Eben Moglen Explains Freedom and Free Software in Two Video Interviews

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Eben Moglen Explains Freedom and Free Software in Two Video Interviews

Posted by Roblimo on Thursday October 18, 2012 @07:02AM from the wise-students-listen-carefully-when-the-master-speaks dept.

Eben Moglen, says Wikipedia, "is a professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, and is the founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman of [the] Software Freedom Law Center, whose client list includes numerous pro bono clients, such as the Free Software Foundation." And if that wasn't enough, since 2011 he's been working with FreedomBox, a project working toward "a personal server running a free software operating system, with free applications designed to create and preserve personal privacy." Prof. Moglen is also one of the most polished speakers anywhere, on any topic, ever. That's why, instead of editing this interview Timothy Lord did with him, we simply cut it in half, removed a little introductory and end conversation, and let the Professor roll on. The second half of this interview will run tomorrow. It's at least as worthwhile as the first half, especially if you are interested in Free Software.

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You need to have the Adobe Flash Player by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 07:08 · Score: 5, Insightful

You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content.
Please click here to continue.
1. Re:You need to have the Adobe Flash Player by bug1 · 2012-10-18 11:09 · Score: 1
  
  You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content.
  Please click here to continue.
  You lucky, lucky bastard. (in my best monty python voice)
  All i see is normal white background, i didnt even get a button that doesnt work.
2. Re:You need to have the Adobe Flash Player by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 05:08 · Score: 0
  
  What a fucking joke /. is.
Access by mfwitten · 2012-10-18 07:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

Please provide links to downloadable files for future videos; please don't force your users to suffer some terribly inefficient and limited player like that of an embedded flash player—not only does, say, mplayer use far fewer cycles to play the same damn video, but I can also speed up playback to nearly 2x the rate (without comical effect!), which saves me time, thereby allowing me to spend more time viewing slashdot advertisements.
1. Re:Access by Jeng · 2012-10-18 07:33 · Score: 2
  
  I am always amazed when someone mentions the advertising on this site since almost everyone uses ad-blockers theses days, but also if you are in good standing slashdot gives you the option of not seeing the advertisements.
  I really don't think slashdot makes much from displaying advertisements.
  Now if slashvertisements are real, well they may make some money off those.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
2. Re:Access by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 08:00 · Score: 0
  
  they'd trip you in the hallway and take a shit on your chest
  I think you just described the average day for most Linux users.
3. Re:Access by YurB · 2012-10-18 08:37 · Score: 1
  
  I'm writing just to tell that I'm too in need of the ability to kick out that flash player, this time because my netbook screen's 1024px width is just cutting off approximately 30% of the flash player fixed-width box here... If it was html5, it would have been a completely different story. Let's begin making the world better by making small better:)
4. Re:Access by YurB · 2012-10-18 08:41 · Score: 1
  
  By the way, recently bought a used machine without sse2 and found that Adobe has "improved" their flash player not to execute on machines without sse2 (I've heard that they were able to make this a linux-only issue which is especially illustrative of how they're doing their cross-platform work.)
5. Re:Access by iroll · 2012-10-18 08:44 · Score: 2
  
  Don't you think you might be projecting just a teensy bit? Most people aren't suffering when they watch a video on youtube. Neither are their computers.
  If you're a sophisticated enough user to care about the number of cycles mplayer uses versus flash, you should be sophisticated enough to, say, install a userscript like ViewTube
  http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/87011
  ...that will send the video format (codec and size) of your choice to a non-flash player of your choice. You can even download the video and watch it offline later!
  Those rare individuals who can't watch a flash video and can't figure out why are probably not suffering either, because they probably don't care.
  
  --
  Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR
6. Re:Access by mfwitten · 2012-10-18 08:59 · Score: 1
  
  I have flash version 11.2.202.243.
  There are tools for downloading youtube's videos.
  Care to try again?
7. Re:Access by mfwitten · 2012-10-18 09:02 · Score: 1
  
  This is a straw man argument.
  I'm talking about slashdot, not youtube, for which there do indeed exist simple tools.
8. Re:Access by Jane+Q.+Public · 2012-10-18 09:04 · Score: 1
  
  I agree. Slashdot's implementation of Ooyala Player really sucks. It doesn't even work in my Firefox... probably because I have Flash Local Storage turned off.
  
