      +++OK ATH
    33. Re:Gone off the deep end by tgeller · · Score: 1

      You are probably less relevant than RMS.

      Is that possible?

      --
      Tom Geller
    34. Re:Gone off the deep end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The FBI could have planted bugs in my apartment. They could bug my landline telephone. They could point a laser device at my window and pick up voice via the vibrations. They could be following me. They could have planted a tracking device on my car.

      You're right, they could, at significant expense. But you've decided that all they should have to do, is flip a bit in a database.

      Here's how it really works: 1) When they come for you, you lose. Any "real" suspect who is trying to defend themselves against an FBI investigation, has a bleak outlook. The assassin's target will likely be shot. The crackhead will break your locked door if he knows for sure that you have lots of crack and cash in the house and aren't home to defend it. 2) When they come for everybody, you lose or win, depending on the choices you make. This is why you lock the door to your house -- not because it will keep out a determined thief, but because it will keep our a not-so-determined thief. The not-so-determined thief just goes on to the next house.

      And let's drop the "paranoid" bullshit. You don't have to be paranoid to know that some people victimize some other people, and that therefore systems shouldn't be deliberately made insecure by design. The reason we use FBI, NSA, etc as example scenarios, is because if you can defeat their untargeted trawling efforts, then you have pretty much solved the most common problems to a reasonable degree. The neat thing about modern (though pre-quantum) cryptography is that solving the problem of the redneck-with-a-scanner and solving the problem of the NSA, is nearly the same thing (just a few extra bits of key length). It doesn't really cost more. So: beat the NSA. Beat the FBI. Then you will have done a diligent job. If you can't beat the NSA then you haven't beaten the neighborhood crackhead, either.

    35. Re:Gone off the deep end by Ash+Vince · · Score: 1

      In theory I can charge you for sucking my cock. That doesn't make it a rational capitalist venture.

      With few exceptions, programmers of OSS get paid fuck all, with only individuals and companies that support the OSS software (often written by others) being able to make a living.

      RMS's ideology is a recipe for programmers to be worth less than refuse collectors. It's somewhat popular with those that want to use software for free. Much as bittorrent is somewhat popular with those who want movies for free. OSS is rather less popular with people people that actually create software.

      That is far less diplomatic than my response to his post but far better :)

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    36. Re:Gone off the deep end by Samizdata · · Score: 1

      As Cardinal Richlieu said, back in the 1600's, "Give me six words of an innocent man, and I will find something in them with which to hang him."

      --
      It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage. - Colonel Henry Walton Jones, Jr., Ph.D.
    37. Re:Gone off the deep end by swalve · · Score: 1

      Free software has nothing to do with capitalism. Or it has everything to do with capitalism, depending on how you look at it. Capitalism means, at its most basic, property rights. Your work has value, you trade that for something. Glory, ripped biceps, or money. You use that money to trade for other people's work, or maybe you save it up. And then you buy a factory or a software company. And then you find people with work to trade and you buy their work with your money. Whether they are building birdcages or software, you own the product of their work (within reason, to the extent your contract covers). Capitalism means that citizens can own things, and use those things to make money.

      There is no difference, in capitalism, between going out to Jiffy Lube and paying someone to change your oil, or hiring an employee to change your oil. Either way, you own the "product" of their work. IE, the oil change. On the other side of the coin, capitalism says that the individual owns his work. I can offer my work to whoever I want, under any (legal) compensation framework. I can go work for Jiffy Lube, I can stand outside Autozone and offer to change people's oil for $5 or I can create software and distribute it any way I want. The point is: the work I did is mine to do with as I please. If Microsoft hates me because I built something better in my basement and give it away for free, than they are trying to charge for, THEY are the ones who aren't being good capitalists. Or, sucks for them. Capitalism means choice, freedom and competition.

      So when RMS advocates that people choose to create software and give it away for free, good for him. I hope more people do that. If I could figure out how to get a development environment working on my computer, I'd do it too.

      The only time RMS steps on capitalism is when he says that other people shouldn't be *able* to choose what to do with their work. Opponents rightly criticize him, because he would deny other people the fruits of their labor if he were king. That's not cool. It is just like the music "sharing" people- they are telling artists they shouldn't have the right to profit off their work, if they choose.

  6. RMS = Unabomber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously, that's what he sounds like. I would beware of listening to any more of what he says.

  7. Um, turn it off? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Carry it, but turn it on when you need to use it to make a call? You don't have to be tracked all the time, because it doesn't have to be on all the time. It's still useful to have for emergencies when you're traveling, for example.

    "Turned on to eavesdrop"? I mean, seriously. Wrap it in tin foil if you're that paranoid. :-)

    1. Re:Um, turn it off? by Shikaku · · Score: 1

      How do you know it's truly off?

      Unless you remove the battery, cell phones always have the capability to transmit information.

      Citation: US law dictates that phones must be able to call 911 in an emergency, for free, if physically possible.

    2. Re:Um, turn it off? by Nursie · · Score: 2

      Actually, there has been a history of this, some phones can indeed enter a listen and transmit mode even when switched off. Google it.

      Removing the battery, of course, would mitigate that. No iPhones then...

    3. Re:Um, turn it off? by Polybius · · Score: 1

      Doesn't need to be off, just make yourself a nice little Faraday cage for it.

    4. Re:Um, turn it off? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Nowhere does US law dictate that it must be able to dial 911, while turned off.

    5. Re:Um, turn it off? by C0vardeAn0nim0 · · Score: 1

      tinfoil doesn't work. at least not with the motorola milestone i have.

      i know because i tried. a faday cage, maybe. have to build me one.

      --
      What ? Me, worry ?
    6. Re:Um, turn it off? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are of course assuming that it doesn't have an alternate power supply you don't know about...

    7. Re:Um, turn it off? by Dunega · · Score: 1

      Your citation doesn't apply. If the phone is off, turn it on and call 911. It doesn't state that it has to be able to make the call while off.

    8. Re:Um, turn it off? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is a faday cage anything like a Faraday Cage?

    9. Re:Um, turn it off? by BradleyUffner · · Score: 1

      Actually, there has been a history of this, some phones can indeed enter a listen and transmit mode even when switched off. Google it.

      Removing the battery, of course, would mitigate that. No iPhones then...

      Your definition of "Off" must be different. "Off" means that the device isn't functioning. If the phone is still operating in some way then it isn't truly turned off.

    10. Re:Um, turn it off? by Nursie · · Score: 1

      Agreed, but without removing the battery it is not possible to fully turn some phones 'off' by the absolute definition. For instance - my nokia N900 will wake up (into some form of simplified shell OS, not booting fully) for an alarm even if the system is nominally off and the battery is otherwise dead.

      Removing the battery does stop this, yes.

  8. You always need a by Compaqt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    harbinger.

    RMS is seen as crying wolf, but many of his weirdest predictions have come true.

    Viz. The Right to Read

    And we're already there with Amazon's action's regarding remote Kindle book manipulation.

    Cell phones? Remember the article on government snooping while the phone's turned off? The fact that cell phones can and do track you is blindingly true, but for some reason, people don't even want to hear it.

    --
    I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
    1. Re:You always need a by BasilBrush · · Score: 2, Insightful

      RMS is seen as crying wolf, but many of his weirdest predictions have come true.

      Viz. The Right to Read [gnu.org]

      And we're already there with Amazon's action's regarding remote Kindle book manipulation.

      Except that article has not come true. There's nothing to stop you lending your kindle/computer to someone else to read your eBooks. You're just not allowed to copy them without permission - same as with paper books.

      RMS is no George Orwell. He's just a crank.

    2. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am recently aware that my call and my location are being tracked by the people of my government, someone I know gave me the record of my calls via my cellphone. So now I am turning off my cellphone whenever possible.
      Posting anonymously for an obvious reason.

    3. Re:You always need a by djinfected · · Score: 1

      Hasn't anyone ever seen the spy movies where people buy disposable, prepaid phones to avoid being tracked? If Jason Bourne is concerned about it, isn't that good enough for the rest of us? ;)

    4. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, because none have them are available under a free license such as Creative Commons.

    5. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And there's nothing to prevent amazon from discovering that the eBook has been lent. You're the crank.
       

    6. Re:You always need a by statusbar · · Score: 1

      Didn't Kindle have an EULA saying that you did not have the license to "Read the story out loud" to another person? Does it still have that limitation? Normal books do not.

      Didn't Kindle revoke the licenses of copies of Orwell's book "1984" from Kindle's remotely?

      Now Libraries are being told by some e-book publishers that they only have the right to lend an e-book 26 times before it expires.... Normal books do not have this limitation.

      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
    7. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      George Orwell was a crank, too. He was also right to be concerned. Take a good look at Richard's concerns about software patents and their abuses to do end-runs around the GPL (as Microsoft and Novell tried to do), and the "trusted computing" system from Microsoft disabling people from access to their own purchased hardware and its non-existent support for genuinely private keys.

      Richard is noticeably paranoid in his concerns, but he has good cause to be.

    8. Re:You always need a by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except that article has not come true. There's nothing to stop you lending your kindle/computer to someone else to read your eBooks.

      If you read the story, the main character does exactly that: he lends his computer to someone else, so she can read his books. In fact, what the character in that story does is considered a violation of the rules at some universities, since he also told someone else his password.

      You're just not allowed to copy them without permission - same as with paper books.

      Funny, because when I take a paper book to a copy machine, printed copies come out of the machine. There is no technical measure stopping me, only legal measures, and only if I am not engaging in fair use.

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    9. Re:You always need a by leomekenkamp · · Score: 1

      Except that article has not come true yet.

      FTFY

      --
      Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
    10. Re:You always need a by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

      http://xkcd.com/743/ Everyone wearing an emitter linked to a microphone that connects to a national communication network. That IS Stalin's dream. Unless you build strong safeties, that are clearly not present. Let us sniff what comes out ! Open the GSM/3G stack !

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    11. Re:You always need a by name_already_taken · · Score: 1

      Posting anonymously for an obvious reason.

      We're still tracking you.

      --
      Putting moderation advice in your .sig lowers your karma!
    12. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And there's nothing to prevent amazon from discovering that the eBook has been lent. You're the crank.

      He didn't say "lend the ebook", he said "lend the ebook reader. How exactly does Amazon know who's reading the physical device?

    13. Re:You always need a by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      If you read the story, the main character does exactly that: he lends his computer to someone else, so she can read his books.

      I read it. Unlike the story, it's not illegal.

      In fact, what the character in that story does is considered a violation of the rules at some universities, since he also told someone else his password.

      Which has nothing to do with reading books. And even if it was is nothing to do with the law.

      Funny, because when I take a paper book to a copy machine, printed copies come out of the machine.

      And if you club an old lady over the head she'll fall down. Which doesn't mean it's allowed either.

      There is no technical measure stopping me, only legal measures, and only if I am not engaging in fair use.

      Fair use allows you to use quotations. Just as with a paper book, you can read the text, and type it in to your essay/thesis. Or if you want a full page, you could photocopy the kindle image, just as with a paper book.

      Your contention that this RMS attempt at George Orwell has come true is just nonsense.

    14. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's no technical measure stopping you from breaking the DRM either, only legal measures.

    15. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even crank's can be right. His concerns are still valid, and you're an idiot to dismiss him outright for giving it no more than a few sentences of thought.

      Tell me. Do you partake in any activity that someone might take offense with? Anyone ranging from say, the Westboro Baptist Church to P.E.T.A.? Think they can't get a hold of your info, or mine? No way to profile you, right?

      Naivete is not an admirable trait.

    16. Re:You always need a by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      "RMS is no George Orwell. He's just a crank."
      But he is a very good programmer.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    17. Re:You always need a by nedlohs · · Score: 2

      Funny, because when I take a paper book to a copy machine, printed copies come out of the machine. There is no technical measure stopping me, only legal measures, and only if I am not engaging in fair use.

      A kindle uses E Ink, so you'll be able to stick it on the photocopier and get a printed copy of each page that way too.

      In fact I think it has a screenshot function anyway which would be simpler still.

    18. Re:You always need a by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Didn't Kindle have an EULA saying that you did not have the license to "Read the story out loud" to another person? Does it still have that limitation? Normal books do not.

      A playscript is a printed book that you can buy. But that doesn't grant you permission to perform the play. You have to get separate performance permission. I'm sure the same is true of any other work of literature.

      Didn't Kindle revoke the licenses of copies of Orwell's book "1984" from Kindle's remotely?

      I recall some such thing. Wasn't there a copyright breach involved, and Amazon had the ability to rectify it. For sure a paper bookshop wouldn't have been able to do that. Whether you think that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on whether you think wrong doing should be undone when it's reasonably possible to do so.

      Now Libraries are being told by some e-book publishers that they only have the right to lend an e-book 26 times before it expires.... Normal books do not have this limitation.

      Depends on the book type. Hardback books last a very long time. But a paperback book will have fallen apart by the time it's been read that many times. Is the price of an ebook (paid by a library) closer to that of a paperback or a hardback? Maybe there should be a choice of prices depending on whether the ebook expires or not. (maybe there is, I don't know).

    19. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes and that is why One has done more for freedom than all of the f***g slashdot community and their ancestry has or will ever do. Gorge Orwell just wrote a book about it that you like to quote from, is that all you guys do?. Go screw yourselves.

    20. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because we're not all paranoid or have a reason to be

    21. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Kindle has a built-in screen capture function.

      Press Alt-Shift-G and the screen image will be "grabbed" and saved as a .gif file in the documents folder. Hook up via the USB cable and drag the image across to your PC/whatever.

    22. Re:You always need a by c0d3g33k · · Score: 1

      Correlation between the location reported by the secret GPS device in the kindle and the nearest cell phone would suffice, I suppose. The kindle probably doesn't have built in location tracking yet, but it could. Barring that, being able to sense and identify nearby devices that incorporate location tracking would do the trick.

      Amazon may not be able to determine who possesses the physical device right now (and presumably reading it), but the ability to do so isn't that far-fetched.

    23. Re:You always need a by ehynes · · Score: 1

      And if I leave my phone behind when I walk to the corner coffee shop to do a little reading, what then?

    24. Re:You always need a by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      Except that article has not come true.

      Well it's not 2047 yet, he's got a little bit of time left on this one.

    25. Re:You always need a by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      considered a violation of the rules at some universities, since he also told someone else his password

      That has nothing to do with monitoring in 99% of cicrumstances (possibly it could on some corporate networks, but then it is their network). And I have never heard of someone being punished for sharing a password at a university.

    26. Re:You always need a by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

    27. Re:You always need a by Man+Eating+Duck · · Score: 1

      How exactly does Amazon know who's reading the physical device?

      By comparing the 3G location of the device with the location of the owner's cell phone. Didn't you read the summary? :)

      --
      Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors! :)
    28. Re:You always need a by Man+Eating+Duck · · Score: 1

      Posting anonymously for an obvious reason.

      We're still tracking you.

      Please be aware that someone's on to you as well, they already took your name.

      --
      Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors! :)
    29. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a test I took my Kindle copier and made a copy. It works, not pretty, but with some tweaking and practice. Maybe scan it to my computer and then crop the text it isn't that different. Just as you said.

      Now, in the name of Science I need to find some way to borrow my coworker's Nook and sneak my iPad to the copier....

    30. Re:You always need a by statusbar · · Score: 1

      Are books normally sold or licensed?

      Are any e-books sold instead of being licensed?

      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
    31. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You could take your kobo to the copy machine, too. Or take photos of the screen. You'll get the same thing, a grainy, spotty image of the original, probably with the text still readable.

      You expect exact digital copies of digital medium, but are willing to settle for loose, streaky pages with copies of a paper tome.

    32. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. RMS is not a cooky man with a shaggy beard. Not anymore. There are other "crazies" that have been proven quite correct in the recent years. Sites like

      prisonplanet.com

      used to be about crazy ideas of x-raying prisoners. They were even nuts there that said this would be moved into airports and soon later to include all public places, where you are irradiated by passing a traffic light, etc... These "nuts" and their "crazy" ideas are coming true. We already have x-rays in airports. UK is proposing putting x-ray machines on the streetlight poles... Reality is getting much more whacked than fiction.

    33. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its the same reason people living under a dam don't want to hear about it busting.

    34. Re:You always need a by vegiVamp · · Score: 1

      > There's nothing to stop you lending your kindle/computer to someone else to read your eBooks

      True, if I don't mind them having access to my Kindle account.

      Additionally, lending someone your Kindle is not so much like lending someone a book, as it is like lending someone your entire library - you have no control over what parts they see (got some of the more interesting adult literature on there, or maybe research papers they're not supposed to see?), nor do you have control over what they do with it: lend someone a book and you might never get it back; lend someone your library and he might set fire to it.

      --
      What a depressingly stupid machine.
    35. Re:You always need a by Desler · · Score: 1

      Didn't Kindle revoke the licenses of copies of Orwell's book "1984" from Kindle's remotely?

      Not quite. What happened was that a publisher who had no right to do so was selling copies of 1984 and Animal Farm on the Kindle store. When Amazon discovered this they removed the titles from the store, deleted all copies distributed and refunded the money the customer's used to purchase the books. It wasn't as if Amazon out of the blue decided they were going to delete books from people's Kindles.

    36. Re:You always need a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      harbinger.

      RMS is seen as crying wolf, but many of his weirdest predictions have come true.

      Viz. The Right to Read

      And we're already there with Amazon's action's regarding remote Kindle book manipulation.

      Cell phones? Remember the article on government snooping while the phone's turned off? The fact that cell phones can and do track you is blindingly true, but for some reason, people don't even want to hear it.

      Yup, it isn't just government agencies. It could be douchey co-workers as well.

      Do you assholes hear me? I'm NOT bringing the potato salad to the pot luck on Thursday!!

    37. Re:You always need a by Noughmad · · Score: 1

      Fortunately, it's also Batman's dream.

      --
      PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
    38. Re:You always need a by statusbar · · Score: 1

      What could amazon have done if they were actually selling real BOOKS of 1984 and this happened?

      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
    39. Re:You always need a by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      True. And actually 1984 didn't come true by 1984 now I think about it.

    40. Re:You always need a by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Are books normally sold or licensed?

      The physical book is sold. But no right to copy is sold.

      Are any e-books sold instead of being licensed?

      They're licensed. There is no physical existence.

      No one is saying that they are the same. Just that the difference between physical media the best emulation in digital media isn't so different as some like to pretend.

    41. Re:You always need a by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

      Batman, Stalin, one is a work of fiction.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    42. Re:You always need a by trickyD1ck · · Score: 1

      Amazon is just a company, one among many, so this "right to read" does not apply to it. It only applies to governments. What's so hard to understand about this?

    43. Re:You always need a by Compaqt · · Score: 1

      What RMS is warning about is a future in which there are (practically) no normal books.

      We've seen how much competition there is in broadband Internet in the US: usually a choice between tweedledee and tweedledum, both with onerous restrictions.

      Let's say a tsunami warning goes off, people heed the warning and head to high ground. The disaster averted, but it wouldn't make any sense to say that the warning itself was useless because the disaster didn't come to pass.

      Similarly, we're not quite at a disaster situation with ebooks, but we could be at some point. If the disaster is avoided, it'll be because of clarions like RMS sounding. And it'll be avoided because of people applying pressure (consumer or governmental) because they've been influenced by ideas similar to those in The Right to Read.

      --
      I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
    44. Re:You always need a by swalve · · Score: 1

      I haven't read the EULA, but I am fairly confident the language isn't like that. I'm sure it is very similar to the same restrictions there are on DVDs and audio recordings. Which are: for the price we are charging you, you have a license to personally enjoy this work. Reading it alone, out loud for yourself or to loved ones in your living room is just fine. What isn't fine is giving a public performance. Like the other poster said, if you buy a copy of a play or the sheet music for a song, that only gives you the right to read it or play it for yourself. Performing it is a different category of use.

      Now Libraries are being told by some e-book publishers that they only have the right to lend an e-book 26 times before it expires.... Normal books do not have this limitation.

      I am conflicted on this. I absolutely believe in libraries as repositories for learning and in lending libraries as places to borrow a book to read. But it seems somehow a violation of the spirit of the ebook to be "lending" those out. What it looks like to me is the difference between a car rental place, where they buy a "copy" of a car and loan it out to people; and some guy buying a monthly subway pass and lending it out to all his friends. In the first case, you've bought control over a thing. In the second case, you've bought (in essence) a service for a single person (or e-reader device) and are abusing the spirit of the purchase.

      Plus, lending e-books and then complaining about it gives libraries a bad name. It strengthens the public image that libraries are places where freeloaders get something for nothing. That should be an unavoidable side-effect of their main mission as repositories of knowledge. Not their main mission.

