Anonymous asked: I used to think RMS was too extreme, but then I spent some time reading what he had written and viewing some videos or talks he had given. He really makes some very good points, and his whole philosophy is pretty solid. Right now I can't make the same commitment to Free software that he has, but I have to respect him for taking a stand. - stuart
Hey Stuart, I have to agree with you. Interesting that you should mention this now, because I was just pondering what the world of free software would be like without Richard Stallman’s contributions - and it looks grim. The philosophy of GNU and the Free Software Foundation is extremely solid; they take a very concrete stance on a number of matters, and this is definitely a strong point. What I admire about GNU is their commitment to software freedom, especially enforced through the GPL.
I really don’t think we would have the software freedom that we have today without GNU. Even the BSDs wouldn’t cut it, being licensed under an almost clause-less license, and we saw Apple taking advantage of FreeBSD for Mac OS X development. Imagine if the Linux kernel were under such a free license…
I agree with you in respecting Richard Stallman; he really has done a lot for the free software community since he created GNU many decades ago. Thanks for your comment.
P.S. It was late at night when I wrote this up, I apologise if it isn’t as coherent as I (and you) would like.
- Jack