  Give me a damned link to YouTube or whatever, and let me watch it on my own.
9. Re:Access by mfwitten · 2012-10-18 09:10 · Score: 1
  
  I'm amazed that your comment is getting modded up, even though it has basically nothing to do with my point.
10. Re:Access by iroll · 2012-10-18 09:11 · Score: 1
  
  Reading this and your previous post, I don't think you know what a straw man argument is.
  
  --
  Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR
11. Re:Access by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 09:23 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks for the userscripts link, didn't know about that.
12. Re:Access by mfwitten · 2012-10-18 09:28 · Score: 1
  
  * straw man, strawman (a weak or sham argument set up to be easily refuted)
  * straw man: a fabricated or conveniently weak or innocuous person, object, matter, etc., used as a seeming adversary or argument: The issue she railed about was no more than a straw man.
  * A straw man, also known in the UK as an Aunt Sally,[1][2] is a type of argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.[3] To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.
  You were attacking a superficially similar yet unequivalent comment that I didn't make, creating the illusion of a successful refutation. Remeber this the next time you hear the term "straw man".
13. Re:Access by Jeng · 2012-10-18 09:36 · Score: 1
  
  My point was that slashdot probably doesn't really care if you do or do not view their advertisements.
  I agree with you that there really is no reason why my comment should be modded up.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
14. Re:Access by iroll · 2012-10-18 09:37 · Score: 1
  
  Just because you can copy and paste doesn't mean you can parse. Keep trying, though!
  
  --
  Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR
15. Re:Access by Lennie · 2012-10-18 11:34 · Score: 1
  
  A HTML5 video-tag would have been fine too.
  
  --
  New things are always on the horizon
16. Re:Access by melikamp · 2012-10-18 12:11 · Score: 1
  
  If they don't have Flash spying on you, how do they know which ads are best for you?
17. Re:Access by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 14:25 · Score: 0
  
  Ahh yes. You should be able to watch videos using pine or some other primative piece of shit, because it's slashdot.
  I typically download my videos frame-by-frame with wget and watch them in emacs.
18. Re:Access by theshowmecanuck · 2012-10-18 16:01 · Score: 1
  
  He's a troll or an idiot or both. And you are correct, if someone wants to use software that can't do the job, it's their problem. If someone like Slashdot provides the service at no cost, they shouldn't also be asked to kiss the asses of the smallest percentage of viewers. The majority who have proprietary software are obviously the ones who actually spend money. Why would a for profit company care what people who don't spend money for their stuff, think? Especially if their income is at least in part advertisements to entice people to buy.
  
  --
  -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
19. Re:Access by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 01:33 · Score: 1
  
  Why would you have "recently" bought such a piece of shit? You could have dumpster dived a Core2Duo system that is infinitely less shitty than the system you are whining about Adobe not supporting.
20. Re:Access by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 03:04 · Score: 0
  
  So, you complain about not having a downloadable option... then tell the poster that you have the means to download it? What is the problem again?
21. Re:Access by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 03:16 · Score: 0
  
  by itroll (717924) on Thursday October 18, @05:37PM
  FTFY
22. Re:Access by YurB · 2012-10-19 06:57 · Score: 1
  
  Sometimes such a "piece of shit" is just enough. I've spent $30 on it plus some $5 on additional RAM and $15 on a DVD burner. In fact, I still have a Pentium II (350 MHz), and it's able to serve very well as a NAT and a small web server for personal purposes. I just think that if machine works and can be useful, why not use it? Of course I don't run Windows 7 on that machine (and I have no interest in doing that), but for what I need it for, it's just perfect.
23. Re:Access by CamD · 2012-10-19 11:59 · Score: 1
  
  https://code.google.com/p/get-flash-videos/
  It's also in the Debian repository, possibly others.
  To stream (in mplayer, by default):
  $ get_flash_videos --play "$slashdot_url"
It's a feature not a bug by Jeng · 2012-10-18 07:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

That's why, instead of editing this interview Timothy Lord did with him, we simply cut it in half, removed a little introductory and end conversation, and let the Professor roll on.

