RE: [OFFTOPIC] RMS and reactions to him

Dow, Benjamin
2003-01-14T20:50:59Z

> For nearly 10 years I've read many posts by RMS and the replies that
> follow. RMS's posts seem calm, rational and clearly presented. For the
> most part, the replies are emotional, high strung, and mean spirited
> personal attacks.
>
> Note that I'm not a card carrying member of the RMS fan club, nor do I
> agree with everything he says. I'm just an observer noting the striking
> difference in the tone between RMS's posts and the responses.

Honestly, most people who disagree with him and want to be reasonable will
probably just not reply. Personally, I get tired of the political
discussions on LKML very quickly; they tend to go over the same old ground,
and in the end, nobody has given in. Sure, the political issues affect us,
but they get blown way out of proportion. This list is for technical
discussions, as many people have pointed out before, and I'd like to see it
stay that way.

That being said, I don't really see him as all that rational and clear.
Maybe it's just me, but the words "rhetoric" and "dogma" spring to mind.
I'm not trying to attack him personally; I think that he's contributed a lot
to the community. But his words are not gospel, and having no choice but to
conform to one man's idea of "free" doesn't sound very free to me, so I hope
he doesn't entirely succeed in his crusade either.

Now why don't we get back to coding?

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