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I stopped because the OLPC project decided to make their machine support Windows, so I did not want to appear to endorse it. The OLPC uses a nonfree firmware blob for the WiFi, so I could not use the internal WiFi device.
OK, this guy, I don't care who he is or what he's done, is a certifiable lunatic.
I know people like this. They try to get everything for free, thinking they are socially conscious, not realizing that the entire freaking infrastructure, their very ability to even exist on the planet, is the result of the hard work of others. Just because you think you use something "for free" doesn't mean that there hasn't been a cost associated with it.
People like this are so freaking naive.
Marc
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He always makes me think of the Jack D. Ripper character from Dr. Strangelove for some reason. Everything is about purity with him.
TTFN - Kent
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Kent Sharkey wrote: He always makes me think of the Jack D. Ripper character from Dr. Strangelove for some reason.
Jack D. Ripper quote from the movie:
Your Commie has no regard for human life, not even his own. And for this reason, men, I want to impress upon you the need for extreme watchfulness.
Wow, does that sounds familiar!
Marc
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If you're not at the top of the pyramid, you do not want to look up.
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He has the right to live that way. And also to tell others they should follow suit (no one has to, though).
His talking about "free" is not about refusing to pay altogether. It's mostly about anonymity. And money leaves a trail that can be followed. So free services reduce the risk to breaking anonymity. And if there's no free alternative, then it's okay to not take part, or to create your own.
And he is one of the others that have done some of the hard work.
Just in case I haven't been clear: I like that guy.
Ciao,
luker
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I don't think he is so much concerned with "free" as he is concerned with "freedom". There's a major difference between the two.
There's no doubt he's a smart guy, and he is the founder of the GNU project. He has stated before that his issue with proprietary software is not related to its costs but to fact that it can't be modified by the end user, and therefore limits their freedoms with it.
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
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Dominic Burford wrote: no doubt he's a smart guy
It's true, but with a kind of too-focused smartness that can lead you to the closed ward...
Dominic Burford wrote: that it can't be modified by the end user
And he totally ignorant to the fact that 99.9% percent of the end users can't even imagine where to start such modification...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Quote: And he totally ignorant to the fact that 99.9% percent of the end users can't even imagine where to start such modification
As we all know, customers ALWAYS have additional requirements for their software, after all it's what keeps us both in paid work. It doesn't have to be the customer themselves who is making the modifications, but another developer working on their behalf.
You need to fully understand where he is coming from to fully appreciate what he is saying. His main point of contention is that software should be open to extension by anyone. Either directly, or indirectly (such as paying someone else to make modifications on our behalf).
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter
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As for pure software it is a reality - you only have to choose and there is a software option for free...
When software directly bounded to hardware (like device drivers) it is not about software, but about public, and full, hardware specifications...
As not Stallman I do see why hardware companies not want to release all that knowledge - after all it is about money...So I do not agree with Stallman, that if there is no free software you certainly have some evil behind it!
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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To be fair, a large part of that infrastructure is now built using tools originally created by Stallman.
(GCC in particular springs to mind, plus a hell of the lot of the miscellaneous free UNIX tools are created by him or the GNU team).
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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What a wacko.
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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Because why would you do things the easy way?
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It is not new to me that Stallman has a twisted mind...but why tell the others about it?
Personally I have no problem that my name connected to online purchases or someone can check what sites I visited in the past week - it hurts in no-way my privacy...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: Personally I have no problem that my name connected to online purchases or
someone can check what sites I visited in the past week - it hurts in no-way my
privacy
Not only is it an invasion of privacy, it hurts your safety.
Imagine what could happen if a homophobic government came to power. Or when a certain class of religious people is deemed "terrorists". Don't say that it can't happen again - it is already happening.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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To be honest not my safety and not my privacy is an issue - since we live in a democracy our life given to other to rule from birth to death...You can accept it and live a happy and long life or fight it and die in bitterness...
If a government goes too far in sniffing into my personal life (and I mean my offline life, as since I'm online I have no real personality) I will do what I think the best to do...But it has nothing to do with the sites I'm browsing and items I'm buying...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: since we live in a democracy
The opinion on that varies, and yes, the kind of government I'm warning about is typically 'elected'.
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: But it has nothing to do with the sites I'm browsing and items I'm buying...
Perhaps not according to you, but it is valuable enough for companies to pay big bucks for it. For a government, that kind of information is even more valuable 
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Microsoft has already released Office for Android tablets and today they are taking it one step further with Office apps for the phone as well. Because there is no alternative?
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Microsoft appears to be building an app for fast, light-weight, real-time conversations called Flow, which is likely to debut on iPhone, according to leaked information. "Outlook Hazy"
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It will induce mood swings on a regular cycle.
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Are you saying it's the Auntie Outlook?
TTFN - Kent
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I told my wife what I said; she said... can't repeat what she said.
But she understood it.
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Kent Sharkey wrote: which is likely to debut on iPhone
Now there's irony.
Marc
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Backdoors "could be exploited by even the most repressive or dangerous regimes." "I want to be your back-door man."
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How is it that some of the worlds "mightiest men" don't understand that backdoors can be exploited by anyone and are just a really bad idea...
I guess might does not equal smart.
And that worries me a lot more than encryption and backdoors!
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Whenever any powers are asked for by governments, the people need to think "What would Nixon have done with this..."
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