Yea, that's the ticket, we don't need editing, just cut the video in two. Also, lets make sure to remove context like introductions.
Ok, since all you did was cut the video in two and remove context, did you at least make a transcript this time?

--
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
1. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 07:34 · Score: 1
  
  no, but they did include the video on FOSS in Flash.
2. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Jeng · 2012-10-18 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  The transcript is so I and others can skip sitting there watching and absorbing.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
3. Re:It's a feature not a bug by eugene+ts+wong · 2012-10-18 07:38 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  There is a link under the video to hide or show a transcript.
  
  --
  testing out my trending skills
4. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 07:40 · Score: 1
  
  Ok, since all you did was cut the video in two and remove context, did you at least make a transcript this time?
  Are you not seeing the hide/show transcript link below the video!? Very well, for people who cannot click:
  
  Eben Moglen: Software Freedom Law Center was created in 2005, and is a non-profit legal services company, which provides free legal advice to non-profit makers and distributors of free and open source software.
  
  So, our job is to provide legal advice to the people who make and distribute free software, who don’t have a revenue stream to pay for legal services. We are supported almost entirely by the generous donations of businesses that make use of FOSS in their products and services. And they provide that support to us because good legal advice to the people who make the software in the non-profit sector ensures them fewer difficulties and easier business climate in the use of that software for their business purposes.
  
  They pass that software on or deliver services over that software to their own customers, and having good legal assurance and good understanding of their relationship to the manufacturers and distributors of that free software is benefit to them. So, we are essentially people who explore a world of win-win solutions on behalf of the developers at FOSS.
  
  Timothy Lord: And the supporters you mentioned, are any of those big names in the free software community now or is that businesses that people wouldn’t realize is supporting them?
  
  Eben Moglen: Oh, that’s IBM and Hewlett Packard, and Oracle, and Qualcomm and others around the world who have very big businesses that make very big use of free and open source software, and the use they make is use which is on the basis of their understanding that everybody is following the rules and everybody using those rules in creative and productive ways is profitable to them.
  
  Timothy Lord: Now, was there a gap that you were filling when you founded this a few years back?
  
  Eben Moglen: One way of thinking about it is that I had been working for a very long time with Richard Stallman doing legal work primarily for the Free Software Foundation. And sometimes I did work that helped people in the commercial world, either in relation to the Free Software Foundation or in matters that had nothing to do with the Free Software Foundation, but I had been between 1993 and 2005 basically a law professor part time doing all of this work.
  
  When the SCO lawsuit concentrated people’s attention in the industrial community on both the value of the software to them, and the amount of disruption, inconvenience caused, and difficulty that even one frivolous lawsuit could create, there was an opportunity to get people to concentrate on the value of supporting community organizations. And that’s really the gap that SFLC was created to fill.
  
  I see it, as a law professor, also very much as a vehicle of training to provide lawyers, to business and to the community, alumni of SFLC, if you like, or counsel at Red Hat and Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation, and are in other ways, pillars of the community both on the commercial and on the non-profit side. I think of our helping to create a social community knowledgeable in the affairs of law, the affairs of business and the affairs of free software as a crucial gap also that SFLC fills.
  
  Timothy Lord: You mentioned the SCO lawsuit, have you seen a change in the business world’s attitude about free software as a result of that software patents and disputed trademarks, things like that?
  
  Eben Moglen: My view is that these are forces operating all out of the same fundamental reality which is the enormous commercial importance of sharing. It has been underestimated in the view that capitalism took of itself in the middle of the 20th century, and this is sort of a surprise becaus
5. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Jeng · 2012-10-18 07:42 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Also I, like many here, read slashdot at work and if you are reading a web page you may be doing some research or something, but if you are watching a video then it is pretty clear you are not doing your job.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
6. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Jeng · 2012-10-18 07:44 · Score: 1
  
  Wow. thanks, I didn't noticed that.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
7. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Jeng · 2012-10-18 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks, didn't think to look at the section between the media player and the comments, I would have figured a link to the transcript would be in the summary.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
8. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 07:52 · Score: 0
  
  Great, now can you post a video for those of that cannot read?
9. Re:It's a feature not a bug by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 07:54 · Score: 0
  
  did you at least make a transcript this time?
  Transcript
10. Re:It's a feature not a bug by tehcyder · 2012-10-19 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  Also I, like many here, read slashdot at work and if you are reading a web page you may be doing some research or something, but if you are watching a video then it is pretty clear you are not doing your job.
  Exactly. Also, where I work you aren't allowed to sit at your desk with headphones on ignoring the outside world, so even if you could get away with watching the video you still wouldn't be able to hear it, which is kind of a disadvantage for an interview.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
11. Re:It's a feature not a bug by eugene+ts+wong · 2012-10-19 01:55 · Score: 1
  
  You're welcome. Thanks for the opportunity.
  