      Doubleplus, as I understand it, when libraries "loan" out e-books, they aren't even doing it themselves. They spend money, likely taxpayer money, on a service sold by a private company that facilitates the download and expiration of the e-books. These private companies are the real beneficiaries of e-book lending, and I suspect they are the reason why publishers are putting limits on the number of times the "copies" of them can be loaned out. Physical book loaning is fair use and a relatively minor cost of doing business for publishers. But a website that makes money off of distributing e-books, merely using libraries as a cover story, is a whole different thing.

      Me: Hi, I'd like a free e-book please!

      Them: What are you, nuts?

      Me: are you sure?

      Them: well, actually, we do have a way.

      Me: excellent, do tell.

      Them: Go get a library card, and then you can have free e-books.

      Me: How do you make money?

      Them: don't worry about it.

      Me: aww, come on, someone has to pay for you and your servers.

      Them: Ok, but don't tell anyone else. The libraries don't want to have to go out and buy Kindles and make you return them. So we charge them a modest fee to facilitate it for them.

      Me: So, the government pays for it all?

      Them: [whips cape around, throws down a smoke capsule and disappears into the night]

      Me: Sweet, free e-books!

    45. Re:You always need a by swalve · · Score: 1

      Open source wouldn't prevent this from happening. A guy can hire a hitman, a completely closed and propitiatory killing service, and have me killed; or he can whittle a club out of a tree and club me to death. He is still a murderer.

      Open source has nothing to do with it. It is just the method in which the data is collected. What they do with it is, or isn't, the problem. They could have a completely open, free and smelly hippie website, and still sell the logs to advertisers.

  9. Attention Whores by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It'll take a lot more than this to upstage Charlie Sheen.

  10. tackling that social problem by buchner.johannes · · Score: 2

    The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.'

    This problem will only be solved or approached once
      (1) citizens can program, and once there is a language intuitive, useful and easy enough to pick up for non-programmers.
      (2) programs can be changed on-the-fly -- like in OLPC/XO where you can switch to the source mode and edit the python code for each activity

    As long as programming is not understood by users, the source might as well be not open, because they can not read and make sense of it anyway.

    --
    NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    1. Re:tackling that social problem by slim · · Score: 1

      As long as programming is not understood by users, the source might as well be not open, because they can not read and make sense of it anyway.

      If you can't program, you can get someone else to do it for you -- either with money, or with some other persuasion technique.

    2. Re:tackling that social problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.'

      This problem will only be solved or approached once

        (1) citizens can program, and once there is a language intuitive, useful and easy enough to pick up for non-programmers.

        (2) programs can be changed on-the-fly -- like in OLPC/XO where you can switch to the source mode and edit the python code for each activity

      As long as programming is not understood by users, the source might as well be not open, because they can not read and make sense of it anyway.

      I agree. Someone needs to come up with a language that is understandable to the masses. I'm sure everyone on her hates MS Access / VBA, but the fact is that it is understandable by business folk, and it allows them to create in their spare time systems that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace using a more robust architecture such as .NET. I am currently converting a bunch of MS Access applications to .NET and as I am doing the work, sometimes I don't think that it is helping anyone. Sure the .NET stuff is easier to manage from an IT perspective, but I don't know if it is worth the coding / testing / business approval effort. What do you guys think?

    3. Re:tackling that social problem by SJHillman · · Score: 0

      So girls will sleep with me if I can program their phone?

    4. Re:tackling that social problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why draw the line at programming? Why not assembly and reverse engineering? Most programmers don't understand the latter, and yet both are equally incomprehensible to the average person.

      Nothing is as infuriating to me as unpacking and rebuilding a PE file, and listening to my idiot friend explain how he could do it if only he had studied enough -- and in the next breath he's become speechless at writing a hello world program in C.

    5. Re:tackling that social problem by Tom · · Score: 2

      (1) citizens can program,

      This will never happen. Look at what is happening instead - as computers grow more powerful, and programming becomes easier due to better languages (who still remembers manually allocating memory in C?), all those gains are offset by higher complexity.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    6. Re:tackling that social problem by C0vardeAn0nim0 · · Score: 1

      the problem with programing is not the languages themselves. there's lots of languages out there that try to be "intuitive" and "easy", yet, you don't see regular people doing anything with those.

      the problem is logic. unless you give computers a human level AI, so they can deal with the ilogical way most people think, resolve ambiguities in speech, extrapolate from an incomple set of instructions and other human limitations, you'll still need people trained in the mathematical logic of computers to give instructions to the machines.

      --
      What ? Me, worry ?
    7. Re:tackling that social problem by Ephemeriis · · Score: 1

      As long as programming is not understood by users, the source might as well be not open, because they can not read and make sense of it anyway.

      If you can't program, you can get someone else to do it for you -- either with money, or with some other persuasion technique.

      By that logic, the source doesn't need to be open because people can already make changes in other ways - by passing laws, or voting with their wallets, or whatever.

      --
      "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
    8. Re:tackling that social problem by Ephemeriis · · Score: 1

      The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.'

      This problem will only be solved or approached once

        (1) citizens can program, and once there is a language intuitive, useful and easy enough to pick up for non-programmers.

        (2) programs can be changed on-the-fly -- like in OLPC/XO where you can switch to the source mode and edit the python code for each activity

      As long as programming is not understood by users, the source might as well be not open, because they can not read and make sense of it anyway.

      This.

      Open source is nice, in theory. And I use plenty of open source software in my day-to-day life. And I appreciate the fact that the code is available and there are tons of people tinkering on it and whatever else. But all that means to me, ultimately, is that I have a product I can use.

      I'm no programmer. I'm not going to rip open Asterisk and fix some bug or implement a new feature. I'm waiting on somebody else to fix things for me, waiting on the next release, just like I would be if it was closed-source software.

      And unless we get to the point where anybody and everybody can quickly and easily throw together their own code, the whole "open source" thing is largely irrelevant to the population at large. Because they can't read the code, and they can't modify the code. For most people, the source code is no more intelligible or malleable than the binary data the machine actually executes.

      Sure, individuals working in IT care about the source code... And curious hobbyists will care about the source code... But the population at large, society as a whole, just isn't going to care.

      --
      "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
    9. Re:tackling that social problem by nyctopterus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Indeed! Most programming languages are actually pretty easy, and I think most people wouldn't have much trouble learning the basics (it's just basic logic if/then, loops etc.), but the platforms are so monstrously complicated that it requires a massive time investment to get anything that does anything, that it's just not worth people's time.

      Like most not-really-a-programmer types, I've learned the a portions of the web stack (SQL, PHP, Javascript), and I feel pretty comfortable reading other languages such as Python, Ruby, Java, or C--they just aren't that different. But learning how to get from lines of Objective-C, say, to a functional Application? Oh man, that'll take me weeks.

    10. Re:tackling that social problem by slim · · Score: 1

      I don't see what you mean at all.

      If the source is open, I can ask any programmer to modify it for me, in an arrangement that only involves me, the programmer, and some cash (or, as we said, some other incentive; friendship, sexual favours, challenges to geek pride, reciprocal work). There's an open market, so I should be able to find someone who'll do it for a price that reflects the difficulty of the job. Even if I am capable of programming it myself, I might be able to find someone who's inclined to do it for me at a price that suits me better than putting in the time myself. In fact, that happens all the time -- someone pipes up on a mailing list that a feature would be nice, and an enthusiast implements it for fun the next day.

      If the source is closed, I can only ask whoever holds the source, and they can quote me a price. If I don't like the price, I'm out of luck. The levers you've suggested -- passing laws, voting with wallets, etc. require a mass of people who want the same feature as I do, and that might not be the case.

    11. Re:tackling that social problem by pinkushun · · Score: 1

      So very, very true! Not only your point, but the fact what it reflects: A generation reliant on software made easy. Too easy.

      We have this moral and social imbalance in software, as it was made too easy for users, either too early, or without the right forethought towards these social issues.

      It brings to light the idea, that knowing how something works, gives you insight into how it may be exploited to your detriment. Its that lack technical knowledge, in the software, and in the people using it, that would have made all the difference.

    12. Re:tackling that social problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I tried standing on street corners shouting "C++ for a blowjob!" "C++ for a blowjob", but I kept getting approached by weird-looking old guys with neck beards who didn't want me to be the one doing the programming .......

    13. Re:tackling that social problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People already get other people to write programs for them with money. It's called "buying software."

    14. Re:tackling that social problem by pnewhook · · Score: 1

      I think you have got just as much chance of getting everyone to understand coding, as you do for everyone to understand how a combustion engine, microwave, nuclear reactor or quantum mechanics work - absolutely none. Most people just dont have the aptitude for those areas.

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
    15. Re:tackling that social problem by slim · · Score: 1

      U-huh, and if you're willing to spend enough, you can commission a complete bespoke app.

      But that's quite different from paying someone a couple of day's consultancy rates to customise qmail or whatever to your needs.

      Or, what I assume you were talking about, buying off-the-shelf software -- you have very little influence as to what that software is like. If you have a requirement that's not shared by thousands of other people, you won't get it.

      FWIW, RMS's road-to-Damascus moment was when he decided it would be neat if their printer driver would email the user, once their print job had completed. He was used to being able to get the source for this kind of thing, and make changes to it. He was astonished and disappointed when DEC (I think) told him they wouldn't let him have the source.

    16. Re:tackling that social problem by Eskarel · · Score: 1

      Well it really sort of depends on the apps.

      The problem with MS Access apps is that they don't scale well and they're a bugger to make changes to. If the apps your dealing with don't require much in the way of changes and don't need to have a dynamic data set shared among multiple users then it's probably a waste of time to rewrite them.

      On the other hand if you're getting requests to update them all the time, or are trying to shoe horn them into the role of a properly distributed web application then it's probably worth rewriting them.

      Essentially if it ain't broke don't fix it, but if it is broke fix it properly.

      Another thing to contemplate is that from my understanding from various Microsoft sales reps(we're working on an implementation but I haven't actually got my hands on the full version of the software yet), the new Enterprise Sharepoint allows you to import access databases and essentially convert them into internal MS SQL applications.

      I think to change them you still have to deal with coding up the access db, but it does, at least in theory, allow you to get around the issues with scalability, data sharing, backup and DR. It's not cheap, but depending on how much they're paying for the rewrite(either in terms of raw cash or other projects which have to wait for resources) and what your problem is it might be worth looking at.

    17. Re:tackling that social problem by Yunzil · · Score: 1

      (who still remembers manually allocating memory in C?)

      Waddya mean "still remembers"? >:(

    18. Re:tackling that social problem by w_dragon · · Score: 1

      Maybe I'm the only one who played with decompiled binaries in university? If you have the executables then you have the ability to change the behavior of the program. Open source or not, if you learn to read assembly you can read the code.

    19. Re:tackling that social problem by John.Banister · · Score: 1

      As long as the *programming* isn't understood by users? How about documentation for what the software already does? Most of the time, free software already does what I think I want it modified to do, but in order to learn about that, I have to find the one obscure forum reply where someone mentions how to get the software to actually perform the action I need.

    20. Re:tackling that social problem by slim · · Score: 1

      Well, that's true, but you can't deny that working with a decompiled binary takes more expertise than working with commented source code.

      More importantly, you're talking about working contrary to the wishes of whoever provided the binary. They've not supplied source code because they don't *want* you to modify it. It may or may not be legal wherever in the world you are -- but regardless, you've chosen to use software which the creator wants you to not modify. You can fight them, and you can get it done. You might even avoid getting into an arms race, where they try to obfuscate the logic.

      But isn't it easier, and more satisfactory, from an engineering perspective, to be working with the grain? In an environment where you can discuss the best way of implementing your feature with the community? Where you can merge it into the main project, and others will benefit -- and you may benefit from suggestions or even code provided by other users?

    21. Re:tackling that social problem by Requiem18th · · Score: 1

      I can assure you as fuck that bussiness types don't understand "MS Access / VBA" they just know that it is what must be used to be enterprisey.

      --
      But... the future refused to change.
    22. Re:tackling that social problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I tried standing on street corners shouting "C++ for a blowjob!" "C++ for a blowjob", but I kept getting approached by weird-looking old guys with neck beards who didn't want me to be the one doing the programming .......

      You know how I know you're lying? We prefer coding in C.

    23. Re:tackling that social problem by Requiem18th · · Score: 1

      The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.'

      This problem will only be solved or approached once

        (1) citizens can program, and once there is a language intuitive, useful and easy enough to pick up for non-programmers.

        (2) programs can be changed on-the-fly -- like in OLPC/XO where you can switch to the source mode and edit the python code for each activity

      As long as programming is not understood by users, the source might as well be not open, because they can not read and make sense of it anyway.

      Whose ass did you pull these requirements from? Maybe I program, maybe my brother does, maybe my friend, maybe a peer that has my best interests in mind.

      --
      But... the future refused to change.
    24. Re:tackling that social problem by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      (who still remembers manually allocating memory in C?)

      I'd be pretty scared if I couldn't remember five minutes ago.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    25. Re:tackling that social problem by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      programming becomes easier due to better languages (who still remembers manually allocating memory in C?)

      Errrr... C programmers?

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    26. Re:tackling that social problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? So everyone needs to learn how to program in order to use cell phone? Does that mean that I need to be an automotive engineer to drive a car?

      Once everyone knows how to program, we can all go sit in our parent's basement and and perform a full security audit on all the source code on every device we own. Problem solved! About the time we've all vette

    27. Re:tackling that social problem by Tom · · Score: 1

      You overestimate average people.

      Understanding if/then and loops requires a certain amount of analytical thought and abstraction. Not everyone has these, or has the patience to put in the effort required. Just like some people simply don't dig math. Sure they'll pick up the basic computations, but ask them for a derivative and they'll be lost. And we all know that's where real math starts.

      Even a simple program is not something that everyone can do or will be able to do within the forseable time. Heck, if we can't teach basic math and increasingly basic grammar of our mother tongues to school children, how does the GP even come up with the idea of everyone being able to write code?

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    28. Re:tackling that social problem by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      Really? So everyone needs to learn how to program in order to use cell phone? Does that mean that I need to be an automotive engineer to drive a car?

      Be careful: if it were up to Stallman, you'd have to be a sanitation engineer in order to take a shit.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    29. Re:tackling that social problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A very large percentage of any population, even "educated" ones, can't even read and comprehend their native spoken/written language.

      Believe they'll want to learn another computer language? That is ridiculous.

      Stallman wants something "open" that only he and his co-horts whom we must trust because they say so... can read. He basically offers us the choice to read things we can't all understand vs. not being able to read them, when neither Open nor Closed Source Software "Engineers" have ever given the world a good reason to TRUST them, really.

      He's basically standing on a street corner yelling, "Don't trust those guys who write closed code, trust me, because I write open code!" All the while knowing 99% of his "audience" couldn't read the open code if they tried.

    30. Re:tackling that social problem by trickyD1ck · · Score: 1

      There's an open market, so I should be able to find someone who'll do it for a price that reflects the difficulty of the job.

      Prices reflect the supply/demand for a good, in particular the scarcity of the skills of a software developer. They have little to do with difficulty (how do you measure it anyway?) Sorry, but once you write something like this there is no way one can take your whole argument seriously.

    31. Re:tackling that social problem by trickyD1ck · · Score: 1

      citizens can program

      I doubt, one can become a good software developer with IQ less than 115, so at least 80% of population will never be software developers.

    32. Re:tackling that social problem by slim · · Score: 1

      The difficulty of the job feeds directly into the level of supply. The more difficult it is, the fewer people will be willing to do it, and the more they'll charge.

      OK, so it was a slightly fuzzy choice of word -- but not that bad, unless we're stumbling on some regional language issues? Call it the product of how long it'll take, multiplied by the expertise of the people doing it. Both of which are also difficult to measure, but an appropriate price will fall out of the market anyway.

    33. Re:tackling that social problem by nyctopterus · · Score: 1

      I dunno, I suck at maths, but I can write functional programs, the level of abstract thought required for basic programming doesn't seem to me to be out of most people's grasp (although it get rapidly harder the more complex the task, and OO programming is quite abstract). I agree most people don't have the patience to learn the basics, but then, why should they? The probability of them being able to apply that to anything they care about is approximately 0.

    34. Re:tackling that social problem by tigersha · · Score: 1

      Programming is not easy.

      True, the basic steps of a programming language are easy, but the complexity does NOT arise from that. The complexity is emergent, arising from many interactions between the easy steps.

      I have built a wall once. It is easy. I took a brink, put it down, took some cement and put it n and so on. The wall is OK. Extending this to build a house might be sort-of viable, but as soon as you hit two stories you are dealing with extra structural support during the construction phase and so on. Wo while the individual steps are easy it is not easy to build a large house, never mind the Empire State Building.

      Anyone can write a small script or a webpage. Writing a complete application is entirely another thing, regardless of the development ease of the individual parts.

      --
      The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
  11. Some developers have families to feed by nikomen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Some of us who do software development have families to feed. All software can't be free. Not all developers can be paid to do open source development and research at MIT. I support open source, but open source isn't the savior of humanity to bring world peace. Free software is like some FSM for RMS. He practically worships it.

    1. Re:Some developers have families to feed by jacinda · · Score: 1

      There's often great confusion in what free means when discussing free software. When Richard Stallman uses the term free software, he doesn't mean that it necessarily comes free of cost.

      From the free software definition: “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.” http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

      For instance, the Mozilla Corporation is for-profit (unlike the Mozilla Foundation, which is non-profit), but their software falls under the definition of free because anyone can analyze it, modify it, etc. Similarly, you can analyze, take apart and rebuild your toaster. You might break it in the process, but when you buy it, there is nothing preventing you from taking a screwdriver to it.

    2. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      good point. exactly the reason drugs should be legalized and regulated.

    3. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Xest · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm paid to write software, not write software to sell.

      It wouldn't matter if my employer decided to start passing on freely the software I write for them, they'd still need to pay me to write software in the first place.

      The more software they can bring in for free from elsewhere also means the more advanced and cutting edge software I get to write.

      Software doesn't have to be sold on for developers to get paid. For many companies the software their developers write for them pays for itself in increased staff productivity so there's no need to try and monetise the software directly.

    4. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Scholasticus · · Score: 0

      First, you seem to have forgotten the difference between "free as in free of charge" and "free as in freedom." Richard Stallman isn't saying that all software should be free of charge, but that morally you have a right to use the software you have in the way that you want; in practical terms that means access to the source code. Stallman never said that you can't sell it, or sell support for it.

      Second, having a family to feed is irrelevant to this discussion if Stallman is right about the moral status of non-free software. His contention has always been that it is morally wrong to distribute non-free (as in freedom) software. If you had other alternatives, would it be okay for you to pick someone's pocket so that you can feed your family?

      Third, your point about open source not being the savior of humanity or bringing world peace is a classic straw-man argument. Nobody is saying that "open source" is going to do those things. You may not like or agree with Stallman's positions or his arguments for them, but you should at least respond to what he's actually saying, and not some other thing which he didn't say.

    5. Re:Some developers have families to feed by statusbar · · Score: 2

      That is too bad for you that you are unable to make money working on free software.

      I do, and other people working with me do too, and have for a long time:

          https://github.com/jdkoftinoff

          http://www.meyersound.com/opensource

      --jeffk

      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
    6. Re:Some developers have families to feed by dkleinsc · · Score: 2

      I write software for a living. My employer is not in the software business, it's in the entertainment website business, so software is a tool to sell stuff, not what we sell.

      As a result, we can and have open-sourced some of our packages. Not the stuff that would differentiate what we do from what our competitors do, but things like logging tools, web frameworks, and testing tools that every developer needs. Since some of this stuff doesn't exist the way we want it, we'd have to write it anyway, but since we lose nothing of value by giving it away, we do just that.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    7. Re:Some developers have families to feed by FreeAsInFreedoooooom · · Score: 0

      Exactly.

      If company A needs bespoke software to be more productive they can ask company B to write it. Whether the program is free or nor makes no difference to the price A pays for it.

      Company A can also give work to other software companies by asking them to add features to the software.

    8. Re:Some developers have families to feed by nschubach · · Score: 1

      That's actually a very valid point. If you had access to more algorithms for performing tasks (say, "One click purchase") wouldn't your company be better off?

      The intellectual property is not the software, it's the developer that puts the software together well.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    9. Re:Some developers have families to feed by tukang · · Score: 2

      I'll admit that the GPL is not useful for some business models but the notion that most people can't make a living developing GPL software is false and I bet most people believe that making money from GPL isn't possible because they misunderstand the GPL. Specifically, most people believe that the GPL license requires you to share the source with anyone who asks for it. That's false. You only have to share the source with the people you distribute the binaries to. Even if you're code is an extension of someone else's GPL code, you do not have to share your changes with the original author (as long as you don't give them the binaries). This rule means you can feasibly charge and develop GPL software for clients who will use the binaries inhouse and the clients would be under no obligation to share the source with their competitors.

