[ale] Richard Stallman at the University of Georgia

[Charles Shapiro]

I sure did see the painting behind him! But forgot to mention it.   Enjoyed
reading your comments.  I dunno about the 'crank' thing though.  Heck,
we're all cranks here.  Most of my immediate family have smartphones and
computers which they don't really understand and on which they run
all-stock software.  When I point out to them (in the gentlest possible
way) that this is Bad, they don't seem to know what I am talking about.

-- CHS


On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 9:52 AM, David Millians <millia at panix.com> wrote:

> On 10/15/2014 11:51 AM, Charles Shapiro wrote:
>
>> Richard Stallman at the University of Georgia Chapel in Athens last
>> night was awesome.  <snip>
>>
>
> Yes, it was.
>
>  Stallman, feisty as ever, talked for almost an hour and a half about how
>> proprietary software enables mass surveillance on a scale never dreamed
>> of by the great tyrants of the past.  It was thought-provoking, not to
>> mention refreshing to see someone who honestly tries to live by the
>> principles he professes. <snip>
>>
>
> One thing was abundantly clear: I can't imagine how much more widespread
> adoption would be if he didn't come off a crank. I mean this in the best
> possible way- it's not a 'bless his heart.' He is not the most gifted of
> speakers, and he's got the hard core geek quirks things going on. But I do
> bless him for pushing, pushing, pushing. We are in a better place because
> of him, but if he had an Aaron to his Moses, well.
>
>  The Q/A period had some fireworks between students and Stallman, as well
>> as some other general rowdiness and applause and some genuinely
>> interesting responses.  "The long term choice is not between proprietary
>> software and no software. The long term choice is between proprietary
>> software and free software."
>> The whole thing didn't break up 'til almost 23:00. I got a wonderful mug
>> decorated with common Emacs commands, signed by the Great Man himself.
>>
>
> Had to leave about 10 since it was server maint time! Drat. Sadly missed
> the fireworks. I was almost tempted to tell him I'd be happy to write
> documentation if they'd just put all the info back in man pages instead of
> that abomination they prefer. Given how he said he wants doc writers so
> bad, I may do some anyway. Lord knows I am of the firm opinion that
> millions of hours would be saved with more examples at the bottom of man
> pages.
>
>  All in all, a most worthwhile trip, even though I got to bed around
>> 00:30 this morning.
>>
>
> Now you feel like all those from Athens feel when we have to go to
> Atlanta. w00t! ;)
>
> Didja notice the largest painting in the western hemisphere, at one point,
> behind him?
> David
>
>
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