The Personalities Behind Linux

Erik has written in with a nice little commentary on the personalities behind the free software movement. Mostly about RMS and Linus, but its worth reading.

The following was written by Slashdot Reader Erik

The Personalities Behind Linux

The varied personalities of Linux definitely show the many facets that make up our favorite OS. I was reading the Wired article that had an interview with RMS, and I've seen quite a few interviews with Linus. IMHO, Stallman represents quite a bit of what Linux and it's users is all about, but Torvalds is more a way to market it.

Obviously both Torvalds and Stallman were and are central to the OS. As we all know, the kernel mainly the product of Linus, but most of the tools, and the very license under which Linux was placed is the result of Stallman's GNU. But, these two men don't seem to get along quite as well as the software they wrote. Linux is a coder, but RMS is a zealot.

Stallman's fire, passion, and concern for politics are essential for Linux users. Many people criticize Richard for being overly paranoid, but that paranoia is necessary, especially in the upcoming months and years. As Linux gains mainstream support, there will undoubtedly be blatant violations of the GPL. Slashdot has recently posted at least one story of a new distro that violates the GPL. It's a huge asset to have RMS and similar enthusiasts to vigorously defend the freedom that our "rebel" OS has come to represent.

As a result, I love having RMS go everywhere he can, reminding people of the free nature of Linux. Excuse me, GNU/Linux.

Remind people that Linus didn't write the whole kernel, and owns a very small percentage of the code in any Linux distro. Torvalds will be the first to admit that. And Stallman reminds us that Linux is more about hackers and free code than about the OS itself. It's about making decisions for ourselves, not having to accept a crappy OS.

But as much credit as RMS deserves, he shouldn't necessarily be the spokesman for Linux. While

Stallman looks like a fanatic, Linus is like the penguins; cute, maybe a little plump, but over all, someone who's very likeable. Plus he has a "normal" job, and is making money from Linux (not directly, but through his Transmeta job, speaking, etc.)

As a result, though Stallman deserves tons of credit, he shouldn't necessarily be on the cover of the magazines. He's done a great job, as has Linus, but as Linux gets marketed to a more mainstream audience, we need to look at our figurehead. Stallman ranting to Wired is great, it gets everyone to stop, think, and be more aware of the politics. But let's think twice before flaming CNN/Fortune if their latest Newstand didn't mention RMS. We all know of his contribution, and all geeks appreciate it. We need him to help lead the movement, but not necessarily to be our public leader. Let CNN snub him, and let the other mags ignore him. He has a great product to be proud of. But as great as he is, he's often inflammatory, nearly always an extremist, and not necessarily who the business community wants to put it's trust in.

Comments

Don't reject RMS for being hard to swallow

[anneke]

I completely disagree that we should passively stand by and let RMS be ignored by CNN (et. al.), purely because some consider him too much of a 'zealot' to be the leader of a movement-- here, free software.
When debating these issues, try to keep a few things in mind.
First, yes, Linus is responsible for the kernel, and I definitely agree that he makes a great figurehead, /and/ he does a lot of work with (GNU)Linux-- but remember that RMS is responsible for -- i believe the number quoted was 30% ?--of the base code, while the kernel is maybe 3%?

Second, remember the difference between the /Free/ Software movement, and the concept of OSS. RMS is responsible for the GPL, but (on the part most of us tend to forget) he advocates FREE over SUPERIOR-- in fact, Linux being a better OS is almost irrelevant. RMS is advocating the concept of free over /any/ proprietary software.

I have no problem with Linus being Finnish-- i hadn't even considered the idea that people might reject him as a leader of the movement simply because he's a foreigner: why is it that the US is automatically assumed to be the rightful 'owner' of the OS anyway? But face it, people: Linux is all /about/ the collaboration of many people to work on a (superior) product. That's part of the beauty of OSS. And the idea of collaboration can go hand-in-hand with our having /multiple/ leaders, possibly with somewhat different agendas, in both RMS and Linus.

RMS has a lot of perfectly vaid points. Just because he rubs a lot of us the wrong way, we tend to reject him. But although we may come out of reading an interview with RMS somewhat annoyed at his attitude, we (techies and the public/the masses alike) will probably come out of it knowing a bit more about his influence in the movement, not to mention leaving with a better understandment of the movement (OSS, free software, Linux, etc) itself.

--Anneke

Stallman's a commie who scares Wall St. & Main St.

[linuchristo]

Stallman never took classes at MIT: he has a bachelors in physics from Harvard.
the environment on the 9th floor of 545 Tech Square was such that you did not even have to be an MIT student to hang out there.