  --
  testing out my trending skills
...and the irony! by AliasMarlowe · 2012-10-18 07:36 · Score: 4, Insightful

Did they even ask Eben Moglen's opinion on presenting an interview with him using the non-free flash player?
And I concur with mfwitten - please provide a downloadable link, even if it's to the accursed ooyala.com...

--
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
1. Re:...and the irony! by jalet · 2012-10-18 07:56 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I don't know for Eben Moglen, but I can say for sure that RMS didn't appreciate when we recorded and streamed a conference of him with proprietary software and codecs (RealServer+RealVideo).
  Not only did we re-encode the video into an open format, but we went so far as to develop an entirely Free conferences/courses recording and streaming software (based on GStreamer) as a result.
  Unfortunately the original website is down, but the latest source code is currently available from http://depot.univ-nc.nc/sources/ for those who might be interested.
  
  --
  Votez ecolo : Chiez dans l'urne !
2. Re:...and the irony! by jalet · 2012-10-18 08:45 · Score: 1
  
  And while I'm at self promotion, the next time he went we recorded him with this software : http://stream.unice.fr/polytech/rms20080505/
  Additional features of this software suite (slides capture and sync, PDF creation, re-encoding...) can be seen at http://tv.univ-nc.nc/conferences/
  
  --
  Votez ecolo : Chiez dans l'urne !
Ebens huh? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 07:39 · Score: 0

I was just reading about those faggers on the shitter today.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/serpo/information.htm
is this VBR? by mpgalvin · 2012-10-18 08:09 · Score: 1

Free-as-in-Irony issues aside, I'm not sure I like this jankyPlayer(tm) technology... the quality pogos worse than a comcast youtube proxy.
Polished? by keithjr · 2012-10-18 08:17 · Score: 1

Prof. Moglen is also one of the most polished speakers anywhere, on any topic, ever.
Except when he's straight up yelling at interviewers?
1. Re:Polished? by UnknownSoldier · 2012-10-18 08:33 · Score: 1
  
  Actually I was thinking the submitter must be Californian .... /valley-girl "Prof. Moglen is, like, one of the most polished speakers anywhere, EVAR!"
2. Re:Polished? by Neil_Brown · 2012-10-18 08:42 · Score: 2
  
  Interesting link — although the content seems not to bear out the headline.
  It looks like a disagreement over stance to me, with some parts highlighted in bold to emphasise the author's point that Eben held a different view to him. There's one "," but no "" or "" — it's not as if Eben was even saying something stupid or irrelevant, just seemingly not what the author wanted to hear for his article, and characterised Eben's answers as "yelling."
3. Re:Polished? by Roger+W+Moore · 2012-10-18 15:00 · Score: 1
  
  Prof. Moglen is also one of the most polished speakers anywhere, on any topic, ever.
  Except when he's straight up yelling at interviewers?
  ...and given the video evidence except when he is speaking. Perhaps the submitter should give their second interview for a bit of comparison before making sweeping claims like this.
4. Re:Polished? by fatphil · 2012-10-20 01:44 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for the link. I'm not surprised he was yelling at that interviewer, who had terminal cluelessness.
  
  --
  Also FatPhil on SoylentNews, id 863
Anyone care to comment on the content? by crazyjj · 2012-10-18 08:36 · Score: 2

Now that we've had the requisite 400 posts complaining about the video codec and the bad jokes, does anyone care to comment on what he said?
Anyone?

--
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
1. Re:Anyone care to comment on the content? by SirGarlon · 2012-10-18 08:52 · Score: 2
  
  No. If I wanted to watch video, I would be on YouTube, not Slashdot. I come to Slashdot to *read*.
  