    10. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it this really free software? If I require someone to pay for my software, then give them the source code, is that considered free software? Not trying to argue, just asking a legitimate question. Maybe I'm not informed well enough about what free software really is.

    11. Re:Some developers have families to feed by osgeek · · Score: 1, Troll

      All too true.

      I especially like how Stallman is always bitching about calling it "GNU/Linux" rather than just "Linux".

      Guess what, Stallman, the name of the damned thing is FREE. Your pathological pursuit of freedom apparently doesn't extend to what we call things.

      We're free to use it and modify it as we wish. We want to call it Linux so you can suck it.

    12. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Randle_Revar · · Score: 1

      >All software can't be free
      Of course it can.
      First, you don't have a right to make a living by developing software. If AI ever come through, all software, free or closed, may be written by other software. Second, it is perfectly possible to make money from Free Software

    13. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but open source isn't the savior of humanity to bring world peace

      Yes, because that's what Stallman said. Foss is going to bring world peace.

      Some of us who do software development have families to feed.

      Regardless of whether Stallman is right or wrong, that's not a good argument. If proprietary software is bad, it doesn't become good just because you do it for a living.

    14. Re:Some developers have families to feed by heathen_01 · · Score: 1

      Yes

    15. Re:Some developers have families to feed by pnewhook · · Score: 2

      Oh please - closed source software is not the same as illegal drugs. Get a grip

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
    16. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right, it's worse because illegal drugs are at least illegal!

    17. Re:Some developers have families to feed by slim · · Score: 1

      As I've pointed out in another thread, the traditional analogy is the buggy-whip manufacturer.

      Although free software won't destroy software development as a profession (because as long a software needs to be developed, someone will pay for it to be done) -- even if it did, why should we care.

      Let's say I design lace wraps for coffee cups. Should I stamp my foot in outrage at anyone who suggests these are a waste of time -- because I have a family to feed and the world owes it to me to preserve my profession of lace coffee cup wraps?

      (A pathetic lapse in imagination, that particular surreal and useless invented product, but that point still works)

    18. Re:Some developers have families to feed by slim · · Score: 1

      Maybe I'm not informed well enough about what free software really is.

      That seems to be the case, yes.

      http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

      I don't mean to be rude (really!) but it's probably worth being familiar with the FSF's stance, before weighing into the debate.

    19. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um. The majority of programmers are in actual companies that make actual stuff, physical stuff. The programs are a means to an end and these companies _loove_ free software since they don't have to do all the maintenance themselves - plus, they can ask anyone to extend the program and benefit from the work of the entire industry, it's easier to evaluate whether it fits you or not etc and it's cheaper (of course, still have to pay the programmers that actually write the new stuff, but no copy-tax).

      I know that many of the companies that write programs for the sake of writing programs only to keep them secret afterwards (instead of doing something actually useful) are going to have problems with it and that is by design - after all, that is exactly what Free Software is supposed to prevent.

    20. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one is obliged to pay you because you can program. If someone likes your software they might buy it. Or if there are better alternatives they will not. It is like every job. If you learn a job, it doesn't mean that someone will hire you. Unemployment exists.

      And yes all software can be free. As RMS has repeatedly said, you can build software as you build highways. The government pays programmers to build software (such as a highway) and the software is put to common use (such as a highway). It is even better since software does not wear out.

      Posting as AC because I am afraid of America and this is an America-centric site.

    21. Re:Some developers have families to feed by tepples · · Score: 1

      You only have to share the source with the people you distribute the binaries to.

      And those people can redistribute source and binaries and undercut you.

    22. Re:Some developers have families to feed by tepples · · Score: 1

      And yes all software can be free. As RMS has repeatedly said, you can build software as you build highways. The government pays programmers to build software (such as a highway)

      And the US government pays people to make medical records software such as the VistA CPRS used by veterans' hospitals. But how would the government justify paying someone to make, say, a video game unless it's a military recruitment or training tool?

    23. Re:Some developers have families to feed by vegiVamp · · Score: 1

      That sounds like you mistake free and free. That's why RMS uses libre versus gratis software: it being free of charge is nice, but not a necessity. It should contain the freedom to be verified for accuracy (and potentially improved or made more suitable to specific purpose) by anyone who feels like it and has obtained a legal copy.

      --
      What a depressingly stupid machine.
    24. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The more software they can bring in for free from elsewhere also means the more advanced and cutting edge software I get to write."

      You poor, deluded child, you actually believe that, don't you?

    25. Re:Some developers have families to feed by trickyD1ck · · Score: 1

      Yes, basically in Stallman-world we all get to work for big corporations (paid to write software). It is no coincidence that it is big companies that pay lip service to the FOSS ideology. So much for the little guy and software startups.

    26. Re:Some developers have families to feed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like you're a non-factor in a shitty job with a shitty employer and he isn't, sucks to be a loser like you I guess.

    27. Re:Some developers have families to feed by FreeAsInFreedoooooom · · Score: 0

      Way to miss the point.

      If somebody can't feed their families by writing free software, they should do something else.
      Nonfree software is unethical so they shouldn't write that.

    28. Re:Some developers have families to feed by sp0tter · · Score: 1

      I work for a company where half of the employees work on source code--for other companies. Much of the code was written in house but our contracts specify that the code belongs to the customer and we are paid to maintain it. We all make very good money for this, and there is always way too much work to be done that we are hiring left and right. My point is that there is always a good market for knowledgeable expertise of a code-base and that is where the money is.

      --
      you don't eat crackers in the bed of your future--or else you'll get all scratchy
    29. Re:Some developers have families to feed by pnewhook · · Score: 1

      If somebody can't feed their families by writing free software, they should do something else. Nonfree software is unethical so they shouldn't write that.

      So basically you are advocating working for the greater good with no pay, so a socialist software state where you dont get paid for software (and indeed cannot get paid) and are just provided for. No thanks you Marxist pig.

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
  12. He is missing the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most all technology can be used for both good and evil. If you want to do something that you don't want big brother knowing about, just take the battery out of your cell phone. Or buy a throw away phone. And don't buy a cell phone that you can't take the battery out of.

    1. Re:He is missing the point by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      A cell I can't take the battery out and replace it (because it will invariably NOT last for long) is the definition of a throwaway cell. Best to throw it away right away.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. Tracking not related to free software!!! by GPLHost-Thomas · · Score: 1

    The issue with tracking where you go isn't the use of free or proprietary software in the cell phone. The tracking is done thanks to the fact that your provider knows what cell tower you are connected to. I don't see how this issue could be solved, even with a fully free software phone.

    1. Re:Tracking not related to free software!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you've ever triangulated someone's position using a signal like that before, you must realize it isn't anywhere near as accurate or reliable as GPS, which is on your phone and could (I don't know if this ever actually happens) be turned on remotely so they can track you. Using the towers is highly dependent on the number of towers in the area as well as any potential interference, not very reliable as opposed to GPS. And I think the reason proprietary software is the target is that we don't really know what's going on in there without seeing the code, so we can't actually say what they can or can't do.

    2. Re:Tracking not related to free software!!! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Position tracking is one thing. But a cell being able to eavesdrop on you even while turned off is another.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Tracking not related to free software!!! by mikechant · · Score: 1

      The issue with tracking where you go isn't the use of free or proprietary software in the cell phone. The tracking is done thanks to the fact that your provider knows what cell tower you are connected to. I don't see how this issue could be solved, even with a fully free software phone.

      True to some extent, but you *could* be sure with free software that it was only connecting to the cell towers exactly when *you* wanted it to.
      You could program it to automatically go offline/online depending on your current gps coordinates.
      You could limit which cell towers it connected to in order to make triangulating your position significantly inaccurate and possibly worthless (e.g "connect to lowest signal strength above minimum threshold (rather than highest signal strength)").
      You could trade off convenience against traceability to an extend that you control.
      You could do all these things without personally having the technical knowledge since the software being open would allow others to add these functions even if the original phone software didn't allow such functions and had no suitable API for them.

    4. Re:Tracking not related to free software!!! by pnewhook · · Score: 1

      Position tracking is one thing. But a cell being able to eavesdrop on you even while turned off is another.

      They are just using the microphone as 'roving bug'. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with the type of software that is on the phone, open or closed. The government also has had the ability to read what you type on a computer basically ever since computers came out decades ago, unless you shield your keyboard, wire and computer case in tinfoil. No one ever freaks out over that, nor is any sane person worried because generally the *government doesn't care what you are doing - you are not that important!!*.

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
    5. Re:Tracking not related to free software!!! by Sloppy · · Score: 1

      The tracking is done thanks to the fact that your provider knows what cell tower you are connected to. I don't see how this issue could be solved, even with a fully free software phone.

      Why is your phone connecting to a cell tower, when you probably have wifi nearby? Because it was programmed to do that, in spite of the fact that it shouldn't need to do that whenever there happens to be a more sensible route. Proprietary phone software doesn't care that sometimes it makes a lot more sense to use other networks than the cell network; proprietary phone software is written to make the users dependent upon the cell network provider. Some phones won't even use wifi at all for any purpose unless you are paying a cell network provider for "data." (How fucked up is that? I get why they do that, but the means of doing it, is that they use proprietary software to enforce the broken behavior.)

      A phone running Free Software wouldn't be talking to cell towers all the time when it doesn't need to, because Free Software is intended to serve the interests of users above the interests of other parties. Using cell networks isn't dumb but if you think about it for just a few seconds, that should be the route of last resort. Cell is the slowest, the physically furthest (compare distance to your wifi router to distance to cell tower -- what does that imply about power requirements?), shared among more users, etc. Use it, but only when you don't have anything better.

      This is the tip of the iceberg. There are all kinds of crazy things about phones that we wouldn't tolerate on our desktops.

      I am pretty amazed that someone wouldn't think this issue can be (mostly) solved, especially since the biggest-payoff solutions involve running better software, which just happens to be the very context of your remark.

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    6. Re:Tracking not related to free software!!! by GPLHost-Thomas · · Score: 2

      What you are saying above is very interesting. It's even more interesting to realize that my phone (a n900) has the exact behavior that you describe above, because I downloaded some add-on (free) software to do it. I don't care if it connects to the provider network, because I don't have voice in my contract anyway (because if I did, the price would double, so I decided to use 2 phones, one for data, SIP and skype, and the other one for voice only). The fact that I have the feature you are missing might be the reason why I didn't think about it.

      As for your 2nd part, amazingly, using WiFi (which is routed through my ADSL) is in fact slower than using 3G. Latencies are bigger, it often does a bad hashed voice with "hole" where the other party can't get what I say, and I suspect that WiFi is using more power than 3G (maybe because WiFi wasn't designed for low consumption?). All that is annoying anyway because of the silly 800 mA/h battery of the n900, and it doesn't invalid what you said. And of course, as everyone knows, I really hope my phone wont break, because I wont ever be able to buy one again, as Nokia decided to work for the dark side...

      Thanks for stating the *non*-obvious that I missed.

  14. Hiden ads? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I bat there are few hidden tinfoil hat ads somewhere in there...

  15. Freedom by b4upoo · · Score: 1

    The freedom to record all that is around me or said to me is basic. The freedom to know where I have been and be able to offer a proof as to where I am is also basic. Imagine that a crime takes place and the criminal looks a lot like you and also drives a white Toyota. Instead of being half way to a conviction in the legal system you have proof of where you were when the crime went down. Also imagine the cops being able to do a sweeping search and being able to find witnesses and criminals who were within the same area at the time of the crime.
                        The idea that others may know does not imply a loss of freedom. It does create restraints upon criminals.

    1. Re:Freedom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Imagine that a crime takes place and

      Imagine that you're innocent of all crimes. It's nice to imagine, isn't it?

      But that's all it is. Any man claiming pure innocence is naive and has never taken a look at our many, varied and woefully open to interpretation laws.

    2. Re:Freedom by Volguus+Zildrohar · · Score: 1

      Instead of being half way to a conviction in the legal system you have proof of where you were when the crime went down.

      I would say you only have proof of where your phone was when the crime went down.

      --
      When confronted with one problem, some think "I'll use recursion". Now they are confronted with one problem.
    3. Re:Freedom by c0lo · · Score: 1

      Ia look at our many, varied and woefully open to interpretation laws.

      As long as these interpretations of the laws are truly open and free (like in free-speech, not free beer), I'm all for it!!!! I mean... if I don't like an interpretation or is just not enough woeful, I can freely adapt it to my needs... maybe release it for others to benefit as well

      (hint: use your irony/humor detector. Maybe turning it to the max of the scale would help?)

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    4. Re:Freedom by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The idea that others may know does not imply a loss of freedom. It does create restraints upon criminals.

      No, it gives power to criminals... inside the system. And since we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that criminal activity by law enforcement personnel is rampant, it is beyond folly to make this information available to them so readily.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:Freedom by Fnord666 · · Score: 1

      The freedom to record all that is around me or said to me is basic. The freedom to know where I have been and be able to offer a proof as to where I am is also basic. Imagine that a crime takes place and the criminal looks a lot like you and also drives a white Toyota. Instead of being half way to a conviction in the legal system you have proof of where you were when the crime went down. Also imagine the cops being able to do a sweeping search and being able to find witnesses and criminals who were within the same area at the time of the crime.

      Now imagine that I am your employer and want to be sure you aren't going anywhere or doing anything that might cast bad light on the company. You agreed not to do something like that in your employment contract, right?

      Now imagine that I am your health insurance provider. From your records I see that you have a very sedentary lifestyle and we are going to have to raise your premiums. We also noticed that you seem to be located at fast food locations an awful lot of the time during lunch. That isn't good for your health care costs. In fact, if you average more than 1.2 visits per week we are going to have to cancel your policy.

      Imagine that I am your auto insurance provider. You seem to park your car on the street more than in the garage, so we are just going to tweak those premiums a bit. Oh and by the way, you tend to speed a bit and push the yellow lights a bit too much. Another bump in your premiums.

      Imagine that I am your local police department's parking enforcement. Here are this month's fines for parking violations that were discovered by our new data mining program.

      If the data is out there, someone will get it and use it, almost certainly to your detriment.

      --
      'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
  16. Making money to support living by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.

    1. Re:Making money to support living by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great! Then I'll chose to live my lifestyle without working, while you support me. Oh, and by the way I'll be needing a new large-screen LED TV, some designer clothes, and a new Lexus... nothing too fancy, an ISF will do.

  17. Padded room for one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There have been some really far-fetched claims made in recent years, but this one beats most of them. Next he will be claiming he knows all about Nibiru.

  18. He's watched too much CSI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    His fears are the kinds of plot devices used to make the crime TV shows easier to swallow. My phone's GPS is turned off until I need it, and I've never heard of anyone turning on a phone remotely to eavesdrop.

    Stallman sounds like a loon.

    1. Re:He's watched too much CSI by Lennie · · Score: 2

      The phone company keeps location based information of what mobile phone antenna's your mobile phone is close to, all the time. No one needs GPS for that. It is called triangulation.

      --
      New things are always on the horizon
    2. Re:He's watched too much CSI by slim · · Score: 1

      I did jury service recently.

      Once the police had reasonable grounds to obtain a warrant, they were able to obtain records from a suspect's cellphone records. This did not include recordings of his conversations -- but it did include the time and duration of calls made and received, and fairly accurate location information gleaned from his proximity to the transmitters. ... and all of this was admissible evidence in court.

      Last week we saw some stuff about Android trojans. The right flaw in Android, and a trojan could make your GPS switch/indicators dummies, and intermittently phone home with your location, quite easily. Or, make it record from the mic, at high gain, and upload the files to base when it's convenient. A black-hat could get that onto your phone, or a government, or a corporation with some part in the development and distribution of the phone and its software (In my case, Google, HTC and Three have all got their mitts on the Android distro at some point in the chain).

      Yeah, you have to be a bit of a swivel eyed conspiracy theorist to pin it on governments or phone companies. Over here in Britain, the News of the World phone hacking scandal is topical -- a PI gained access to various public figures' voicemail boxes. So here's a scenario: a hacker under the employ of a newspaper gains physical access to your phone for half an hour or so, roots it, installs location and eavesdropping software, leaves it looking as if it's not been tampered with. I think that's plausible.

  19. Exageration? Not that much. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You might not be aware, but lot 'monitoring' products already exists in the mobile space, for both comsumer-level and business...

    http://www.mobile-spy.com/
    http://www.spectorsoft.com/

    http://download.cnet.com/windows/monitoring-software/

    Easy to install, easy to use, VERY HARD to find or remove.

  20. Have to agree..Facebook too! by tetrahedrassface · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I own and operate a fairly famous restaurant, and see a lot of people every week. Just this past week on Friday evening an older guy and I began chatting about Big Brother and the eaves dropping nanny state we live in. He told me that one of his friends and him would talk about "things" down in his workshop on his property, but that he made anyone that came there take the batteries *out* of their cell phones, because they can record and transmit conversations even when you think they are off. He said we learned this little intelligence hack from the Chinese who have been doing it for a few years now. I have no idea, but have manually disabled the GPS tracking feature in the phone, however any picture I take with the phone still has the lat/lon data in the photo. I don't want the latitude and longitude dammit!

    More than a few times I have told my wife that I wanted to throw our phones in the fireplace, but she is the trusting type, and doesn't seem to believe me when I tell her how her phone can violate hers and our privacy. I honestly hate cell phones on so many levels, but they are still one notch below my hatred of Facebook. To me the two go hand in hand. It is so easy to post things that may seem innocent on Facebook, but they end up being used against us. Facebook is number one in the privacy violation department, and we do it to ourselves. That is why both my wife and I have deleted our Facebook accounts and thankfully moved on over the last month and a half. I never liked Facebook anyway, but was on there to try to protect her. There is something gossipy and just plan creepy about it. Hell, i had customers who weren't even my friends on facebook coming in and asking me about posts i had made because they had been gossiping i guess with some of my Facebook friends in real life. JUST WIERD! My wife had her co-workers on there and supervisors on there. It was a recipe for disaster, and it almost ruined our marriage, and it definately creeped us out really good. Anyway, hopefully for my wife and I our cellphones will be the next to go... We aren't being luddites, but rather trying to retain at least a semblance of privacy in a nosy, gossipy, and evil networked world...

    1. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Mike+Mentalist · · Score: 2

      I own and operate a fairly famous restaurant

      McDonalds?

      --
      I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
    2. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by tetrahedrassface · · Score: 1

      Yeah.. Im Ronald.. :=) I was meaning that I meet thousands of people a week... I just see a lot of people, and the vast majority of folks out there are clueless..

    3. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by laejoh · · Score: 2

      I often whisper 'I know you're listening' to empty rooms. (http://xkcd.com/525/).

    4. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by drsmack1 · · Score: 0

      I think you are a nut.

    5. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great, what does any of this rambling have to do with? You own a restaurant, and your wife likes to gossip. Woohoo. Weird, btw, not wierd.

    6. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by gatzke · · Score: 1

      You should get fitted for a tinfoil hat ASAP. So should Stallman.

      Maybe you should get rid of your car? Traveling around freely is a tool of the devil and leads one down the path of sin. This new-fangled technology is bad for you.

      I remember as a kid seeing a man on the TV telling me that the gubbament is watching us using the TV in our house. So no more TV either.

      What else? Books! They may have RFID tags in them, so the CIA is tracking you too. I am sure they want to keep tabs on your penchant for pulp romance novels.

      How about, we don't put anything online that you wouldn't say in public to strangers?

    7. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by djinfected · · Score: 1

      Hey restaurant guy, good on you for deleting the FB, if not for the privacy problems, at least for the fact that your time is now better spent on more productive things.

    8. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Grizzley9 · · Score: 2

      So you don't like phones or social networks to connect to any friends you may have. What does owning a restaurant have to do with anything? Sounds like you and your family need to use a little more discretion in what you put online and post. FB and phones and all the rest are just tools. You don't have to put everything you think on there nor all your bank accounts info and just realize that what you do put there is/can be seen by all. Maybe you just have a problem with good judgment. You're not a luddite, you're just paranoid. That's not always a bad thing, perhaps you have good reasons to be, but you are paranoid.

    9. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      get a nokia n8. it has a 12mpx camera and can switch off the GPS part in settings.

    10. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The world is evolving into groups that value their privacy and those that don't.

      It looks like the ones that don't will outnumber the ones that do by a wide margin before I die.

      I just hope that no privacy for all is rolled out in a reasonably fair and equitable manner - the worst possible scenario is where only a privileged few have free access to everyone's "secrets." If there truly are no secrets, at least we are all on equal footing.

