The Sorcerer's Code: Richard Stallman’s quest to save us from a web of spyware

https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201611/the-sorcerers-code?collection=1095151

by bilifuduo • 10 years ago

1 1 10 years ago

psychologytoday.com

chinese_dan• 10 years ago

" In the process, he and others created a free operating system, GNU"

He never created Linux or the 'GNU' operating system. Linux uses the GPL/GNU license.

He created https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html

"That’s a nonfree operating system. It tramples your freedom just by being there.” Stallman explains that the operating system he helped birth can be swapped in. “I hope you will escape from Apple’s power.”

I suppose it really depends on your perspective. I just bought a brand-new TV. I don't really need to have the schematics to enjoy it.

The other side is that Stallman has tried to make open source software a law. This would mean that a software developer would be forced, by law, to release their source code.

This is considered freedom?

His ideals would make us all slaves to the big corporations, because they can make money on support, while this doesn't really scale well for a small company or single person.

I love open source, but it has slowly reduced the need to hire expensive developers and many companies can now hire students to hack on open source for much less. Why bother paying a software engineer when the engineers give out their work for free? You can just as easily pay a software mechanic and still get the job done.

Stallman doesn't see or care about this because he is insulated from it. He has a cushy job doing speaking engagements and research for various education institutions. He can pick his nose and eat his hair and still make $250,000+/year.

Money is the only true way to have true freedom, because it allows you to make your own decisions and it reduces the control others have over you. This is the case now and probably will be as long as humans are alive.

We should be empowering developers to make more money and have more control rather than less. This way, they can still make a good living with software and if they choose, release open source software.

The entire idea of the GPL also doesn't really make sense. If a company decides to use your software and not release changes, the original software is still out there for everyone to use and the original owner still has claim to it. The only thing you won't get is the changes, which aren't really yours in the first place.

The Sorcerer's Code: Richard Stallman’s quest to save us from a web of spyware

Related Stories