

Richard Stallman on Education and the Free Software Movement - sandal
http://educationreimagined.com/post/1415199535/richard-stallman-on-education-and-the-free-software

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mbyrne
Could someone explain to me why he numbers his list of four points starting
from 0?

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sandal
Wikipedia says this is because of zero-based numbering on computers:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software#Definition>

But I vaguely remember something about there originally being three on the
list and Freedom 0 being added later. Since I can't find a reference, I'll
chalk that up as a rumor.

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mbyrne
Thank you. I get the zero-based numbering concept and appreciate the wikipedia
link, I am coming at it from the angle of the first rule of communication is
to be understood and it seems that numbering a list from zero is an
affectation that probably ultimately only distracts from the message. I mean,
why not number the list in binary if one is so intrinsically leet?

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sandal
Hah, well... Stallman often heads in the other direction from what you've
described. It has worked for him, in some sense, but it can come across as
abrasive.

It also might be a historical accident. The freedoms are something he cooked
up a long time ago before there was such a thing as non-technical computer
users. Might have been more appropriate then than now.