    11. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll agree on the phones because it rides around with you and naturally collects all the information about you.

      I disagree about FaceBook. You control what you put on there. You can put your whole life up if you want. Or, you can put up a fake life. Your choice, it requires your doing, it doesn't passively collect everything you do.

    12. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope you don't own any firearms. You sound like a total loon.

    13. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Rossman · · Score: 1

      Uh, just get rid of your cell phone? They aren't necessary, they are just convenient. I don't use one and nor does my wife, we make our plans the old fashioned way, home phone and email. :)

    14. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Mascot · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So, to summarize, you don't know how to configure your phone to not geotag images, and you are unable to engage your brain before friending someone or posting something on Facebook.

      That's it? Really?

      You may not be luddites, but you do apparently lack any semblance of social antennas when it comes to picking your friends and choosing what information you share with them (both on Facebook and in real life, it would seem). You don't really state what you have against cell phones (beyond the paranoia that all phones are by default rigged to eavesdrop on you while switched off), so can't really comment on that.

    15. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Or you could pull the battery when you're not using your phone, carry a pager if notification of incoming calls is important to you (still plenty of one-way paging out there) and check your VM to find out if you have new calls otherwise. It IS possible to use a cellphone without spewing information constantly.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Bloopie · · Score: 4, Funny

      he made anyone that came there take the batteries *out* of their cell phones, because they can record and transmit conversations even when you think they are off.

      Wait a second. You mention this, and yet you're posting on Slashdot with a registered account???

      Don't you know that right now Hussein Obama is personally readin' through yer post, cross-referencin' it with yer restaurant, and will soon pull you in for some gummint re-eddecashun??????

      What's that, Mabel? No, I didn't take my Risperdal this morning. That's all part of a gummint plot too!!!1!

    17. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a fool!

    18. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by moonbender · · Score: 1

      Nice collection of straw men you got there, Mr. Four Digit UID. You ARE being tracked with your cell phone, it's just a fact, getting your position is basically a side-effect of the technology, though storing it isn't. But the data is valuable, and without any laws to the contrary why wouldn't the network providers collect it? There have been several cases of the data being sold -- "anonymized", as far as that's possible with location traces. The data isn't routinely analyzed, but the hardware is there to do it. Equally, there have been recorded cases where cell phones that were ostensibly turned off were still active and sending voice data, so that's also not delusional.

      Maybe you life a very adjusted life so that none of that worries you, but we're not all like you, and we don't all live in countries where we have the luxury to be such a sheep -- or we expect our countries to change in the future decades.

      --
      Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
    19. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You haven't deleted your Facebook accounts. You've "deactivated" them. All of the information is still there.

    20. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With out Facebook or computers I would HAVE to come out of my basement.

    21. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by pinkushun · · Score: 1

      I thought restaurants made and served _FOOD_ :-D

    22. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you sound old and afraid of technology. Seriously, are you incapable of monitoring what you say on facebook or taking the time to adjust your privacy settings? or to vet the people you accept as friends on facebook? Is it too difficult to figure out what your audience and to take that into consideration before opening your trap? What's weird and down right creepy is the way you zero faith in your wife to take care of herself, you seem rather controlling/manipulative. You see the world as nosy, gossipy and "evil networked" maybe this says more about you than the world? Facebook/cellphones/social networks etc aren't inherently evil, they're just tools. You can make of them what you will, if it's too complicated for you maybe you should unplug.

    23. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by $1uck · · Score: 1

      Like anyone who could possibly being saying anything of interest that would be the subject of such tapping, would even talk about it online. Seriously, the fact that there are 7 billion+ people on the planet offers more anonymity than pulling the battery out of your cellphone.

    24. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I did (German) military service in 2006 we were cautioned by our J2 CO not to take any cellphones into sensible areas as they can be used for eavesdropping even when they have been switched off. Didn't seem to be a big secret at all.

    25. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Dunega · · Score: 1

      Interesting that he's so anti-Facebook where you can at least delete your post, but has no qualms about posting a rant on Slashdot where your comments are permanent.

    26. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by $1uck · · Score: 1

      I'm thinking we've all been trolled. Not sure how it got modded up to 4. Then again I've not hung around slashdot in a few years.

    27. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the "owning a restaurant" was a way to indicate that he has regular, casual contact with a large number of people.

    28. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      I brought up the subject of what's going to happen after we take over the government. You know, we become responsible for administrating, you know, 250 million people. And there was no answer. No one had given any thought to economics. How are you going to clothe and feed these people? The only thing that I could get was that they expected that the Cubans, the North Vietnamese, the Chinese and the Russians would all want to occupy different portions of the United States. They also believed that their immediate responsibility would be to protect against what they called the counter-revolution. And they felt that this counter-revolution could best be guarded against by creating and establishing re-education in the Southwest where we would take all of the people who needed to be re-educated into the new way of thinking and teach them how things were going to be. I asked, "Well, what is going to happen to those people that we can't re-educate, that are die-hard capitalists?" And the reply was that they'd have to be eliminated and when I pursued this further, they estimated that they'd have to eliminate 25 million people in these re-education centers. And when I say eliminate, I mean kill 25 million people. I want you to imagine sitting in a room with 25 people, most of whom have graduate degrees from Columbia and other well-known educational centers and hear them figuring out the logistics for the elimination of 25 million people and they were dead serious.
      -- FBI informant Larry Grathwohl, on a meeting attended by Obama and Ayers

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    29. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he's much classier than that. I'd say at least Shoney's or Olive Garden. I mean, this IS /.

    30. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This makes no sense.

      If people post on Facebook, they're making their lives public. You may as well complain that when you took out that front-page ad about what's in your pants, EVERYONE read it and knew about it. Private information freely discussed in public is PUBLIC information. If you don't want people to hear about it, don't post it all over the friggin' internet.

      It's not Facebook's fault that people reveal stupid details. That's what they want to do. And if your friends in REAL LIFE are revealing gossip about you, that's YOUR FRIENDS that are the problem.

    31. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does he know that the pager isn't recording everything he says? In fact, how does he know the battery that he pulls out of his phone is really the battery that powers the secret networked recording device? Maybe his clothes are actually secret networked recording devices disguised as clothes! Maybe the food he's eating is actually ingestible secret networked recording devices!1!!

      HOW DEEP DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE DO YOU WANT TO GO MAN!
      </sarcasm>

    32. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If talking about things you post on a public forum is enough to almost ruin your marriage... maybe you shouldn't post that sorta thing on a public forum?

    33. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Paranoid much? Better throw on another layer of tin foil so the CIA mind control rays can't get in your brain.

    34. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you know that right now Hussein Obama is personally readin' through yer post, cross-referencin' it with yer restaurant, and will soon pull you in for some gummint re-eddecashun??????

      That or he won't leave a tip when he eats there.

    35. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by Javit · · Score: 1

      You should have more sympathy. He probably lives in the type of place where the national investigatory authority is liable to attach a GPS tracker to your car for being the wrong kind of person or thinking the wrong kind of thoughts.

      --
      Support NRA, America's oldest civil rights group.
    36. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by conspirator57 · · Score: 1

      Some of us were concerned about warrantless domestic spying in the dim prehistory of time, by which i mean 2000-2008. You may have heard snippets here and there of the time when Democrats gave a damn about these issues. But like you, now that their guy is in power, they suddenly disappeared all at once on or about 20 January 2009. Kinda like most of the anti-war activists. The problem with people like you is that you help the powerful consolidate these encroachments as solidly under the bipartisan consensus and thus forever after uncontroversial, no matter how much damage they do to our society.

      --
      "If still these truths be held to be
      Self evident."
      -Edna St. Vincent Millay
    37. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by cffrost · · Score: 1

      I own and operate a fairly famous restaurant

      Never heard of it.

      --
      Thank you, Edward Snowden.

      "Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
    38. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by cffrost · · Score: 1

      I remember as a kid seeing a man on the TV telling me that the government is watching us using the TV in our house.

      FTFY.

      --
      Thank you, Edward Snowden.

      "Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
    39. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by delt0r · · Score: 1

      You forgot mind control chips....

      --
      If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
    40. Re:Have to agree..Facebook too! by riondluz · · Score: 1

      Great post!
      Whether it's PHORM for the ads you see on your
      IPTv settop or the .gov backdoors that scan through the bytes of your life or for the corpocrats to manage and control the risks you pose:
      That upon which we depend will be our undoing.
      I have hope the good news is that, in the long run (barring a longnow) centralized datacenters (FB) will become as antiquated as centralized computing in general. It would be easy to do but would require persuasive (political) will.

      If ISP's want to play then make them permit running home servers. That's all it would take.
      Let ubunut, deb, LAMPsters create a secure client-server combo dist that makes it easy to have one's own 'wall', their own ASP services...
      Break the centralized 'towers' and snooping, evesdropping, spam, ads... fades to black.

      Make it easy for the end-user to encrypt their communications on all their devices. OpenID, bitcoins, a candle in the spacecave
      If ISP/Telco/Mediacom want their version of 'net-neutrality' then make them accept a level playing field.
      Home servers are no less (perhaps more) secure than the m$ crap currently pawned. Linux and OSS will be rewarded and the abomination that is Redmond will change tune or make fuzzy toys.

      I feel this will be an eventuality. I hope it comes sooner than later. My basement is getting too damp and cold.

      --
      resist propaganda
  21. Stalin's dream? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe, but he's dead.

    Karl Rove on the other hand, is still alive.

  22. Zach Galifianakis by dunsurfin · · Score: 1

    My vote is for Zach Galifianakis to play rms when "Richard Stallman - The Movie" is filmed.

  23. #tigerbeard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    n/t

  24. Possible? Yes. Gonna Stop? Probably Not. by gfmartin0926 · · Score: 2

    Stallman is right in the sense that we're all carrying around tracking devices and it's a scary concept when you put it that way but are you really going to knock down the reality door to the mobile phone users and get them to stop using the phones? Probably not. While I respect Stallman to the highest degree, immediately after reading this comment, I couldn't help but think of John Malkovich's character in Red.

    1. Re:Possible? Yes. Gonna Stop? Probably Not. by Lennie · · Score: 2

      Do you know who has access to this information ?

      In the Netherlands we have this problems, the police queries this huge database 2.6 million times a year, in a country of 16 million people.

      The database contains records for 1 year.

      No records on queries are kept.

      There are rules which should protect our privacy but the police and government do nothing.

      I wouldn't be very surprised if in the US the situation wasn't exactly the same, you just don't know it yet.

      --
      New things are always on the horizon
    2. Re:Possible? Yes. Gonna Stop? Probably Not. by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      While I respect Stallman to the highest degree, immediately after reading this comment, I couldn't help but think of John Malkovich's character in Red.

      If you're going to make a movie reference, pick a movie that more than 12 people saw.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    3. Re:Possible? Yes. Gonna Stop? Probably Not. by gfmartin0926 · · Score: 1

      That's the thing here in the US though. This information gets passed around essentially indiscriminately and so opaquely. Companies sell the data that end-users think is trivial when in essence it's very valuable. The mass ignorance for the sake of convenience is so high that the train would have to wreck before anything gets done.

    4. Re:Possible? Yes. Gonna Stop? Probably Not. by delt0r · · Score: 1

      RED is a good movie... or do you think people only go to the movies for twilight sequels?

      --
      If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
  25. RE: Proprietary software by Even+on+Slashdot+FOE · · Score: 1

    I'm fairly certain rooting your phone and installing a new OS removes most of those nice proprietary apps. That's part of why I rooted mine. The rest was to fix the bluetooth stack, but that hardly counts as spying.

  26. Sta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In order for Stallman's dream, that is the global use of free software, to become a reality, people everywhere will have to be educated in basic digital concepts in the same way that are educated in reading, writing, and arithmetic. This is not going to happen, at least not anytime soon.

    Uninformed people can deal only with the "do it all for you" proprietary software model, and this will remain the status quo for some time to come.

  27. D'jever Notice... by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 1

    ...that the guys most paranoid about people listening in on their conversations are the ones with the least interesting things to say...?

    1. Re:D'jever Notice... by Digana · · Score: 1

      ...that the guys most paranoid about people listening in on their conversations are the ones with the least interesting things to say...?

      Such as Julian Assange. Pffft, who needs encryption and Swedish server bunkers.

    2. Re:D'jever Notice... by swalve · · Score: 1

      Some (me) might argue that his paranoia came first, and he built wikileaks to justify/focus that paranoia. Paranoid people don't want the paranoia to go away, they want to prove that they are paranoid for a reason. Because paranoia is just one form of egomania. If he was not paranoid, and just a careful journalist sort of person, we sure as fuck wouldn't know who he is. Because it is absolutely possible to do the wikileaks work in anonymity. But no. This is about his ego, and the fact that he happened to be right about governments keeping secrets is just gravy for him. He is a conspiracy theorist who got lucky.

  28. It's easy by name_already_taken · · Score: 1
    1. Turn phone off.
    2. Put phone in foil-lined pocket (perhaps a pocket attached to, say, a hat)
    --
    Putting moderation advice in your .sig lowers your karma!
    1. Re:It's easy by Nursie · · Score: 1

      Certainly, just slip it between the fourier-cage and the inner foil layer of your standards-compliant tinfoil headgear!

      Then all you have to worry about is metal oxidation from any unfortunate protocol leaks of overhead RFC 1149 carriers.

    2. Re:It's easy by pnewhook · · Score: 1

      fourier-cage

      A fourier cage? What, is it going to decompose the phone into a representation of its frequency content?

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
    3. Re:It's easy by Nursie · · Score: 1

      Is it it not a fourier cage?

      Bugger... who's cage is it? I forget!

      The one where you space the bars about a wavelength apart (if my physics from over a decade ago isn't betraying me) and it blocks the waves?

    4. Re:It's easy by Nursie · · Score: 1

      Right, a quick google sets me straight as usual.

      Faraday.

      Knew it was an F!

    5. Re:It's easy by Noughmad · · Score: 1

      Obligatory: http://xkcd.com/26/

      --
      PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
  29. Hitlers dream by jamesh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Affordable motorcars are Hitlers dream. What's his point?

    1. Re:Hitlers dream by halivar · · Score: 1

      And a good French mirepoix in Italian cooking was Napoleon's dream. What are we on about, again?

    2. Re:Hitlers dream by jeffmeden · · Score: 1

      I was thinking the same thing... Stalin's "dream" was something along the lines of universally acceptable and beneficial productivity (although his means were, ah, "unorthodox")... And this guy touting software written for free, given away for free, has a problem with him?

    3. Re:Hitlers dream by cbope · · Score: 1

      Affordable motorcars can't be used to control a population. At least not directly...

    4. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Gaddafis dream is to teach his version of Islam to a room full of 200 beautiful women...
      Thankfully his good friend Silvio was happy to help.

      It is all about the friends you keep.

    5. Re:Hitlers dream by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Affordable motorcars can't be used to control a population. At least not directly...

      Whether you drive a car or ride a train, you can only go where the roads/tracks go. The freedom of automobile ownership is largely illusory. Your car is legally not your possession (at least in the USA) because the police can take it away and impound for any imagined slight and unless they make a habit of it AND you have money you are not only unlikely to ever get any recompense but you are likely to end up paying fees. People expect trains to get better faster cheaper more on time but you can market cars to them and sell them style instead of substance as automakers have been doing for longer than I've been alive, so it's a way of subjugating the populace and having them ask for more.

      Anyway you can't use Hitler or his desires in an argument meaningfully because the guy was a nut and very charismatic but apparently not so bright. Hitler was not capable of imagining the results of cheap autos.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:Hitlers dream by PPH · · Score: 1

      Whether you drive a car or ride a train, you can only go where the roads/tracks go.

      Evidently you've never driven an old Beetle with oversized mud/snow tires.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    7. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Affordable motorcars don't put anybody in a prison for life.

    8. Re:Hitlers dream by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      You've got it backwards.

      Stalin's dream was totalitarian control.

      His means were what people such as you seem to think his agenda was. If it were, the results would have been somewhat aligned with the goals (50% effectiveness) - assuming the agenda had any merit or possibility in the first place. The possibility that Marxism was not and is not an obtainable goal seems to escape most people.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    9. Re:Hitlers dream by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Evidently you've never driven an old Beetle with oversized mud/snow tires.

      That gets you a little more mobility, on the order of what I get with my 1992 F250 4x4 with 4" lift. Without a lift these trucks have no center ground clearance to speak of, even with one they don't have much. If you drove a tractor (possibly a UNIMOG) you could go even more places. But when you drive off-road you're restricted to going at maybe double or triple a walking speed, slower than you could go on a horse, because you're at risk of breaking something... unless you have a massive infrastructure behind you, or at least plenty of spares. If you do break something and require a repair, then you have to factor that time in to your average speed. If you're just playing you can go as fast as you feel safe with, knowing that failure has no serious consequences.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    10. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RMS has a certain viewpoint which he wants to force everyone to adopt. Anything other than his own viewpoint is evil and must be extinguished. I don't see 'freedom' anywhere in that, though I'll avoid invoking Godwin's law so long as everyone understands what I'm comparing RMS to here ;)

    11. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Affordable motorcars are Hitlers dream. What's his point?

      I truly see no connection. You mean Hitler was planning to kill privacy by using... affordable motorcars ? Most people have dreams, you know, but not all of them are about f***ing the privacy of the people and neither about f***ing their rights.

    12. Re:Hitlers dream by Man+Eating+Duck · · Score: 1

      Affordable motorcars can't be used to control a population. At least not directly...

      Hitler didn't need neither motorcars nor mobile phones to do that :)

      He actually promoted the cars to be able to use them for troop transport, which was also one of his goals when he initiated the Autobahn project. One could say that he promoted cars to ultimately be able to control other countries' populations.

      --
      Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors! :)
    13. Re:Hitlers dream by jeffmeden · · Score: 1

      The possibility that Marxism was not and is not an obtainable goal seems to escape most people.

      It's as unobtainable as finding a country with precisely 0 greedy assholes. Communism didn't not work because it was "impossible" or even that bad of an idea; rather it failed miserably because it takes surprisingly few lazy jerks to completely screw it up.

    14. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real question is: what's yours?

    15. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That the open-source scene is filled with lonely homicidal maniacs who murder their wives

    16. Re:Hitlers dream by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Whether you drive a car or ride a train, you can only go where the roads/tracks go

      Yes, but when the road/tracks end, I can get out and go just about anywhere on my two feet given a reasonable amount of time and I sincerely doubt that freedom will be taken away from me anytime soon.

      Humans evolved to jog and walk for long distances to track and catch animals that were faster but ran out of energy relatively quickly. The endurance of even an average modern person is quite good, most people can walk all day, sleep 6 hours and walk all day the next day too and keep doing that for weeks on end. Perhaps ending up with rather sore feet the first couple of days since very few people walk that much these days.

      We've grown lazy and fat, we're chained down by unhealthy eating habits and a hauntingly large number of people are simply unable to exercise that extremely basic freedom.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    17. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean a man who was capable of envisioning a united Germany, who saw infrastructure and architectural projects (such as the German Autobahns and Olympic Stadium) as the core building blocks of a united empire. A man who had aspirations to be an artist and a appreciation of architecture. Don't underestimate the man he did have an imagination, but yes he was a complete psychopath.

    18. Re:Hitlers dream by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 1

      So, your final point is that free (as in libre) transportation to any location is difficult? Or maybe you just think we should all ride horses? Or was your point that Hitler disliked horses?

    19. Re:Hitlers dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like what you have to say and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

    20. Re:Hitlers dream by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Don't underestimate the man he did have an imagination, but yes he was a complete psychopath.

      Well, maybe all his bad decisions were the result of having access to an unlimited supply of mind-altering drugs, but he certainly made a lot of them, especially towards the end. How many of those ideas were really his, in any case?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    21. Re:Hitlers dream by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      My point is that most vehicles don't offer that kind of "freedom" and they can't exist without a massive manufacturing infrastructure behind them, so they actually offer nothing like freedom.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    22. Re:Hitlers dream by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      Are you saying this as affirmation to what I said, or as a misguided and poorly reasoned contradiction?

      "It's as unobtainable as finding a country with precisely 0 greedy assholes" fits the criteria of "not an obtainable goal". In other words, not humanly possible.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    23. Re:Hitlers dream by jeffmeden · · Score: 1

      My point was that it's not unobtainable because the gods of economics would smite anyone who dared attempt a communistic society (as many followers of the dogma that is capitalism seem to hold in their hearts), but rather even with rigid state control over how you're allowed to behave, people will *always* find a way to be a bigger, more effective asshole.

