I’ve seen a lot of FOSS purists before, but this guy has gotta be the Linux equivalent of one of those dudes who lives in the forest with a tin hat so the guberment can’t read his thoughts.
It’s almost exactly like that only if the tin hat guy would turn out to be right every single goddamn time in hindsight. RMS is… a character at best, but he sure has some predictive powers.
Obviously not every single time. If the major players in the Linux ecosystem had adhered to his extremist views, Linux would be in the same spot as GNU Hurd: forgotten, outclassed by less extremist competitors.
I’ve seen a lot of FOSS purists before, but this guy has gotta be the Linux equivalent of one of those dudes who lives in the forest with a tin hat so the guberment can’t read his thoughts.
It’s almost exactly like that only if the tin hat guy would turn out to be right every single goddamn time in hindsight. RMS is… a character at best, but he sure has some predictive powers.
Obviously not every single time. If the major players in the Linux ecosystem had adhered to his extremist views, Linux would be in the same spot as GNU Hurd: forgotten, outclassed by less extremist competitors.
He literally invented the concept of Free Software. So yeah, of course he’s extreme about it!
The difference would be that RMS is extremely well-versed in computer technology. He understands the problems with non-free software.
Someone with his knowledge could choose to disregard those issues for convenience, but Stallman is willing to make great sacrifices.