Re: GPLv3 Position Statement

Linus Torvalds
2006-09-28T18:34:32Z

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006, Chase Venters wrote:
>
> After lots of careful consideration, I think it is fair to say that Stallman
> vigorously and extremely promotes and stands by his ideals, but the ideals he
> stands for aren't all that radical or extreme. That is the difference, isn't
> it?

I would disagree.

What you talk about is "idealism". You can be idealistic about anything. I
agree that rms is also idealistic, but that's not what makes him
extremist. There are a lot of idealistic people who aren't extreme.

Extremism has nothing to do with _what_ the ideal is, but with how you
state them. That's not just my interpretation, I can back it up with
actual meaning of the word.

S: (n) extremism (any political theory favoring immoderate
uncompromising policies)

That's from wordnet.princeton.edu.

Note the "ANY" in "any political theory".

And that "immoderate" and "uncompromizing" is rms to a T.

So please, if you want to argue semantics, at least look up the word
first. When I said extremist, I didn't use that word in the wrong way.

For example, the difference between a "deeply religious person" and an
"extremist religious person" is not in their depth or trueness of their
beliefs. It's in whether they want to allow other people to believe
otherwise and can compromize when dealing with those other people.

Linus