    24. Re:Hitlers dream by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Yes, but when the road/tracks end, I can get out and go just about anywhere on my two feet given a reasonable amount of time and I sincerely doubt that freedom will be taken away from me anytime soon.

      The right to travel effectively on foot HAS been taken away, the land was divided up into parcels and if you take an effective route on foot for any long distance travel you will be trespassing. Remember, it is illegal to walk alongside the train tracks, although I don't know of anyone who has been prosecuted for doing it in the country. It's illegal to walk along the freeway, the most direct and flat route besides a train's right of way. There has never been a right to travel and there still isn't.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    25. Re:Hitlers dream by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      That depends on where you live, some countries have explicit freedom to roam, but in the US people seem to be very territorial about "their land".

      --
      Eat the rich.
    26. Re:Hitlers dream by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      That depends on where you live, some countries have explicit freedom to roam, but in the US people seem to be very territorial about "their land".

      The freedom to roam is going away surely and steadily across the planet. It's one of the many things that the rich are opposed to and any nation in which they become interested will lose it sooner or later because of whose votes are actually counted.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  30. How Ironic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... that Stallman talks about Big Brother when the very same communist mentality he advocates was the first to carry out the very acts he is warning against. Let's be honest: Big Brother can come from Communism, Capitalism, Proprietary or Open-Source software. There is no guarantee that one or the other will protect our rights at large. Open-source does not guarantee that people (at large) will be smart enough to protect their rights. He's barking up the wrong tree.

  31. just the right mix by z_gringo · · Score: 1

    He has just the right mix of genius and batshit crazy.

    --
    -- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
  32. Why the Stallman hate? by FreeAsInFreedoooooom · · Score: 1

    I find it hard to understand why people bash Stallman and his views on software. I get the impression they have never even tried to understand where he is coming from and simply dismiss him because he looks and sounds a certain way. He is caricatured as a loony preaching foreign concepts and people don't try to get past that.

    I used to be an open-source advocate until I learned about rms and the FSF. I read a collection of his essays* and never looked back - my life has changed. Whenever I see people spout flawed arguments such as "Programmers will starve!" or "Nobody will write software!" I can't help but look upon them in a negative light.

    I ask all of you, be open-minded and digest the arguments.

    *http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/fsfs/rms-essays.pdf

    1. Re:Why the Stallman hate? by Yunzil · · Score: 2

      I get the impression they have never even tried to understand where he is coming from

      No, we know where he's coming from. The trouble is that location is not reachable by any means known to normal people.

  33. Stallman is out of touch by brunes69 · · Score: 1
    Even the open source Android is dangerous because devices ship with proprietary executables...,

    I guess Stallman has never heard of Cyanogenmod or any of the multitudes of other totally open AOSP roms available? Despite what they want you to think you DO NOT have to run the software that ships on your phone.

    As far as tracking goes, it is a bit of hyperole. If you are doing something and don't want to be tracked, take out your sim, put in a paygo sim, boom you are anonymous. Bonus points by putting the original sim in the trunk of a friends car.

    If terrorists can be anonymous using paygo sims, so can the avg. joe.

    1. Re:Stallman is out of touch by Dogun · · Score: 1

      What about the radio firmware? On my phone, the baseband image is several megabytes, and very proprietary. I can't even know its capabilities because the manufacturer hasn't released any details.

    2. Re:Stallman is out of touch by moonbender · · Score: 1

      Does Cyanogen replace everything with open-sourced software? I can well imagine that there's firmware involved with enough functionality to enable the microphone and send out data, without ever reporting to the Android kernel. Maybe not, though.

      The tracking comments are completely accurate. It's stunning how almost everybody -- myself included -- is running around with a tracking beacon almost all the time. I mean, that's just crazy, not even the classic dystopian fantasies had that kind of surveillance. And now it's just normal, and worse yet most people aren't even aware of it. And even if they were, they'd just shrug it off; privacy is easily traded away for convenience, and mobile phones are very convenient. Of course, the data is collected by private entities and only given to LEO on request. But the mere fact that the data is collected and stored for any lengths of time is incredible.

      We're only at the beginning of what can be done with that data. Of course running around with a disabled cell phone (battery and SIM removed) kind of works to improve anonymity. Replacing the SIM with a prepaid SIM seems like a bad idea, since I'm pretty sure the phone reports the IMEI and the new SIM will immediately be tied to your identity, so that doesn't work at all; in fact, in any kind of automatic analysis doing stuff like this would stand out like a sore thumb. (Putting a bare SIM in the trunk of a car wouldn't do anything, putting it in another cell phone in the trunk of a car would just tie that cell phone to your identity, as well.) As would turning off the phone, incidentally, so while your whereabouts are unknown with a disabled cell phone, the span of time when you're "off the grid" would be part of an analysis.

      Randomly switching around cell phones with SIMs among a group of people seems to be a fairly good idea, but it's terribly inconvenient and I'm not sure how big the group would have to be to make it work -- with a small group it's very simple to determine current phone ownership simply by looking at where people stay at night, etc.

      --
      Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
    3. Re:Stallman is out of touch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you use a pay and go SIM for everyday calls then the authorities know who you are or can easily find out. If you don't, the unusual usage pattern stands out like a sore thumb on a connection graph and you can expect a three letter agency to be listening to your calls. If pay and go SIMs offered more than the illusion of anonymity they would be banned.

      I have a mobile phone , but if you're serious about being invisible you don't. OBL hasn't been caught because he has a strict "no technology" policy.

    4. Re:Stallman is out of touch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Besides the firmware/radio I believe the only closed programs on Cyanogen (and other AOSP ROMs) are the proprietary Google apps - though those are optional and don't need to be installed.

      Android IMO is about on par with the PC.

    5. Re:Stallman is out of touch by cfriedt · · Score: 2

      What about the radio firmware?

      Exactly.

      Most people have absolutely no idea that an entirely proprietary RTOS runs the baseband processor of their mobile phones, and that this RTOS has direct hardware access to all of the peripheral IO devices and sensors (GPS, microphone, data modem, etc). In many cases, the RTOS firmware is encrypted. In almost all cases it is more or less impossible for "the average consumer" to reprogram the baseband processor.

      It does not matter whether you run an unlocked Android phone with whoever knows how many Cyanogen mods. I highly doubt that Cyanogen has deciphered, disassembled, reprogrammed, reassembled, and reencrypted any baseband firmware images at all.

      All baseband firmware is proprietary as regulated by most governments. Well... except for OsmoconBB :)

    6. Re:Stallman is out of touch by Cimexus · · Score: 1

      Not quite. The 'take out your sim and put in another' only works if the phone you are using has not previously been associated with you in any way. Which, considering you are chucking the SIM due to it no longer providing anonymity in the first place, seems unlikely. The IMEI of your phone is sent to the network (along with the data on the SIM card) every time you use it. The IMEI is static and will never change; there may be ways of spoofing it that I'm not aware of but it's probably not something particularly quick or easy to do.

      Throw the whole phone, and get a new phone (with different IMEI obviously) that cannot be tied to you. Then you can change SIMs every so often thereafter. SIM changing alone only works if you are starting from a clean, anonymous slate, so to speak.

    7. Re:Stallman is out of touch by brunes69 · · Score: 1

      And now it's just normal, and worse yet most people aren't even aware of it

      Anyone who has seen an episode of Bones or Law & Order or CSI or any other crime drama int he past 15 years knows that everyone can be tracked with their cell phones. It is very common knowledge. Guess what - most people do not care. I mean, I have friggin Google Latitude installed, half I know the people can see exactly where I am 24/7.What do I care? Like I said, if I had something to hide, I'd leave the phone at home, it is so trivial it is a non issue.

    8. Re:Stallman is out of touch by Dogun · · Score: 1

      Can we find documentation to this effect? (regulatory requirements on baseband firmware, sensor-capabilities of baseband hardware on any specific device).

    9. Re:Stallman is out of touch by cfriedt · · Score: 1

      For regulatory documents, try a search on FCC regulations for radio-interference generating devices. For processors with an integrated baseband radio, you can't (normally) find documentation.

      That is, not unless 1) you plan on manufacturing units in the 10s of thousands, 2) you sign an NDA and have some background checks done, or 3) happen to 'find' the docs on certain russian / chinese websites.

    10. Re:Stallman is out of touch by cfriedt · · Score: 1

      Just to clarify: I have signed NDAs and can verify that there are at least two soc's (specifics intentionally omitted) with integrated applications and baseband processors with all of the aforementioned capabilities.

    11. Re:Stallman is out of touch by moonbender · · Score: 1

      So you're saying people who are dumb enough to believe stuff they see on CSI are also dumb enough to not care about privacy and think cell phone tracking works the way shown on those shows? Yeah, I know the kind.

      --
      Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
    12. Re:Stallman is out of touch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Add remote update capability to the baseband OS without the cooperation of the user in the main OS and that sounds like a recipe for class action.

    13. Re:Stallman is out of touch by cool_arrow · · Score: 1

      Agree. Software is logic. Firmware is logic. Why doesn't he have a problem with all the proprietary stuff on chips in his "free" laptop. Why didn't the jackass interviewer ask him about that? His "free" laptop is really a solid brick of pure evil :D

  34. Re:who cares what this dumb hippy thinks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You ignorant fuck.

  35. Re:Faraday cage by isj · · Score: 1

    Have you actually tried blocking the signal with a Faraday cage?

    At work, coworkers sometimes forget their mobile phone on their desks when going to lunch. If the phone rings then we do something about it, such as locking it into a heavy-duty transportation box, hiding it under their desk, etc.
    Last time we put a coworker's iphone into a cookie tin (ok, the tin was not strictly a cookie tin but a flat tin can used for yummy Tunesian pastries, but I digress). The iphone lost signal. After the coworker came back and we had discussed Faraday cages we put the iphone into a different tin can (one used for Malaysian sweets) but it kept the signal. Puzzled, we tried with a different brand of mobile phone (HTC I believe) - it kept the signal inside both tin cans.

    Conclusions:
        - The iPhone antenna is worse than that particular HTC
        - Blocking radio signals is hard.

    The next experiment we are going to do will involve grounding the tin can. (preferably in a new tin box so we have a change to eat pastries again).

  36. RMS has justification for paranoia? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    Well considering the previous story was about a contractor being jailed for 15 years for 'spreading freedom' in Cuba, perhaps Stallman knows more than most about being tracked by cell towers. As a friend of the revolution, having visited Cuba and given various speeches on software freedom, he's possibly a person of interest to his own government's agencies. Hence his stance on RFID chips and the like.

    I'd agree that tivoized Android devices are a bad thing. In the sense that phones not supported by CyanogenMod prevent you from running your own bootloader and the hence access the usual freedoms available on PCs.

    But I disagree with the statement regarding eavesdropping: "If it's all free software, you can probably protect yourself from that, because that's caused by the software in the phone". Probably?? I suspect support for eavesdropping is purposely built into the silicon for post 9/11 counter-terrorism measures.

    1. Re:RMS has justification for paranoia? by maxume · · Score: 1

      So Cuba jailing a guy is a good reason for Stallman to be paranoid of the U.S. government?

      I sure hope the U.S. government isn't expending a great deal of resources on Stallman, even if you make a fascist argument, Free Software hasn't been particularly disruptive of corporate sales of proprietary software.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:RMS has justification for paranoia? by riondluz · · Score: 1

      hasn't been, but is now. And growing moreso every day:)

      --
      resist propaganda
  37. tracking in germany by petes_PoV · · Score: 1

    combined those [mobile phone records] with publicly available updates from his twitter and FB account

    All of which is entirely voluntary. So in fact, presuming a modicum of common sense, they guy was giving away this information willingly. No one made him carry a phone (or to carry it switched on). No one made him pursue his vanity on twitter or FB, these were all choices he made. If he didn't realise that some analysis would reveal more than he wished, more fool him.

    If Richard Stallman was truly interested in his own privacy, he wouldn't go about courting publicity wherever he goes. He's as much a media tart as all the celebs who tweet, pose for tabloid photos or give TV interviews. However, if his privacy concern is primarily for me/the rest of the planet - well, thank you very much but I simply don't want your help.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
    1. Re:tracking in germany by tixxit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I read a book on computer security, and it mentioned that somethings only become sensitive when aggregated. I couldn't really grok a good example until I started seeing stuff like this. When people use Twitter and FB and whatnot, they don't consider the information they put out there as being "sensitive" or private. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't become so when aggregated. These people signed up for it, I know, but I think the vast majority of social media users out there don't quite understand just how scary the information about them becomes when it is all aggregated together.

    2. Re:tracking in germany by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think they do understand, I just don't think they care. For a lot of people, losing their privacy isn't a big deal because they don't really care about privacy in the abstract, and they aren't doing anything worth hiding (in their minds). Look how far the argument "if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide" gets when it comes up. Of course you can argue that there are flaws with that kind of thinking, but that seems to be how a lot of people view privacy issues.

    3. Re:tracking in germany by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      If Richard Stallman was truly interested in his own privacy, he wouldn't go about courting publicity wherever he goes.

      He doesn't care about his privacy; he cares about everyone else's. He's just trying to lead by example. Crazy, tinfoil example.

    4. Re:tracking in germany by vux984 · · Score: 1

      ... but that seems to be how a lot of people view privacy issues.

      Right up until it bites them in the ass.

      Many people don't care about their privacy because they can't imagine how what they are releasing can come back and harm them, until it actually does.

    5. Re:tracking in germany by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Today's favourite terms are grok, aggregate and masturbate furiously. OK OK I jest; I slipped that first one in there.

  38. GNU/Hurd by tronicum · · Score: 2

    Well until GNU/Hurd is not running on mobile phones, i stick with android...

  39. Those laws are useless. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those laws are useless. Because they'll not have any punishment applied for breaking them.

  40. Stalin's Dream? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since when did Stalin need evidence to kill someone?

  41. he has a point or two, but.... by wmeyer · · Score: 0

    Stallman has always been a nut job, and always will be. Paranoia is a debilitating condition. The fault is not so much in the pervasive technology, but in our own failure to control the power hungry politicians who are rapidly destroying our society.

    --
    --- Bill
  42. not Big Brother, EVERYBODY is Watching by rjejr · · Score: 1

    They used his cell phones coordinates - and just about everything else - to put together his life. In the days of Flip and cell phone cameras and ATM cameras and traffic light cameras and Twitter and txting Big Brother doesn't have to work very hard, and whether you have a cell phone or not, everything you do can be monitored. Maybe if he just wore a tin foil hat everything would be OK.

  43. That's a whole library. by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

    I think there are a lot of practical and otherwise obstructions to remove the entire library from my house, load it up a truck and lend it to a friend. My friend also just wanted to lend one book.

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
    1. Re:That's a whole library. by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      My post was in the context of the RMS story the GP linked to. It described a world in which lending your computing device to someone else such that they may read a book was illegal. For sure lending your computing device to someone else is going to give you lots of inconvenience whilst they have it. But it's not illegal.

      Copying all or significant portions without permission is illegal. Lending is not.

  44. Stallman is a nutcase by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This proves once and for all that Stallman is a nutcase, but we already knew that. Every knows that the signal can be blocked by either lining your hat with tin foil or even making the hat itself out of tin foil.

  45. Panix! by TooMad · · Score: 1

    Can't sleep clowns will eat me. Can't sleep clowns will eat me. Can't sleep clowns will eat me.

  46. Better Pony analogy by MikeRT · · Score: 1

    Some little girl could think that Stallman is evil because he doesn't raise, feed and have the pony at his home as part of the family, but while Stallman doesn't have time to raise a pony, he wants to ride one.

    "I remember the day when men were men and broke their own horses!" Sound familiar?

  47. Once you know it's a tracking/eavesdropping device by xandercash · · Score: 1

    .....it's easy to simply leave it home when you don't want to be tracked/eavesdropped. I feel sorry for anyone who is trying to eavesdrop on my on my mundane days.

  48. Re:Faraday cage by kthreadd · · Score: 1

    And your point is that if Stallman one day decides to have a phone, he should pick an iPhone because it's easier to block?

  49. Will my pants fit in 30 years? by mt2e · · Score: 1

    The benefits outweigh the cons, unless 30 years down the road I get a tumor on my thigh.

    1. Re:Will my pants fit in 30 years? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      I don't know about a tumour, but I can guarantee your pants won't fit in 30 years time (if you're under 30 now).

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  50. Wiretapping by cfriedt · · Score: 1

    This is essentially the same thing as wiretapping, which has been a legally regulated capability for telco's for decades. Keep in mind, that wiretapping also 'transmitted' location information, but since the location information was known a priori by the sender and receiver (of the tap), then it could be omitted from the communication channel (zero information gain).

    When internet usage boomed, governments also regulated that ISPs must have the capability to 'tap' your internet connection (also from home), which is why ISPs are now regulated to log everything that users do for several months.

    Cellular wiretapping is essentially a combination of voice, location, and data monitoring. The location information is encoded by which cell towers acknowledge your IMEI (and GPS receiver coordinates). Nothing has changed in the least about who has control over the infrastructure (except here). Users of Free Software on communication devices can at least have SOME control over the backdoors - i.e. who can turn on your GPS receiver remotely or force a firmware upgrade over the air. Unfortunately, most of the important software that has anything to do with communication is still proprietary, and locked (encrypted?) in the baseband processor stack on most mobile phones and wireless communication devices. For older GSM mobile phones, some users have the option to swap out the baseband processor stack and run OsmoconBB.

    Until cellular voice / data / location information can be sufficiently anonymised there is really little difference about which technology Big Brother uses to monitor you. Keep in mind that you (the sender / receiver) can often be tied back to a specific IMEI number or MAC address (and even communication pattern).

    ifconfig hwaddr 00:11:22:33:44:55 <=> iwconfig hwaddr 00:11:22:33:44:55 <=> imconfig imei AA-BBBBBB-CCCCCC-D ?

  51. Developers have families to feed, so pay attention by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

    This is about you. I mean it. Look at the farmers who are forced by GMO companies to abide their wishes. Those farmers have a family to feed as well, which is why they need to be free.

    What if you have to pay for anything that you program? What if you have to pay for each implementation that uses images, sound or videos? What if you cannot even define a normal user interface because somebody holds a "one click" patent? What if only a few large company can implement a network application because all specifications are proprietary?

    Mr Stallman is fighting for you. So please stop whining and open your eyes.

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  52. Feeling hyperbolic today? by sribe · · Score: 1

    Don't know about Stalin since he's dead, but they sure as shit were not Mubarak's dream ;-)

  53. Re:Faraday cage by mrt_2394871 · · Score: 1

    [...] we put a coworker's iphone into a cookie tin [...]

    Conclusions:
        - The iPhone antenna is worse than that particular HTC
        - Blocking radio signals is hard.

    The next experiment we are going to do will involve grounding the tin can. (preferably in a new tin box so we have a change to eat pastries again).

    It's more probable that it's the contact between the lid and the box that varied. Perhaps one of the tins was lacquered, or something else that prevented a good, low impedance, bare-metal to bare-metal bond being made.

  54. Stallman is right about a lot of things by monoqlith · · Score: 3, Interesting

    He just needs to stop communicating it this way. He's starting to ratchet up the rhetoric to the point where the fight against non-free software resembles a cosmic war.

    This is not a good vs. evil zero-sum game, Mr. Stallman. Eliminationist rhetoric has no place in our society.

    1. Re:Stallman is right about a lot of things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Eliminationist rhetoric has no place
      I see what you did there.

    2. Re:Stallman is right about a lot of things by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      I for one believe in Mr. Stallman, and I'll be right there on my Space-Rex fighting off imperial mind-flayers and working to overthrow Darth Ballmer using the mystical forces of Free.

    3. Re:Stallman is right about a lot of things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you read the previous posts? I suggest that you do. What RMS said is true; it happens. Just like the story with the books he wrote about 20 years ago.

    4. Re:Stallman is right about a lot of things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you want to eliminate eliminationist rhetoric!

  55. Tracking device by tehcyder · · Score: 1
    What Mr Stallman and many others seem to forget is that you can always leave your mobile phone at home (or lose it on a bus or something) if you're that worried about being tracked.

    I think Stalin would have been pretty disappointed with an instrument of control and oppression that could be circumvented so trivially.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  56. Another philosophy taken too far by osgeek · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Stallman is always such a fundamentalist. Any philosophy taken too far no longer makes sense.

    'The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.

    Okay, so my mom uses a program to help her with her quilting. Who in the hell is going to write that for her if no one is paid to do it?

    The whole "programmers scratching an itch" model fails rather dramatically in the realm of applications that lack any programmer interest.

    Open source and open standards are cool and a great way to manage a part of the software industry, but it seems obvious that there will always be a need to have proprietary software that is sold by the copy.