  --
  [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
2. Re:Anyone care to comment on the content? by snsh · 2012-10-18 09:34 · Score: 1
  
  Got bored after watching for 20 seconds. Mad at OP for saying this is "one of the most polished speakers, anywhere, on any topic" making me think this is some sort of William Shatner or RFK.
3. Re:Anyone care to comment on the content? by unixisc · 2012-10-18 23:37 · Score: 0
  
  I'll be happy to.
  On the 'Software Freedom' subject, as always, I do wish they use the term 'Liberated Software' or 'Liberation of Software' instead. It's a more accurate description of their agenda, and while they may fear the being perceived as Marxists, it would certainly be far more accurate than the downright lying 'free software' they've been peddling. Also, when someone is talking about replacing ASCII files in ETSI, he loses me. I prefer graphically configurable tools, and in terms of text standards, it's high time ASCII was dead and replaced by Unicode.
  On the privacy issue, I take them as seriously as the tin foil hats we see everywhere else. Everything they are about is forcing people to downgrade the conveniences of life, and selling this like some kind of Orwellian nightmare. Sorry, but coming from guys who support thugs like Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Hamas, Hizbullah and other terror groups, or endorse pedophilia, I pretty much have no use for them - I'd rather that their privacy was invaded.
  No, all this was just one more vain attempt by the FSF/SFLC to remain relevant. Only good thing about it - I'm assuming that Moglen doesn't smell like RMS does.
4. Re:Anyone care to comment on the content? by tehcyder · 2012-10-19 00:42 · Score: 1
  
  Now that we've had the requisite 400 posts complaining about the video codec and the bad jokes, does anyone care to comment on what he said?
  Anyone?
  I think it was something to do with software. But as there was no violence, no sex, no swearing and no explosions I can't say I was paying much attention. Slashdot really needs to liven up its videos. Also, the soundtrack was shit.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
5. Re:Anyone care to comment on the content? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 01:18 · Score: 0
  
  Indeed, privacy is bad, and encryption is even worse! There should not be anything private (I mean, do you have anything to hide?). I am also against keys and locks, so people should not be allowed to have those. Theives lock down stolen stuff in safes, boxes, and cars. locks on cars are bad. Houses, those are also filled with stolen and evil stuff like bombs and guns and pedofiles, and they hide those away within walls. Walls should be allowed. If a house is not made of glass, they likely have something to hide. ooo, clothes! we all know how terroist like to hide bombs inside their jackets, trouses and underware. We need to forbid those, I mean what do people have to hide? People, are you hiding stuff??? Wait, people can then still hide stuff inside themselves ... we must invent some drug that make skin transparent.
  Or maybe, privacy is a good thing?
6. Re:Anyone care to comment on the content? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 01:21 · Score: 0
  
  Beyond reactig to crackpots who dislike privacy and security, there arent much to discuss. A secure server that users can control? Sure, sounds as a good idea.
Most polished speaker... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 09:54 · Score: 0

Most polished speaker uh? The guy uses insane run-on sentences, and his intonation is more than annoying... I don't know: If you're a personal fan, fair enough. But this guy is far from an engaging speaker; let alone 'on all subjects'.
1. Re:Most polished speaker... by Jmc23 · 2012-10-20 10:45 · Score: 1
  
  Sheep follow shiny things, intelligent people actually know how to listen.
  
  --
  Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
Upload to Youtube by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 10:28 · Score: 4, Insightful

Seriously, Slashdot, please consider it. The player is better, and crucially it's trivial to download the content then strip out the audio.
Then like most lectures I can listen to it on headphones while doing so many other things away from the computer. This is a major asset.
Or just supply the ogg. That would work fine. Just please do it. The increase in utility is enormous.
I disagree. Microsoft was not the Server company by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 10:42 · Score: 0

