Matz wins the 2011 Free Software Award

https://www.fsf.org/news/2011-free-software-awards-announced

by ab9 • 14 years ago

207 33 14 years ago

fsf.org

why-el• 14 years ago

is the website down?

websymphony• 14 years ago

Site went down. Here is the cached link:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.fsf...

kinleyd• 14 years ago

Congratulations Matz. You deserve every accolade and recognition for your great contributions to our tech world.

demetris2• 14 years ago

Interesting that the name of Linus Torvalds is not in the list of previous winners.

shepbook2• 14 years ago

I think there's a simple reason... Have you seen how upset RMS gets when you call a distribution a "Linux Distribution" instead of a "GNU/Linux Distribution"? :P

* Sent from my laptop, running a Linux Distribution

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technomancy• 14 years ago

Somewhat related: when the Linus Torvalds award was given to the FSF, Stallman responded with something along the lines of "Giving the Linus Torvalds award to the FSF is like giving the Han Solo award to the Rebel Alliance".

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georgemcbay• 14 years ago

But who wouldn't be happy to get a Han Solo award?

I think Han Solo is a pretty cool guy. Eh shoots Greedos and doesnt afraid of anything

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cube13• 14 years ago

Not really. Linus isn't a Free Software zealot in the way that the FSF is. He's too pragmatic for that.

EDIT: Downvotes? Really? Linus isn't a Free Software advocate in the way that the FSF wants their people to be. He's a serious open source and GPLv2 advocate, but that's where it stops. He is not the kind of person that the FSF would give this award to.

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twelvechairs• 14 years ago

(in case you don't know) I think the downvotes will be for the implication of the FSF being unpragmatic zealots. Obviously many don't share this view.

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erikpukinskis2• 14 years ago

Matz isn't a zealot either, so your argument is obviously flawed.

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kderbe• 14 years ago

According to the announcement of the 1998 Free Software Award:

    People such as Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds, 
    who have already received other awards for their 
    contributions, were not eligible for the Free 
    Software Award.

Source: http://www.gnu.org/award/award-1998.html

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demetris2• 14 years ago

Aha! Thank you.

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maximumsteve• 14 years ago

Mr. Stallman is looking charming as usual.

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Alterlife• 14 years ago

You've been downvoted to hell... but why?

Is there a taboo on commenting on his looks? This is the worst pic I've ever seen of him.

I get that this is a part of the unique 'character' which produced the free software movement, but after a point it hurts his message. I wish he'd groom himself a little - at least when he's on stage.

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DanBC• 14 years ago

Discussions about Stallman rarely say anything new. A single line about RMS's appearance is adding nothing to the conversation, and risks a de-rail. (Already you responded, as have I. IHBT.)

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whyenot• 14 years ago

I can only speak for myself, but the reason he is being downvoted is because circle-jerky comments about RMS's appearance add absolutely nothing interesting or insightful to the discussion. The internet already has one reddit. I don't think we need to turn HN into another one.

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sebphfx• 14 years ago

Wrong caption.This is not Richard Stallman! It's Matz's gardener. He follows him around sometimes, help him carry stuff when he goes to the grocery store.

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shepbook2• 14 years ago

What is the actual physical award? Is it some kind of flag or quilt? Hard to make it out in the picture.

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tjr• 14 years ago

Yes, it has historically been some sort of quilt. See also:

http://www.gnu.org/award/prior-years.html

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getsat2• 14 years ago

I wonder what RMS thinks of the fact that Ruby recently switched from a GPL-like license (Ruby License) to BSD.

At any rate, congrats to Matz!

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jballanc2• 14 years ago

From the FSF's own list of GPL-compatible licenses:

> License of Ruby (#Ruby)

> This is a free software license, compatible with the GPL via an explicit dual-licensing clause.

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getsat2• 14 years ago

... yes? That was my point. They switched from a GPL-like license to a BSD one.

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sunkencity• 14 years ago

The picture of Matz, Stallman and the Quilt is priceless.

I like that this award goes to Matz, good choice!

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reddit_clone• 14 years ago

Will make a nice panel for Heroes.

RMS is pumping up to belch blue lighting-balls and Matz is puckering up to teleport the hell outta there.

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javajosh• 14 years ago

The prize doesn't come with any money, but the winner gets free software for life! ;)

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BobertK• 14 years ago

I'm only about a month in with Ruby\Rails, but I like it a lot and really like the community I am finding. Nice.

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JohnnyFlash• 14 years ago

So the FSF award is a tea towel? Grreeaattt...

It is nice that Matz was acknowledged for his work but I feel that the FSF is increasingly out of touch. Instead of campaigning against closed source applications I think they would be far more effective providing support and direction to open source projects.

The difference between open source and closed source commercial software is often polish and general direction. Helping take open source projects to the next level and showcasing them would be far more effective than bemoaning Windows and DRM.

Take MS Office. Libre Office can do pretty much everything everything MS Office can do and it doesn't cost anything to install. The FSF should be asking questions about why Libre Office hasn't made a bigger dent in the Office suite market and then help solve any issues which are slowing uptake.

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Matz wins the 2011 Free Software Award

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