    Stallman's message would be a lot more inteligible and acceptable if it weren't so ridiculously out there.

    1. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by osgeek · · Score: 1

      Oh, and before anyone tries to correct me. I know what Stallman means when he says "free" (perpetually confusing as the overloaded use of the term will be).

      When it comes to getting paid for your work, it means the same thing. As soon as the source is available, even my mom's quilting software source will be downloaded and recompiled by some mom's little darling and then no one pays for more copies.

    2. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by zotz · · Score: 1

      "Okay, so my mom uses a program to help her with her quilting. Who in the hell is going to write that for her if no one is paid to do it?"

      You. You love your mom, right? ~;-)

      Failing that, she and her quilting friends can pay a programmer and have it written as Free Software.

      It is possible.

      all the best,

      drew

      --
      FreeMusicPush If you want to see more Free Music made, listen to Free
    3. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      Okay, so my mom uses a program to help her with her quilting. Who in the hell is going to write that for her if no one is paid to do it?

      You.
      Geez, don't you love your mother? What did you get her last Christmas? A sweater? Some colored thread? I hear Yet-Another-Bauble is in fashion this year.
      Did you think maybe for a moment that you could show some interest in her hobbies? Maybe, oh I dunno, utilize that degree she helped pay for?

      I mean, I love my mother, and I wrote her a simple little bookmark program to help with the books she gets off of gutenburg.com last Christmas. But I guess some people just don't care about the person that gave them life.

    4. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by osgeek · · Score: 1

      Bah, that bitch gave me a $10 iTunes gift card. She can go to hell if she thinks I'm writing her some fancy shmancy quilting assist program.

      Here mom, have this piece of free software:

      10 print "suck it, mom"
      20 goto 10

    5. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you the guy always talking about his mothers windows-only quilting-software? Or are there more of you?

      Maybe I'm misremembering, but I seem to recall hearing about that frequently in Linux-related stories over the years.

      I'd be very glad if you could mention the name of the software. I'm very interested in quilting and proprietary software myself. Thanks!

    6. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by osgeek · · Score: 1

      Failing that, she and her quilting friends can pay a programmer and have it written as Free Software.

      Not likely. The cost of the labor needs to be spread out over a lot more people than the half dozen people in her little group.

    7. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by ccady · · Score: 1

      This bears repeating. RMS is quite clear that "free software" has nothing to do with the price. It means that you have the right to use the software and modify it, or have it modified, as you wish.

      Lots of people are paid to create "free software." If there is a demand, software will be created. Just because no programmer has an personal interest in making your mom's quilting program, does not mean that your mom, or Bob's Quilting Supplies, Ltd. will not pay a programmer to create it.

      Selling or giving software to someone, but retaining control on what they can do with it (like stopping them from modifying it) is a social evil.

      --
      J'aime mieux les méchants que les imbéciles, parce qu'ils se reposent. -- Alexandre Dumas
    8. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, so my mom uses a program to help her with her quilting. Who in the hell is going to write that for her if no one is paid to do it?

      Other quilters possibly? But your post seems to confuse free software with software that is available free of cost. Stallman has his reasons for calling the existence and use of non-free software "an evil." He has clearly stated those reasons elsewhere, and your post doesn't address them. It may very well be the case that your mother uses software that violates her rights and does so quite willingly because she doesn't value those rights as much as she values her use of the software, or even because she doesn't understand software well enough to have any idea what it is doing or how that might relate to her rights. Either way, her use of the software might be beneficial to her and still be part of a social problem.

      The whole "programmers scratching an itch" model fails rather dramatically in the realm of applications that lack any programmer interest.

      This is not the only viable model for the production of Free software.

      Open source and open standards are cool and a great way to manage a part of the software industry, but it seems obvious that there will always be a need to have proprietary software that is sold by the copy.

      This obviously doesn't seem obvious to everyone.

    9. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, so my mom uses a program to help her with her quilting. Who in the hell is going to write that for her if no one is paid to do it?

      As always, people are confused about the tenets of Free Software. Stallman is not opposed to anyone being *paid* to write your Mom's quilting program. What he is concerned about is that for her money she also receives certain freedoms along with the software she pays for. Those freedoms are only available to people that have the source code for the software that they use.

      If you assume that people are fundamentally dishonest or incapable of recognizing their own long-term interest (flourishing software creators producing niche programs catering to their interests) then you probably think that the source code to any software they buy will automatically be redistributed until the market for the product is eliminated. Many people find the whole idea alien and untenable. People like Mr. Stallman, however, feel that user's freedom overrides those concerns. Even so, maybe people do successfully sell Free Software, and do so profitably, so perhaps things are not as bad as all that?

    10. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by zugedneb · · Score: 1

      how the fuck should i know what your mama needs?

      just becouse I am a programmer should i go and creep out everyone by asking them what they would like to have in software?

      I used to clean hospital floors when student, and sometimes tried to engage in conversaton with nurses who where friendly towards me about the software they are using, and what they would need, but this mostly cunfused them, and I decided not to disturb them... They did not seem to have a concept of software being "manufactured", so they thought I was a nut...

      So the point is, I can make what I need, but can U even tell me what U need?

    11. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd love to actually see this quilting program. I'll write you a replacement.

    12. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I mean, the obvious answer to your question is: your mom. Someone just has to teach her to program.

      Heh.

    13. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by osgeek · · Score: 1

      This bears repeating. RMS is quite clear that "free software" has nothing to do with the price

      "free software" is effectively free in the sense of price since once the source is out there and there are no restrictions on its use, the product becomes available... for free.

      Selling or giving software to someone, but retaining control on what they can do with it (like stopping them from modifying it) is a social evil.

      I call bullshit on that statement. As long as there isn't monopolistic control on the ability to write software, retaining control vs price is just a part of the negotiation between developers and customers.

      I do it all the time as a software consultant. If a client wants an application that I might want to resell to others and they don't want to pay me the full cost of writing it - I charge them less but don't give them the source and restrict their use of the product.

      If a client wants to pay me for the full value of my time and effort, then I give them the source for the product.

      There's nothing evil about it. I place some value on control and if they let me keep it, I charge them less.

    14. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by osgeek · · Score: 1

      You argue as though domain experts can't translate their needs into a set of software requirements.

      It's done all the time. Just because you couldn't find a nurse that you were chatting up who had a software need that could be described effectively to you doesn't really say much.

    15. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by osgeek · · Score: 1

      We with quilting mothers who use software are legion. No clue what the software is or if she even uses it anymore. I just remember her telling me a long time ago about some application she bought ages ago that was related to her quilting. I use it as an example because at the time she told me about it I remember thinking, "That sounds like a piece of software not written by and used by the same set of people."

    16. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      If she had done what your program suggests, you wouldn't be here today.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    17. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      The guy scared off the nurses. He's probably one of those programmers that you keep locked up in the corner when the suits and the customers come by. He has a purpose, but interacting with people ain't it.

      Neither is using a shower.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    18. Re:Another philosophy taken too far by Zoxed · · Score: 1

      > Okay, so my mom uses a program to help her with her quilting. Who in the hell is going to write that for her if no one is paid to do it?

      Well the first hit from http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=quilting+program+free is a free quilting program !! And many more follow.
      (And IIRC Stallmans views have nothing to do with who gets paid for what, just that the source code should be available for free (and long before Linux et al he made money from selling tapes of Free Software).)

  57. It should be noted ... by Rambo+Tribble · · Score: 1

    ... the devices in question characteristically feature an "off" switch.

    1. Re:It should be noted ... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Off is just software gui candy. You can remove the battery right?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:It should be noted ... by Rambo+Tribble · · Score: 1

      It depends on the device. Some are truly off, on others, like a Kindle, it is a software setting to disable wireless, then there's the battery and the SIM card, as last resorts. Or in the case of an iPhone, just adjust your grip on the device to cancel communication.

  58. If there is any ironic justice in this world: by dwightk · · Score: 0

    RMS will die slowly of a twisted ankle in the woods while talking to a 911 operator on his hand built cellphone, unable to sufficiently describe his location.

    --
    Like anyone can even know that
    1. Re:If there is any ironic justice in this world: by riondluz · · Score: 1

      Nah, his punishment is living to a ripe 150 and mumbling in emacs; which all our adoring spawn will mistake for tongues. Specially enrapt with that one clear rebel-yell (gasp) of a strange and foreign word 'freedom'; long surgically removed from all "Web-ter(Tm)" word-aries (what's diction?) commercially released for non-distribution decades earlier.

      --
      resist propaganda
  59. Another Stallman bid for immortality by zmollusc · · Score: 4, Funny

    When we are in the work camps and the non-geeks ask us why we didn't warn them, we will respond "Erm, there was this one guy called Stallman who kept trying to warn us, but we wouldn't listen". Stallman will become a legend, maybe even Skylab's Terminators will talk about him once they have destroyed Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia.

    --
    They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
    1. Re:Another Stallman bid for immortality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In this fantasy of yours, do I get a pony and a flying car?

    2. Re:Another Stallman bid for immortality by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 1

      Yes, but in reality your existence is merely in a pool of nutrient goop sustaining your brain whilst completing open-ended behavioral problems of the aquatic life at war with our robot overlords. The rest of your body was recycled into polymer and calcified dust for construction purposes.

  60. Re:Developers have families to feed, so pay attent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mr Stallman is fighting for you.

    No, he thinks he's fighting for me.
    And it's not like Stallman or the FSF are the only ones who are fighting against software patents or for open standards and so on.

    So please stop whining and open your eyes.

    Please take your own advice.

  61. Zealotry by return+42 · · Score: 1

    Mr. Stallman: If you are concerned about it recording where you go all the time, wrap it in aluminum foil when you're not using it. Ebil big brother can't track you or listen to your conversations if the phone can't radiate. As for free software, well, if you keep insisting that everyone should use it because it's more free, most people are going to tune you out. If you say people should use it because it works better, more people will listen to you. Stop acting like the complete aspie you are - you can do it if I can, you've got 12 years on me.

    1. Re:Zealotry by riondluz · · Score: 1

      Stop acting like the complete asSpie you are.

      Its not about the phone, DB, its about all communications.
      And to the previous "Its not the government"
      poster: Of course its not!
      Its the new face of industrial and corporate espionage; about private intelligence agencies (think Kroll or Carlyle) and "their" ability to fuck up your otherwise rosey day.

      The fact that info is shared with their poor bureaucratic cousins is just a loss-leader.
      So, stop looking at the device and start looking at the bigger conversation.

      As for your beef with the word 'free'. You don't have to wrestle with the "want free - need $" hydra if you don't play their game. In proven fact, many people will choose free even if it is not as 'powerful' as commercial. And, in proven fact, it is also true that the free flavor is often better (on balance) due to the very virtues of its 'freeness'
      Free-as-in:Open, non-propritary, modifyable, hackable, understandable (tax laws). It is, in proven fact, more trustworthy hence more valuable.
      Which is why M$ and corpo is pushing "linux as the commie OS threat to american pie and democracy"
      Which is why we tin-foilers don't even want to have to trust ourselves, let alone our wares.
      If you'd stop looking at the tree and start seeing the forest, you might feel the same way too:)

      And WTF? Why the abundance of AC here? Very odd and interesting and sad at the same time

      --
      resist propaganda
  62. Re:Faraday cage by isj · · Score: 1

    Yes, he should select a phone with a poor antenna, and eat more cookies and sweets.

  63. Fabulous logic by name_already_taken · · Score: 1

    A cell I can't take the battery out and replace it (because it will invariably NOT last for long) is the definition of a throwaway cell. Best to throw it away right away.

    Throw them in my direction.

    I'm using a 1st generation iPhone with the original "non-removable" battery.

    It's almost 4 years old and the battery charge still lasts almost as long as it did when it was new.

    --
    Putting moderation advice in your .sig lowers your karma!
  64. sit back and accept the panopticon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you're not doing anything wrong, what have you got to fear?

    1. Re:sit back and accept the panopticon by FreeAsInFreedoooooom · · Score: 0

      "What have you got to fear (from people invading your privacy)?

      People invading my privacy, obviously.

    2. Re:sit back and accept the panopticon by PPH · · Score: 1

      Nothing at all. Just as long as the watchers are not offended by what they see. Now where did I put that Goatse link again?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  65. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's right! But who cares? Right?

  66. Change Pusher ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Come on Mister Stallmann... you already made enough damages with the paranoia of the GPL license, isn't it better to stop or change pusher at this point ?

  67. Unfortunately, he is right. by unity100 · · Score: 5, Informative

    a lot of you in other countries havent gone through this, but in turkey, everyone knows that they are being listened. the government refuses that they are listening to everyone's cell phones, however, always anything that is detrimental to the interests of the current government 'leaks' to pro-government newspapers from unknown sources. ironically, neither police or secret service unable to 'find' who does this. it keeps on going and going. even the judges' phones are being wiretapped, without authority. some judges started to buy jammers. despite ALL of these are in mainstream media, and everyone discusses, situation still hasnt changed. wiretapping goes on, noone is able to 'find' who is doing it. even ordinary people started to pay attention to what they are telling over the phone to each other. it was officially stated that over 60,000 people were being wiretapped at a given moment, but, naturally these are only those who went through 'due process'. everyone knows much more is being covered.

    it is probably happening in usa, u.k. etc too. but, the difference is, the governments there are not so clumsy as to go on using everything they find out by leaking it to their supporter media. they are probably using those much more wisely. how do i know ? well, the entire listening equipment and infrastructure here in turkey was bought and installed by american corporations.

    1. Re:Unfortunately, he is right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in turkey, everyone knows that they are being listened..

      Uh, the problem there isn't the software.

      Dictatorial Gov't != Closed-source software.

    2. Re:Unfortunately, he is right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This might not be the government.

      There are weaknesses in voicemail and earlier mobile phone standards that could be used not just by governments, but also by private individuals, to crack into others communications. We've got an ongoing issue here in the UK where staff at one of the newspapers were found to be hacking into the voicemail of politicians, judges, celebrities and more looking for dirt. Criminal proceedings are still ongoing.

      The fact is that if someone thinks they can sell papers by cheating, they'll do it. It wouldn't suprise me if in your case it's the news services themselves, or someone they're contracting that's doing the hacking. The A5/1 and A5/2 encryption techniques used by GSM phones have both been broken, so it's possible for anyone to listen in without too much investment. A5/1's harder to break than A5/2, but it's still possible. News of the breach was made public in 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/technology/29hack.html?_r=1

      Smart phones can also be jacked by a trojan, so there's a lot of potential for the newspapers or freelancers to be doing this off their own back. Your best bet's probably to use signed & encrypted VOIP until the phone networks are updated, but at the moment there's no new cipher forthcoming. The phone networks don't like to spend the money on infastructure, and updating the network to stop intercepts means either bricking most existing phones or using a dual network (which would mean a huge increase in costs).

      For what it's worth, the Government here is unlikely to do this - the three parties still very adversarial against each other and none of them really stay in power long enough to pull off something like this. The Police don't report directly to government, and the Army's oath is to the Queen, not the government. The only agencies they could use to do something like this are MI5 and MI6, who don't actually have the funding for anything like this on a mass scale - it came up in the 7/7 inquiries that they only had the manpower to follow a few hundred at a time.

    3. Re:Unfortunately, he is right. by unity100 · · Score: 0

      cell phones made this possible. nothing else.

    4. Re:Unfortunately, he is right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Phone network --> voice to text --> database.

      Add a search engine to that. Instant tapping of everyone everywhere all the time.

      It's going to happen sooner or later if it's not already happening.

  68. mass tracking by orra · · Score: 4, Informative
    To add to your excellent example of how Stallman is right about the dangers of cell phone tracking, I refer you to Eben Moglen's talk Freedom in the Cloud.

    You have a cell phone and you have a cell phone network provider and if your cell phone network provider is Sprint then we can tell you that several million times last year, somebody who has a law enforcement ID card in his pocket somewhere went to the Sprint website and asked for the realtime location of somebody with a telephone number and was given it. Several million times. Just like that. We know that because Sprint admits that they have a website where anybody with a law enforcement ID can go and find the realtime location of anybody with a Sprint cellphone. We don’t know that about ATT and Verizon because they haven’t told us.

    1. Re:mass tracking by nabsltd · · Score: 1

      So, where in that paragraph is anything that says cell phones are the problem?

      I see a lot about law enforcement people breaking the law and gathering evidence that can't be used in court, but I don't see anything about cell phones themselves being a problem.

      I also see a need for better enforcement of privacy laws, but still don't see how cell phones by themselves are a problem, any more than credit cards, license plates, or shopping at Amazon are a problem by themselves. Illegal use of data from all these things might very well be a problem, but you don't solve it by getting rid of all these useful things.

  69. The biggest news which no one seems mentions by WankersRevenge · · Score: 1

    "... The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem"

    -- Sent from my iPod

    1. Re:The biggest news which no one seems mentions by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      What's new about it? It has been Stallman's stance pretty much since he began his crusade against teh evil proprietors.

  70. Just a prediction.. by tiggertaebo · · Score: 1

    .. but I'm kind of expecting Stallman to eventually be found in a darkend room with both himself and the walls shrouded in tinfoil. The man is definately crossing the line into frothing lunatic.

    RMS only believes in a very specific view of "freedom" - his own. What about my "freedom" as a developer to choose the license model for my software or my "freedom" as a software consumer to choose which software I get?

    1. Re:Just a prediction.. by tuppe666 · · Score: 1

      RMS does not take away your freedom as a Developer to choose whatever licence you want. The new App Stores do, and stop users installing their applications which is what he is saying.

    2. Re:Just a prediction.. by tiggertaebo · · Score: 1

      Really?

      "A non-free program is a system of unjust power and shouldn't exist. The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem.'"

      Sounds pretty clear to me (taken from TFA) Stallman appears to be (continuing) to bang on that any non-"free" (under his definition) software is inherently wrong. At the moment I have the freedom to choose to make my software non-"free" and users have the freedom to use my software or not, RMS has the freedom to have his own opinions and to use whatever software/devices he chooses - I wouldn't want to take that choice away from him yet it appears he won't be happy untill he has taken mine from me. Who's the more oppressive?

    3. Re:Just a prediction.. by riondluz · · Score: 1

      Not really feelin the love, so:
      Its not about your ability to write code and get money for it. Fact is, despite words to the contrary, its not about money at all.
      Software is nearly free as it is. M$ gives it away
      (so to speak) and the likes of sourceforge has turned code into a commodity.
      "Free" got us all the way from LAMP to (say) Moodle or OpenERM. What previously fetched top dollar (programming skills) now can be had for pennies on the dollar in the 3rd World.
      Certainly there will be exceptions, but that compiled shit is becomming a ubiquitous as air and water.

      Now, this has no effects on YOUR RIGHTS to do what ever you want with what you make. Sell it - give it away - burn it.
      But if you code for say, righthaven, then its not your code, you cant vouch for it or how it's applied. AND, almost without exception, these for-profit (only) corpo code-shops have proven they cannot be trusted. Shit, we can't even get a transparent E-voting booth. That should say it all.

      Re-think your position pls.

      --
      resist propaganda
  71. Stallman: a good incentive to get an iPhone by JonathanF · · Score: 1, Insightful

    When Richard Stallman makes paranoiac comments like that, he makes a pretty good argument for getting a closed-source device. The guy lives on an extremely slow Chinese netbook, avoids using as much of the Internet as possible, and is basically a hermit! His version of "freedom" actually makes him one of the most enslaved people on the planet. He's dependent on what other people say to make judgments because he won't use their devices and has little access to modern news sources because he's afraid of most of the web. Meanwhile, an iPhone owner might not have his pick of apps, but at least he can actually communicate with the outside world and get knowledge about what really matters -- political freedom, not theoretical software freedom.

    1. Re:Stallman: a good incentive to get an iPhone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
      -- Commissioner Pravin Lal, "U.N. Declaration of Rights"

    2. Re:Stallman: a good incentive to get an iPhone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... an iPhone owner might not have his pick of apps, but at least he can actually communicate with the outside world and get knowledge about what really matters...

      Can he really? How do you know that the "knowledge" returned by the "closed-source device" is in any way an accurate representation of any reality? If there are no checks and balances, we have no reason to expect fair treatment in any arena, be it government, work, or even our "private" lives. Maybe this is what Stallman is trying to warn us about; if we give absolute power of information to something we don't understand, nor can we because of legal repercussions or technical barriers, then we will become a society that has to be spoon-fed by those who are in control of the information and are only allowed to know what they want us to know (or we remain ignorant). Nevermind if this is possible right now. As long as the capability exists, it will be exploited by those clever enough and knowledgeable enough sooner or later. Is this freedom? Would people even care? If people don't care about where their information comes from, then they shouldn't complain about their ignorance (or would they even be able to understand what ignorance is?).