Really like this but he says that Microsoft was the Server company that lost out to this wave. Actually IBM and Oracle were the Server companies and Microsoft has relentlessly gained unit share with low prices and volume. So they are not the big bad old Server company and the three companies are not losing share (check the Server earnings today).
And I think that a cloud of servers supporting a bunch of idle computers has downsides. We should consider turning that inside out and have P2P networks between home computers that our mobile devices connect to. And our mobile devices should be able to connect to each other as well. Even the networks should be able to be established in an adhoc manner.
The challenge for FreedomBox will be usability. What we really need is to figure out how to securely run things on top of our home computers to enable the Freedombox P2P/security infrastructure. The core of that is the ubiquitous usage of PGP. And the hardest challenge will be that we must assume that all hardware - mobile devices, routers, laptops are insecure as delivered. So this stack must be able to run securely on top of insecure hardware. Not an easy nut to crack. I suspect it means that we need two computers for all applications: one that takes input and encrypts it and whose only interface is a simple monitored connection to the second computer. And that second computer hosts the apps and stacks.
Interested in others thoughts on this
SFLC by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 11:27 · Score: 0

Thank you to the SFLC for this. I have engaged them in the past for a minor possible skirmish I wanted to stay away from and with them and a conversation with tridge of samba fame, I thank you!!
Why does he sound so much like RMS? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 11:27 · Score: 0

Even the pacing and inflections in his voice are exactly the same. Is there a physical change that happens when you become a public FOSS advocate?
It's ironic to hear commies talk about freedom! by RocketRabbit · 2012-10-18 11:30 · Score: 1, Funny

Since this guy has apparently outed himself as an actual Communist, we should beware what he says. I appreciate free software, but he seems to actually believe that free software will advance a world Communist agenda.
Notice the use of qualifiers - I don't want to get sued by some asshole. I'd have to respond by forcing them into a wood chipper, feet first, while they were still alive.
1. Re:It's ironic to hear commies talk about freedom! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 17:24 · Score: 0
  
  I see the joke but communism is not the stereo typical propaganda the US or Europe likes to use. There are communistic countries or regions that are probably more free then the US. It is not the black and white censorship or oppressive dictatorship. You probably already know that, hence the joke!!
2. Re:It's ironic to hear commies talk about freedom! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 22:00 · Score: 0
  
  Citation needed. I have seen jokes about communism, references of chinese goverment calling him a Communist (big suprise there). But he himself? never. To conclude that he is pushing for a world Communist agenda is nothing short of slander.
  Then we have this taken from an article about eben moglen: "I have seen comments by a number of people whose bias against the term "social justice" leads them to conclude that Moglen is a "communist" proposing to take from the rich to give to the poor. Of course we do that to some extent already, as he points out when he says we are "only partially . . . a capitalist society". But Moglen is not talking about redistribution at all. He believes we can achieve social justice without taking anything from anybody."
3. Re:It's ironic to hear commies talk about freedom! by RocketRabbit · 2012-10-19 07:24 · Score: 1
  
  Social justice and progress are the new code words for communism. Of course, you now this already, being a communist yourself.
Capitalist by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-18 23:32 · Score: 0

I'm a capitalist. I believe a computer programmer must be paid for his skills, experience and his time programming. And only a fool of a software publisher would pay the programmer and then give away the program.
Here's a much better interview with Moglen by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 01:17 · Score: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJCczbSF-B8
it does not frigging play by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-19 06:46 · Score: 0

really, what was the op thinking? I have tried in couple different browsers no luck.
not necessarily by Chirs · 2012-10-19 07:24 · Score: 1

In the case of Linux, you get billions of dollars worth of software for free. In that case, it can absolutely make sense to hire a programmer to do work on Linux (that will be contributed back to the community) because it enables other programmers to do more directly-lucrative work.
Also, there is a vast amount of programming that gets done to customize things for a particular domain. They're not going to sell it afterwards, they just need it in-house. In this context it can make financial sense to open-source it and allow others in the same boat to use it because then they contribute back and you can benefit from their changes.
works fine here by Chirs · 2012-10-19 07:25 · Score: 1

firefox 4, fedora 4, flash 11.2
Airquotophobia by Mehmet+Kse · 2012-10-19 10:21 · Score: 1

When I see floating quotation marks, reputation of the person who made it drops below zero. Doesn't matter what he achieved before.
1. Re:Airquotophobia by Jmc23 · 2012-10-20 10:48 · Score: 1
  
  Always nice to see fallacious thought at play.
  Smart people know how to adapt and adopt.
  Feel free to return to your hand washing.
  
  --
  Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.