
Richard Stallman: How I do my computing - wooby
https://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html
======
everdrive
There's something very enticing about someone who's principled and has managed
to stick to their principles. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it in
Stallman's case. I wish the world had stuck to his principles, but it clearly
hasn't and it's unlikely it will ever inch closer. That's not to claim that he
should reverse course or abandon his position.

It does transform his stance from a political one to a personal one: he's
choosing what he'll allow in his life or not, consequences be damned. I've
tried this in my own life with varying degrees of intensity and success, and
I'm not sure if I'm jealous of Stallman or not. Is he lonely? Has he missed
out on people or experiences? (almost certainly) Do his stances give him the
fulfillment he believes they do?

~~~
earenndil
> I wish the world had stuck to his principles, but it clearly hasn't and it's
> unlikely it will ever inch closer

This puts perfectly my thoughts on stallman. I think the world would certainly
be a better place if everyone adhered to his principles. However, I think his
way is neither the best way nor the improvement which can most successfully be
brought into action.

~~~
marssaxman
I don't think it is necessary that everyone does things Stallman's way; the
fact that rms knows what his principles are, articulates them clearly, and
lives according to them consistently provides an informative example from
which the rest of us can borrow whichever elements we find useful. We don't
all need to live like Stallman does for his ideas to have value, because he's
already doing that for us. He is essentially a modern secular prophet.

~~~
earenndil
But -- I can form my own ideas. I don't think that his ideas are anywhere
close to perfect. He seems relatively fixed in his ways, so I don't see him
contributing to dialogue or discussion of how ideas can be changed or
improved.

------
zzo38computer
I do agree some of these stuff. I find C++ ugly too. I pay for everything in
cash. For email service, I just run my own; it does not use any webpages at
all.

They also mention nonfree JavaScript codes in webpages. Even if it is free, it
does not necessarily mean that it is the program that you want to run, and
even if it is, you might want to modify the program and then to run the
modified version; most web browser software does not seem to consider such
thing.

------
sg0
"I did write some code in Java once, but the code was in C and Lisp (I simply
happened to be in Java at the time ;-)" \- heh

------
Veen
> I reject Facebook because it requires each used (i.e., person used by
> Facebook) to have just one account,

I'm never sure whether I admire him or think he's a holy fool, but I do like
the way he reframes "users" as "used" here.

------
tessi3r
I honestly believe that in this day and age Richard Stallman's way of viewing
computing is haplessly out of touch and no longer relevant.

I say this as someone who saw him talk to my cambridge / boston area
university's ACM group, afterwords he bummed a ride from my friend back to
MIT. He dismissed most questions from students and while we were riding back
in my friend's car (with Richard Stallman in the front seat) he basically
didn't answer any questions and just argued semantics.

I love Richard Stallman and what he stands for, but I think we need to re-
evaluate how we digest and understand his opinions on computing in current
times.

~~~
akhilcacharya
> cambridge / boston area university

Is this a long winded way of saying “Harvard”?

~~~
tessi3r
Slow clap...

~~~
metildaa
Apparently the Harvard Scandals and high incidents of rape on campus are
finally catching up with Harvard, nevermind the awful things its alumni have
done: [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/fashion/harvard-
scandal-a...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/fashion/harvard-scandal-
alumni-embarrassment-shame.html)

~~~
tessi3r
Why is this relevant in any context to this thread? Congratulations - you are
now on a high horse made of marble.

~~~
metildaa
OP inferred they went to Harvard.

------
habitue
> I skimmed documentation of Python after people told me it was fundamentally
> similar to Lisp. My conclusion is that that is not so. `read', `eval', and
> `print' are all missing in Python.

I believe he may be mistaken about this :D

Then again, he's a stickler for definitions. He may have some very specific
idea in mind about these functions that the `input`, `eval` and `print`
functions somehow don't satisfy

------
jstewartmobile
Most people think he is a kook.

I wonder what they will think once we're all on the Chinese-style "social
credit" system--if we're even allowed to have our own thoughts by then?

 _Oh, I 'm sorry Mr. Six-Pack, but your insulin refill has been declined._

Why?!

 _Our records indicate that you ordered chicken for lunch yesterday, and chose
fried instead of baked. I 'm so sorry. Have a nice day!_

------
catacombs
Stallman's computing page has been up for years. How is it now appearing on
HN?

~~~
prawn
1\. HN accepts new submissions of previously submitted links after a
particular period.

2\. Someone who was seeing it for the first time thought it would be of
interest to HN users.