  72. Teeth are the instrument of the devil by Ergodicity · · Score: 1, Funny

    I heard they can be used for tracking devices and radios that will transmit instructions to your brain. Has Mr Stallman removed these malicious bones from his mouth?

  73. Stallman lost some geek credability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Forget about Android and the proprietary apps there. He totally overlooked the closed-source baseband every phone runs.

  74. Turn it Off by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    Cell phones have at least three uses:

    1) being reachable anywhere
    2) being able to call somebody from anywhere
    3) replacing a landline

    1) requires tracking, that's how cellular networks work in the first place. So, buy a Tracphone like the drug dealers do if you're worried about it. Forward to it from your secured asterisk system (assuming you don't trust Google Voice either).
    2) also requires tracking, but only when you turn it on, if you leave it off most of the time. Don't turn it on in places that you don't want anybody to know about (like when RMS is strolling through the Cambridge Apple Store). If the FBI wants to know when you're at home or at the office, the cell phone isn't necessary.
    3) #1's solution works here too, but if you're only turning it on at home, then why bother replacing the landline in the first place? (OK, aerial cables are fragile.) But with #1 and #2 available, #3 isn't really an issue.

    Generally, worrying about "them" tracking you is a good way to puff up your ego - as if you're really that important that people are going to bother analyzing your travel patterns. If you are, there are workarounds.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    1. Re:Turn it Off by Sabriel · · Score: 1

      Unless I've missed something (entirely possible), "being reachable anywhere" and "being able to call from anywhere" via cellphone should not require second-by-second tracking with GPS-level accuracy. At most the phone should only have to re-handshake when it notices a different tower is providing a significantly better signal than the one it's currently listening to. "Hey, tower 47, anyone wants me, I'm now in your zone, going quiet now." "Hey, cellphone 5786, confirming I'm your new tower."

    2. Re:Turn it Off by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Right, that's how it works. Phone companies are lying when they say their cheap phones have GPS in them. They only triangulate based on nearest cell tower signals - which is needed to do the hand-offs between cells anyway.

      Some fancy phones have a real GPS chip in them. AFAIK, that data is not available to the carrier.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  75. Too Paranoid by Halifax+Samuels · · Score: 1

    He's the kinda guy that puts a Post-It note over his laptop's webcam because he doesn't like it staring at him.

    1. Re:Too Paranoid by russotto · · Score: 2

      He's the kinda guy that puts a Post-It note over his laptop's webcam because he doesn't like it staring at him.

      Yeah, because using a webcam for surveillance is such a crazy idea.

    2. Re:Too Paranoid by Halifax+Samuels · · Score: 1

      his laptop

      Not somebody else's.
      If you are using a laptop that's not yours I can understand some paranoia, but that's not what I said.

    3. Re:Too Paranoid by slim · · Score: 1

      If you're running any non-free software at all, how do you know it's not a trojan?

      RMS's machine -- free software from the BIOS up -- is more "his" than yours is "yours". That's the point.

      Yeah, I don't worry about it as much as he does either -- but you can see that it's at least a plausible risk.

  76. Tracking Devices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A couple of years back in Nebraska, there were people lost in a bad snow storm with a cell phone. They kept on calling 911 for help, but no one could figure out where they were. They were finally found after they had died from the cold. If cell phones are such dangerous tracking devices, what happened in this case? Some of us carry cell phones because we hope that law enforcement could find us if our cars broke down in a rural area in the middle of winter.

  77. Phones that don't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have an old-school Cingular-branded LG cel without any fancy features. And I have an iPod touch instead of an iPhone. Only because I don't want to pay $30 extra per month just to use the cel network for data. But anyway...

    I think RMS is fundamentally correct, that if you travel and have an unpopular agenda then you may have some concerns about privacy. And maybe in some sense the general population should be wary. But when I look at any typical person's situation, like my own, I just don't care who knows where I am or what I'm doing. Frankly it would amuse me to think anyone really gave a crap, or that the US government would employ thousands to spy on millions. On the other hand, it might happen that I want to become a Human Rights campaigner, or join the crew of Sea Shepherd, or work for WikiLeaks at some point. Then I would have legitimate concerns.

    Given that these kinds of organizations have an important ethical mission, it's distressing to see moneyed institutions use the government as a bludgeon. And we should expect to see much more, at least until Capitalism is treated like religion in terms of government - a clear separation of powers.

  78. You can't own propery, maaannnnnn. by steak · · Score: 2

    There is nothing wrong with open source as a concept, but calling someone who wants to keep their code to themselves evil is ludicrous. If I spend months and months slaving over hot butterfly brains, no one can tell me what to do with the fruits of my labor. The world is certainly a better place thanks to Torvalds et al, but they had no moral obligation to give away their work.

    1. Re:You can't own propery, maaannnnnn. by slim · · Score: 1

      If I spend months and months slaving over hot butterfly brains, no one can tell me what to do with the fruits of my labor.

      I don't think he's telling you not to distribute your work as proprietary binaries. Rather, he's suggesting to me that I would be a fool to use those binaries.

    2. Re:You can't own propery, maaannnnnn. by steak · · Score: 1

      there was supposed to be a link to this http://xkcd.com/378/ hilarious xkcd comic in my first post. it was supposed to be a ploy to get modded higher up. oh well

  79. Re:Faraday cage by pnewhook · · Score: 1

    Conclusions: - The iPhone antenna is worse than that particular HTC - Blocking radio signals is hard.

    If a metal part of the phone touches the metal tin, you didn't make a Faraday cage you made an ugly antenna. That or the metal tin wasn't actually metal.

    --
    Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
  80. There is plenty wrong with proprietary executables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's also nothing wrong with proprietary executables, expect maybe for OSS geeks.

    Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but getting totally fucked over by allowing myself to become dependent on orphanware, is how I became an "OSS geek." Proprietary executables have serious practical real-world disadvantages.

    Free software isn't a religion; it's a rational strategic reaction. My Amiga went years without an OS update. OS/2 too. My current work machine can't run a lot of software because it has an obsolete version of Mac OS X and there is no upgrade for this hardware.
    The proprietary compilers for the proprietary language that my former employer used (Clipper and Visual Objects) sucked and weren't getting maintained, and there wasn't anything to do about it except throw away thousands of lines of code that our products depended on. (Our solution was: go out of business. Problem solved.)

    Then I look at all the computers I now own, and am grateful that every single one of them can and does get maintenance, because they run Free Software. The only way these computers will ever become obsolete, will be if I decide they're too old/slow/powerhungry. (It's surprisingly how many peoples' computers become obsolete for reasons other than those things.) The only weakness is that some of them have Nvidia hardware and I run the proprietary drivers, so some day I will upgrade a kernel, and the driver will no longer exist because Nvidia will decide, "fuck you, user." Fortunately, this day hasn't come yet for those machines -- and it won't come for any of my newer hardware, ever. (Why? Because I preemptively prevented it, by thinking about it before stupidly buying things which require proprietary drivers.)

    If you use proprietary software, you get fucked, and that is the common case, not the rare case. It happens to most users at one time or another. Some of them realize what caused their problems and become "OSS geeks," and some of them don't get it, and repeat the mistake again and again and again, never ever learning how they set themselves up to become dependent on third parties.

  81. All hail King Stall! by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 0

    Luddism has given way to Stallmanism.

    How long before this guy is living in a shack in the woods and sending devices of a perilous nature to cell phone manufacturers?

    What I really want to know is why there's a picture of Alan Moore attached to the article. o.O

    Some people are defending him here and saying some just like to have control over their computing devices. That's fine. More power to ya. I still maintain a Linux machine as a network storage device. But then we get to this:

    "It's an evil. And our aim is a world without that problem"

    Aaaaaaand welcome to Religious Wackaloon Land! Maybe I'm a bit too stingy with worlds like "evil" (along with "genius" and other extreme adjectives), but it makes me question how he intends to get to that goal, and what about people who disagree with him? Is it techno-holywar time?

    Ah, I tease.

    But still... evil? Really? In this world closed source is evil? What does he think of the Libyan government bombing its own people?

    1. Re:All hail King Stall! by riondluz · · Score: 1

      No Stallman no GNU no GNU no Linux no Linux:
      MICROCRUFT rules the world! You want evil? How about a stuxnet worm that blows a reactor?
      (To say nothing of the 10's of millions held hostage to a bug-ridden OS and the slimey cohorts who profit from it at your expense.
      All you gentle people throwing stones - you're MORONS!
      Software and the Net have helped cause popular revolutions for anyone who has no voice. The reaction has been to take away freedoms one paper-cut at at time while surveiling and data-mining us into facism.
      Here's one guy with a proven track-record of standing up, for decades, and all you sniveling retards (Anon no-less) can do is , throw verbal stones in your ignorance.
      It's been Stallman-vs-BraveNewWorld since the beginning and you're only getting a preview of what the BNW holds in store.
      AssHats!

      --
      resist propaganda
    2. Re:All hail King Stall! by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 1

      All you gentle people throwing stones - you're MORONS!

      Blah, blah, blah. Blow me. Now go down and pray at your Richard Stallman altar in your basement. I criticized his latest statement, not everything that has gone before. I actually like the guy. Get a fucking grip, you loon.

  82. thank God... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps now he'll stop phone stalking me

  83. Stalin's Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think that they'd be Stalin's dream if they could actually kill their user based on demographic segment, and then bury the body in a forest somewhere. Stalin already had an apparatus in place that monitored and tracked every citizen of the USSR.

  84. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    " I'm not going to carry a tracking device that records where I go all the time". Well, I do want that, but cell phones with GPS and 3G/4G connections are way expensive for me, sniff.

  85. This is enough with Stallman!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This poor human being is a paranoid and retarded bearded grotesque scarecrow.

  86. Thanks, Captain Obvious! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't get the argument that RMS is usually right about predictions... they're fairly mediocre and many people see them coming. This recent one is a little late to the party -- they've been talking about wiretapping and tracking cell phones for well over a decade. Or is he just starting to get caught up now?

    1. Re:Thanks, Captain Obvious! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The argument arises because some people refuse to see it even when it is happening right under their noses.

  87. Re:Faraday cage by DinDaddy · · Score: 1

    The iPhone antenna is worse than that particular HTC

    You were canning it wrong.

  88. Of course... by Roogna · · Score: 1

    I always figure that the more "Big Brother" decides that your cell phone is absolute proof of your location, then the more easily it becomes for criminals to prove they weren't someplace by simply leaving their cell phone somewhere else.

  89. He may have a point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but his comments have a lot of teh crazy.

  90. If They're Following You by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ditch the phone. For the rest of us, we'll enjoy better communication (at an absurdly high price) until we think the Government gives a crap that we [insert boring free time activity or job here].

  91. Godwin's Law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Richard Stallman automatically loses the argument.

  92. insanity by kirkb · · Score: 1

    It's often said that there's a fine line between genius and insanity. But in many cases, people seem to straddle the line and jump back and forth between both sides. IMO Mr. Stallman is a perfect example of that.

    --
    Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
  93. GNU and Linux by pD-brane · · Score: 1

    From the article:

    But the free software movement he created did lead to the proliferation of Linux-based servers which are prevalent in data centers and power much of the Internet. This is perhaps ironic because Stallman expresses resentment about the credit given to the Linux kernel at the expense of his own GNU operating system.

    I do not see how this would be ironic. I think the author does not understand that when people talk about a "Linux-based server" they virtually always mean a server with GNU/Linux.

  94. Remember, folks by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    It's not "Android", it's "GNU/Android"!

    Seriously, RMS... wear tinfoil hats much???

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Remember, folks by PipsqueakOnAP133 · · Score: 1

      Haha, I feel like perhaps we should call it Apache/Android to piss RMS off since nothing that interesting in Android is licensed GNU. (seriously, if it were based off FreeBSD instead of Linux, would any of its users actually give a damn?)

  95. No absolute standard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just because we're geeks and we care about such things doesn't mean that they're actually important.

    Individual humans decide what is and isn't important. There is no objective means of determining what matters (or, as you put it, what is "actually important."). Something may be actually important to you, but not important at all to someone else, and vice versa.

    Importance is a matter of opinion.

    And Stallman is trying to change a few opinions. That isn't anything new.

  96. It's time for nature already eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's easy to be right when one is honest about human nature.

  97. Sounds like a good rallying cry... by CatOne · · Score: 1

    Neckbeards unite in freedom!

  98. News flash! by highfidelitychris · · Score: 1

    Landlines can be used to determine your whereabouts as well.

  99. rant is covered by a corollary to Godwin's Law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The proof of the corollary is elementary and is left as an exercise.

  100. What freedom means. by JohnG · · Score: 1

    For someone who is always harping on freedom, Stallman doesn't seem to understand it. I am FREE to charge for my software so that I can eat and pay my bills. My customers are FREE to pay for it if they so choose. The exchange is mutual and consensual. Commercial software developers only FORCE our customers to pay for software if they want to use it. Until we start forcing them to pay for software they don't want, the only evil is him trying to take our FREEDOM of choice away. Stallman isn't some savior, he's the very fascist that he claims to be rallying against.

  101. Obligatory Get Off My Lawn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is Stallman the official cranky old man of the digital age?

  102. Stalin is yawning in his grave. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it time to declare Richard Stallman an imbecile?

    BTW, Stalin didn't need to track anyone. He bran-washed gullible morons like Stallman to report on their neighbours.

  103. This is why few take Stallman seriously by grapeape · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I really think he has a mental disorder, it goes way beyond tin foil hat. While I too would love to dream about a society where software is just created out of the goodness of peoples hearts, viruses and malware dont exist and everyone is connected to the internet....I usually wake up...Stallman doesn't but does very little to address the reality that people still need to make money, people wont just blindly trust other people and people will be willing to pay for a convenience or better experience than their free equivalent will provide. While I respect Stallman's right to live his life as he chooses IMHO paranoia and fear is not a brand of freedom I want to partake in.

    1. Re:This is why few take Stallman seriously by gilesjuk · · Score: 1

      I agree. It certainly is a bit paranoid to say the least.

      Would he say that tracking is a bad thing if it could be used to prevent a terrorist attack?

    2. Re:This is why few take Stallman seriously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stallman doesn't but does very little to address the reality that people still need to make money, people wont just blindly trust other people and people will be willing to pay for a convenience or better experience than their free equivalent will provide.

      Why are you so quick to blindly trust the cell phone companies?

      As long as you think "free" refers to price, you are missing the point big time, and couldn't possibly miss it any more if you tried. As long as you think money is the issue, that says more about you than it does about him.

      While I respect Stallman's right to live his life as he chooses IMHO paranoia and fear is not a brand of freedom I want to partake in.

      I guess you prefer someone else fight for your freedom, and you don't realize if noone does anything, everyone's freedoms will gradually erode. But keep your head in the sand if you like.

      Tell me...are things becoming more or less free where you live...and who is doing something about it and who is complaining about somebody having the naiveness to actually give a damn...that RMS sure is a horrible person.

    3. Re:This is why few take Stallman seriously by DMoylan · · Score: 1

      we need people who are this uncompromising:

      to quote gb shaw;The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

      we need more like him. as crazy as they may seem.

    4. Re:This is why few take Stallman seriously by grapeape · · Score: 1

      Who said anything about trusting the phone company...my point is that people inherently dont trust anything but are willing to trade their illusion of certain freedoms in exchange for things that make their life easier, more entertaining or convenient. I dont think Stallman is a bad guy I actually got to meet him back in the late 90's I do think he genuinely believes in what the espouses but I think his ideas are a bit utopian at times and simply will not work unless you can figure out a way to remove most of the 7 deadly sins from the equation, as long as greed, lust and envy are in play society will never advance to the level that would be needed for true "freedom".

      Would I love to see a "star trek" like society where people's basic needs are met, everyone at least had a decent living and people work doing what interests them simply for the betterment of society...sure who wouldn't (besides those in positions of weath and power now who like the current feudalesque structure)...do I think it will ever happen...not in my lifetime nor in any foreseeable future.

  104. Mr. Stallman is far too late... by geekmux · · Score: 1

    With all due respect to Mr. Stallman here, I find his correlations laughable. Owning a computer, Internet connection, cell phone, GPS, or damn near any other object that can be used to track and profile someone is simply a choice one makes. Risk vs. reward.

    And the main reason most intelligent people should not get this worked up about it (including Mr. Stallman) is because we have allowed our Government far too much control already, and unfortunately, there's not a damn thing that "free software" or any other movement short of a revolution is going to do about that. If the Government wants to put you under surveillance, you will be put under surveillance (FYI, they do still have those "analog" ways of surveillance, you know, with humans...). If they want to lock you up and throw away the key, they can. They will. They have. And there's not much you can really do about it.

    So therein lies the issue. Restrict your lifestyle to the point of becoming obselete within the very fabric of society under the illusion that you still maintain some level of control and/or anonymity by doing so, or simply succumb to the same level of ignorance (or acceptance) that most people in society function with today, and reap the rewards of being "connected".

    Mr. Stallman, you're far too late with your concerns. And you're intelligent enough to know that.

  105. Off switch and open source by drolli · · Score: 1

    If i dont want to be tracked, u turn it off. Easy enough.

    If i turn it on, the next cell station knows where i am regardless if the phone is open source or not.

    If i really need it and dont want to be tracked, then i use a sim card which does not require my name and a cheap used handset, bought with cash.

    If i am really paranoid, i get the phone from a shop somewhere outside the country of use and only use data transfers with vpns.

    So nothing of this has to do much with open source or not, even if i appreciate it. Even if i have an open source phone, if the manufacturer is evil, then he puts the tracker in the firmware.

    So i prefer the off/unidentified mobile solution over any "open source snakeoil"

  106. He's absolutely right. by Catbeller · · Score: 1

    I can't add much to what he says, other than read my older posts, going back for years, on the cell phone issue. I rang the bell on this in 2001, when they made GPS mandatory on all phones sold after 2005. 911 my tired ass. They wanted tracking.

    It's impossible to dispute. The phone can track you, eavesdrop on you, identify you. It is used that way, without warrant, now. And in the future, it will only become worse.

    If you think that's fine, think of this: do you think you could track any government official in the TSA? The intelligence agencies? Corporate gods?

    You can be tracked anywhere. They can demand ID at any time. They can photograph you, record video, take your fingerprints, retina scans and DNA at a whim. But - try taking a photo of a cop. Or use crowdsourcing to track a cop car or a Homeland Security honcho. Try protesting Manning's torture, or the wars. That's the key. All the surveillance is for thee, but not for your overlords. Two layers: those with power and those without. To be tracked is to be a prisoner, de facto.

  107. Paranoia by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

    I wonder if he uses credit cards... debit cards, or hold his money in a bank...

  108. I think you're wrong about Stallman's value by Burz · · Score: 1

    Without someone like him, the moral arguments would be coming entirely from the proprietary camp. As you may recall, Microsoft and others tried to advance a hard moral line against FOSS for a while, saying it was like communism and ought to be illegal.

    IMO it didn't work partly because there were clear moral arguments coming from Stallman's software libre corner, and those arguments were associated with the 'GNU' in GNU/Linux enough to lend weight to his views. If people had waited until MS started their anti-FOSS BS to make moral justifications supporting FOSS, I think it would be all over by now and people on /. would be exchanging occasional anecdotes about that embarrassing old slashcode-on-Linux that Slashdot finally got rid of in 2009 because there were no new servers that would recognize OS code signed by FOSS groups (essentially anti-FOSS DRM used to 'protect' people).

    1. Re:I think you're wrong about Stallman's value by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't yet rule that scenario out as a real possibility.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  109. there's a simple solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Power off the phone when you aren't using it. You can also remove the battery.

  110. should b an app4that... by airdrummer · · Score: 1

    calling out astroturfing, and it should b std on /.;-)

  111. They don't work for him anyway. by blair1q · · Score: 1

    He has a lot of trouble using them, what with multipath interference from his TIN-FOIL HAT and all.

  112. social problem by airdrummer · · Score: 1

    it think this is an aspect of a larger issue: as technology becomes more complex, people are incapable of evaluating it, so they give up...this is also a political problem: people don't care to vote, either:-(

    so the solution is in the political realm: free/ossoftware should have the same status as firearms, as definted in the 2nd amendment, FOR THE SAME REASONS

    1. Re:social problem by Lundse · · Score: 1

      so the solution is in the political realm: free/ossoftware should have the same status as firearms, as definted in the 2nd amendment, FOR THE SAME REASONS

      True. I'd say the right to bear arms, if you're going the 'in case the government becomes corrupt'-way-of-thinking, is useless without free software, free spectrum, free hardware and free encryption.
      Rifles and shotguns against the US military? Please. Strong crypto and an unbreakable 'net - enough people would be a problem...

      --
      IAIFARSIJDPOOTV - I Am In Fact A Reality Star; I Just Don't Play One On TV
  113. what about making a living? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I and many others, perhaps including Stallman write software for a living. How can we eat if nobody pays us? If I produce something of value why shouldn't I be paid for it? Also if so much software is free everybody thinks it's worthless, and won't consider paying a fair price for the huge amount of ingenuity and work that goes into it.

    1. Re:what about making a living? by slim · · Score: 1

      I wonder how many people have already said it in responses to this article?

      You are absolutely encouraged to charge people money for the act of writing free software.

      But at the same time -- the world doesn't revolve around making the thing you happen to be good at profitable.

  114. Voluntary enslavement by technology by Xoth · · Score: 1

    I wouldnt beat up Stallman too much. This dialog although seemingly paranoid is a point of view that must be raised and kept active if personal freedom is important. Someday we will be all required to have a mobile device and a facebook page. I always envisioned bar code tattoos on the neck but a mobile device is much better cause of the games. Fighting for our freedom and rights is not a periodic battle but one that has to be fought at all times. Devices and technology that make it easier to track, control, and enslave people should be avoided and be exposed for what they really are... UNNECESSARY.

    --
    people on ludes should not drive
  115. the dod acknowledges this by airdrummer · · Score: 1

    in that they prohibit cellphones inside classified environments...

    of course, removing the battery can defeat remote monitoring, unless they've got blu-nrg (tm Vs;-) planted in cellphones...and if so, wtf are we still dependent on imported oil;-);-);-)

  116. Sounds like a business opportunity by John.Banister · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't think it that hard for someone with a makerbot to start printing parts for little hinged glue-on mic covers for cell phones. It's already possible to buy pre-paid sim cards (for T-Mobile in USA, at least) without showing any ID. So, one needn't necessarily suffer the technological shortcomings of a Walmart "burn phone" for a little more privacy in cellular communication.

  117. Closed Source or Non-Free? by theBully · · Score: 0

    The existence and use of non-free software [which] is a social problem. It's an evil.

    I think one could argue that it would be nice that all software be open-source so that at least it's user may know what it does, or customize if he has the expertise. This obviously falls in the realm of political and social views.
    Calling non-free software "evil" is greatly exaggerated I think. I personally get payed for programming. The employer I have is one that at least at this stage does not want to give his product away for free. He cannot afford it. This is not a piece of software than anyone would be paying support for. If he doesn't capitalize on selling the product his investment will never return and he would not be able to pay me in turn. There may be some business model where even this particular product could be given away for free but I'm a programmer not a business man so I don't know it.
    Let's not forget though that non-free does not mean closed source and open source does not mean free. There are a number of products out there which are open source but aren't free to use, as well as those that are free but not open source. Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Notepad, Calculator, Solitaire or Word Pad are just a few examples of free software which is not open source. Yes, I know they are bundled with Windows but that was and still is Microsoft's strategy at gaining market. If anyone remembers the days of the dreaded Windows NT 3.5 Server, it did come with a bundle that few of the commercial competitors on the server market would offer. Is someone to say that Internet Explorer is "evil" or "not evil" simply because it's free? There are plenty of tools out there that can show you what sort of information is being exchanged by any piece of software on any computer so if you want to verify you're software is not a "big brother" tool you can verify that even without having the source code.
    My experience has also shown me that both OSS and proprietary software, free or not, can be good or bad quality. So that qualification can't possibly be about quality.
    I am typing all this using a Linux based OS that has no proprietary software installed whatsoever. Not even drivers. (I do not have high requirements for my graphics so I just left the OSS driver there and didn't bother with the proprietary one).
    I do get involved in OSS development but so far I have not been able to make a living for me and my family out of it. What pays my salary is still the non-free, closed source stuff.
    Finally software is a "product". Yes I would also like to say that all "non-free" cars, houses, foods, yachts, boots, toys, tv's ..., are "evil" by simply extending his claim.
    Conclusion: I could sit and think about someone telling me "closed source is evil" and maybe even agree to it in a while. But I am sorry if I cannot take seriously someone saying "non-free is evil". So for the time beeing, I'll still drive an evil car, live in an evil house and drink my evil beer.

  118. Non-free software kills puppies! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Doesn't that make you sad?

  119. Irrelevant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This guy was once a great software pioneer.

    It's clear now his time is over, as he's gone way off the deep end...

  120. I used to believe... by jprupp · · Score: 1

    I used to believe that Richard Stallman had the key to the salvation of our industry, but nowadays the guy seems to have pretty much lost it.

    Free and Open Source Software would probably do much better without that dump of fanaticism.

    I'm all for free and open source software, and I don't support intellectual property in the form of patents and copyrights. I recognize that the FSF has brought us the GPL and a coherent set of free software tools. But it's the FSF itself and Stallman's intransigence who has also debilitated us into stupid internal fights over Free Software vs Open Source. It's very good that the people actually writing the software don't care much and just keep doing their wonderful contributions.

    Don't listen much to RMS these days, but focus on reducing patent and copyright reaches.

    Mobile phones are mostly harmless, and if it's not you can just root it and flash it. There are fully open-source software distributions that you can put into your phone and will not contain impossible-to-audit software. You can even audit what closed source programs are transmitting over the Internet and to whom. It's reasonable to trust certain companies with information about your location in exchange for a service. I like to use Latitude for example. I believe the privacy contract that I accepted with Google is enforceable, and that my data is generally safe for them. It just takes disabling it for it not to transmit my location anymore. I have open source software in my phone that I can audit and check. I can disable my data connection. I have no reason to believe that Google will use my location information for nefarious purposes, and I could chose not to share it otherwise.

    Keep it real people. Paranoia is never good. Control over your phone is good, intellectual property is bad. But the beyond-1984-esque paranoia is no subject matter for a civilized conversation. It's just a touch of senility and some Luddite behavior of RMS. I believe he's desperately looking for attention since most of the things he has done are not very visible outside nerdland. He's probably a bit angry at the fact that Free Software (as he calls it) is thriving as Open Source, and GNU is thriving as Linux, and Ubuntu, and Android, and that no one knows who's the FSF outside our industry. Jealousy and the need for an ego stroke seems to be behind all his recent ranting.

    I'd tell RMS to keep doing software, keep preaching on the moral good of free vs proprietary, but cut on the paranoia speeches, and the extreme fundamentalism. It's not good for the image of our community. We've been trying hard to go mainstream for many years. It's better to have more freedom than non, and in that same line then mainstream is actually a good thing that RMS seems to be trying to undermine.

    What's the problem of having a few proprietary packages in a mostly open stack?, not using mobiles?, not using computers?. Come on, even RMS had to use proprietary Unix once to develop GNU. Before it used to be all proprietary. Now that's the other way around in many industries, including mobile, servers, embedded, I mean, all computing but PCs is quite open. If else we should be celebrating the widespread use of free software on mobiles instead of going into a tantrum.

    I for one congratulate Google for Android, Canonical and Shuttleworth for Ubuntu, heck, I even congratulate Apple for WebKit, and Oracle for Btrfs. Heck, even the big proprietary software vendors are all contributing their wares under FSF approved licenses, just as RMS prescribed.

    Quit ranting and celebrate old man, your contribution is all over the place. The philosophical side of it is well understood by a large group within the industry. You've won for all what's worth. Change that face. It seems you're hardwired for negative thinking.

    1. Re:I used to believe... by Paul+Fernhout · · Score: 1

      I think an even deeper issue is that not every problem can be solved with technical cleverness. At some point, poeple in a society need to say, here are the rules (and laws) that we are choosing to constrain how we use (or refine) our technology based on social values. For example, while I think copyrights are a problem, we could say, they should be at most three years. That is a social thing. With cell phones tracking, we could pass laws or promulgate social conventions about what could be done with them. Now, RMS is aware of all that, no doubt. but ultimately it takes a sort of social change that is more interwoven with technology than is about just technology. As I suggest here, the two go together:
          http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/msg/a7abadb8867dae79

      All that said, the GPL is an interesting thing when seem from the standpoint as a "constitution" for stigmergic collaboration more than a "license".

      But in practice, LGPL with a linking exception is probably in practice more what people would have readily accepted as "free software" and seen wider adoption, because overall takes society (tens of thousands of people for a day each) a lot more time to learn how to use a library than to write one (one person for 100 days). So, when people can learn how to use free software libraries at work, that is a big win. I think that learning curve issue is perhaps an issue Richard Stallman has not focused on?

      In general, our entire socio-economic paradigm needs to change as we embrace technological abundance, and that is a big missing part of the free software movement ideology to date, I feel. Related by me on the economics of abunance:
      http://peswiki.com/index.php/OS:Economic_Transformation

      --
      A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
  121. Re:There is plenty wrong with proprietary executab by mattack2 · · Score: 1

    The only way these computers will ever become obsolete, will be if I decide they're too old/slow/powerhungry.

    But how is that any different from any other computer? If your *work* machine can't run software you need, your work should provide you with new hardware or different software. But the machine keeps running all of the software it always has.

  122. Re:There is plenty wrong with proprietary executab by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 1

    If you use proprietary software, you get fucked, and that is the common case, not the rare case. It happens to most users at one time or another. Some of them realize what caused their problems and become "OSS geeks," and some of them don't get it, and repeat the mistake again and again and again, never ever learning how they set themselves up to become dependent on third parties.

    And some of us got tired of having to dual-boot just to play games, of trying to hack various things together to get games to run under wine, of having a selection of high-quality games smaller than the selection available for OSX, of having distro updates hork the system (*cough*Ubuntu 10.10*cough*), of getting told "STFU and RTFM" when asking for help, of being told "you don't want to do that" when asking how to do something without being asked why I wanted to do it, of being told "recompile it with X, Y, Z flags" to solve various problems, of being told to "submit a patch" when asking about a bug or missing feature, of running software with fewer features for... what, ideological reasons? Should I go on?

    I'm a software developer as a profession and as a hobby, but I have very little interest in fixing my tools (let alone my operating system!) as a prerequisite to working on the stuff I actually care about.

    Honestly, I have no reason to fully switch back to Linux, and I will not have a reason unless (or, if you insist, until) I get somehow meaningfully screwed over by proprietary software. Thus far, the only times I have been screwed over by software in any meaningful way have been caused by problems with Linux (e.g. the aforementioned Ubuntu 10.10 update which pretty much made my system unusable).

    IMNSHO, it's kind of stupid to refuse to use proprietary software on the chance that it will screw you over someday. If it works well, use it, and if it does screw you over (e.g. Sony removing OtherOS), then switch to alternatives - and that applies to open source software as much as it applies to proprietary software.

    Now, before people flame me, I do like Linux, and I use it daily, along with several useful open source tools, but until the open source community can match a lot of the "evil" proprietary software out there, I have a very strong incentive to stay with proprietary software.

  123. Free? by bgspence · · Score: 1

    It would be nice if we could rid the world of tricky, restrictive licenses.

    Pockets of lock-in restrict truly free development.

  124. If the /. "cell phone" icon is any indication... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then they *really* were stalin's dream, back in the 1950's when both Stalin was alive and cell phones that looked like that existed.

    Come on, how many buttons are even on that thing? Did Stalin dream of cell phones which dialed numbers in base-8?

  125. Re:There is plenty wrong with proprietary executab by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just FYI, the free nouveau drivers come along nicely. I recently upgraded to Ubuntu Natty during the alpha, when Nvidia had not released their drivers for the new X version yet, and nouveau worked great, including enough 3D for visual effects in the Gnome desktop (Unity did not work at first during alpha 1, but eventually worked as well). This on a MacBook Pro with an nVidia Corporation C79 [GeForce 9400M].

  126. Try to keep up with the times by conspirator57 · · Score: 1

    Maybe, but he's dead.

    Karl Rove on the other hand, is still alive.

    It's Obama wielding these powers these days. And he seems content to be just as bad if not worse than Bushco. Just ask EFF or the ACLU.

    --
    "If still these truths be held to be
    Self evident."
    -Edna St. Vincent Millay
  127. Right message, wrong target by agm · · Score: 1

    Freedom is very important, but alas Stallman is concentrating on a less important freedom - that of software. A much more important freedom is that of people. If only he would put his efforts and publicity into that goal - of us as people being free. Then he would be worth listening too. How do we become free? Libertarianism.

  128. Stallman irony: it's OK when he censors by GMGruman · · Score: 1

    Stallman has become a parody of himself. This guy only will talk to the press if he can control the published story, and he complains about cellphones being Stalinesque? He's about control, not freedom. Pot, meet kettle.

  129. the 90's called by mpfife · · Score: 1

    And they want their rash idealism back.

    Remember how EVERYTHING was going to be free? Free information, free software, free everything. Didn't quite work out for good reasons, and now we've moved on. He clearly hasn't. While I agree with him that cel phones are a good way to be tracked, I also know that if I ever *need* to hide from the government, I can put that fully charged cel phone on the back of a UPS semi and get a pay-as-you go.

    As others have said, his brand of 'freedom' sounds more like a blend of wishful thinking and paranoia.

  130. How free as in speech begets free as in beer by tepples · · Score: 1

    When Richard Stallman uses the term free software, he doesn't mean that it necessarily comes free of cost.

    Consider a computer program with wide appeal to the general public, not necessarily one that a single customer has commissioned. Once you've distributed the first copy for a fee, the owner of this copy can in theory use "liberty" to price you out of the market and keep you from selling more copies. Then where will you get the money to keep your business going?

    For instance, the Mozilla Corporation is for-profit

    Mozilla Corp's revenue from the free Firefox software comes from a model similar to Google AdSense for Search. But this revenue source doesn't necessarily apply to every kind of application. For example, what model could a video game distributed as free software use?

  131. Bad tag by NoAccountBoozer · · Score: 1

    Should be GNUtjob. Or GNU/Linuxtjob.

  132. Is this crazy at it again? Right to read... pah! by Builder · · Score: 1

    I mean, really... Doesn't he learn from all the times he's been wrong?

    Does anyone remember that crazy 'right to read' screed he wrote? You know, about having your books tied to your ID on a single device and not being allowed to share those with another person without special permission from the publisher, and how if the publishers changed their minds they'd just delete stuff from your reading device even if you'd already paid for it and were busy reading it? I mean, has _any_ of that craziness come to pass?

    Oh... wait... That pretty much describes the Kindle. Yet at the time he wrote it everyone called him nuts and said that future would never come to pass. Sure, we still have paper books to fall back on, but almost everything he described (with the exception of the love story and the happy ever after ending) HAS come true.

    The thing is, you don't change the world by being agreeable. You don't get compromise by being 'reasonable'. Most negotiations end up somewhere in the middle. So if your starting point is reasonable and you meet the corporations and the power brokers in the middle, you're just ever so slightly less screwed. But if you start from an extreme position, no matter how misunderstood you'll be by most people, at least that half-way point of compromise is better for your future.

  133. Re:Developers have families to feed, so pay attent by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    You conflate several issues - open standards, software patents, and FOSS. These are unrelated. One can be a proponent of open standards and yet work on closed source software (example: Opera).

  134. Stallman is right -- but he has failed, just that by joh · · Score: 1

    Face it: Free Software has totally failed. Use *only* Free Software (with no closed source drivers and BIOS) and do not use popular Web services (they're closed source, too) and the people actually able to be happy with what is left now are down to a single digit percentage of all people using computers and software and cellphones and the net.

    Why? Because the Free Software movement just did not manage to get something really new and usable out of the door. It failed big time, it fucked up, it gambled away whatever advantages it had for a while. There's no Linux and no GNU/Linux and no Hurd on the desktops and laptops and tablets and mobile phones today. And it's more than just ironic that the only system where Linux really got into the hands of the masses is Android with which Google inserts its tentacles in every single of your digital orifices. And people get Android phones not because it is based on Linux but because of the closed source apps.

    So: Yeah, Stallman is right and has ever been. But he failed and all the developers and evangelists and idle talkers failed too. It's really that simple. It's an epic, tragic failure. Stallman and all those who fought and bickered about Qt/Gtk and Gnome/KDE and top quoting in email while Linux lost the battle for the desktop and email lost against Facebook are just losers. I hate to say this, but others were better. They delivered. OS X is better than Linux in all practical terms and MeeGo is a sad joke against iOS.

  135. RMS supports free, not open source, software. by RThaiRThai · · Score: 1

    I don't know if he's ever slipped up and accidentally said open source, but he's pretty adamant that he supports free software and *not* open source software.
    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html

    The definitions are almost the same, but they're philosophically different. Free software is about freedom; open source software only suggests that it is a practically better model. That's what Stallman says, anyway.

    He also addresses the idea of free microwaves or microwave dinners (tables actually).
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNBMdDaYhZA
    Supposedly, you can modify a table or a dinner without their blue prints, but it's less feasible with programs. I can see a couple holes in that argument, but they're not gaping. Trying to modify a compiled program isn't impossible, but it's somewhat insane. On the other hand, I modifying a microwave would be easier with the schematics.

  136. Irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Ironically enough, Stallman was speaking to me on a cell phone"

  137. why should software be free and open ? by datadefender · · Score: 1

    It strikes me as odd that Stallman and many /. readers demand free and opensource software all the time.
    How is software different from any other product or service ?
    Do we expect car designers to "opensource" their car designs and give them away for free ?. Maybe the cars should be free as well.
    Come on ! Most people work to feed their family. And if a programmer spends hist work time on developing software he wants/must get paid because THAT is how he feeds his his family. And somebody must pay that salary - and like for all other products/services it should be the customer.
    I am willing to to pay a REASONABLE price for my software. We can debate if MS is overcharging - but I would not expect them to give away their software.

  138. Re:There is plenty wrong with proprietary executab by albertowtf · · Score: 0
  139. Re:There is plenty wrong with proprietary executab by Narcogen · · Score: 1

    There's also nothing wrong with proprietary executables, expect maybe for OSS geeks.

    Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but getting totally fucked over by allowing myself to become dependent on orphanware, is how I became an "OSS geek." Proprietary executables have serious practical real-world disadvantages.

    Free software isn't a religion; it's a rational strategic reaction. My Amiga went years without an OS update. OS/2 too. My current work machine can't run a lot of software because it has an obsolete version of Mac OS X and there is no upgrade for this hardware.

    Ouch. You went from AmigaOS to OS/2? Wow. Talk about hard luck. Great systems, but brutal market consequences.

    What Apple hardware really doesn't have any upgrade path, aside from the XServe?

  140. how am I supposed to get my yardage to the green? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Really Mr Stallman, you want me to guess my yardage to the flag or "Walk it off"

    Are you a barbarian?

  141. Mobile phones are liberating by FoolishOwl · · Score: 1

    The last I checked, there were 4.6 billion mobile phone contracts. Most people in the world possess mobile phones. This means that almost anyone can talk to almost anyone else, instantly. This is of enormous, epochal importance.

    While the resources for surveillance have increased, the amount of communication and mobility has increased more rapidly. The more people who have mobile phones, and the more they use them, the less effective surveillance can be. This means that the widespread adoption of mobile phones has meant a net gain in human freedom.

    And that is exactly why everyone wants mobile phones.

    Except Stallman, who made heroic contributions to the modern world, and yet doesn't understand that he achieved success.

  142. Not unrelated by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

    That is the same as saying that low wages, lack of education, child labour and the power of large factory owners were unrelated in the 19th century. Open standards, maintainable products (or FOSS in the software case) and software patents are all about corporate greed and the counter movement from a threatened society.

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  143. its happening by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    bottom line is its happening. you either accept that or you dont.

  144. i do wonder... by hitmark · · Score: 1

    if the work on implementing a GSM base station using free software will result in this being proven right or wrong once and for all.

    --
    comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
  145. OpenMoko by pilkch · · Score: 1

    Surely he has heard of it?

  146. WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't forget the tinfoil hat, you irrelevant freetard moron. (Go ahead, mod me troll, you know i'm right)

  147. I guess he's right to be paranoid by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 1

    I use Cyanogen, a community modified Android. Best parts of both closed and open source models for security.

    Oh and I put a pretty nice VOIP set up on there and sell them too!

    Someone should point out that with Ethernet Over Powerlines the government could use an 800kb connection to record how long there is between each voltage draw on your PC. Or you know, run a keylogger. Open source power supplys!

    Oh, also my phones use inter-operable (open source SIP clients, Nimbuzz instead of Skype) parts so you can change with no trouble (best I can do considering I can't secure the POTS).

    Facepalm! Guess I told you how to make one, no reason to buy from me :P
    I'm sure your install will go smooth :P
    phaistoscommunications.com - 647-247-8336.