
Richard Stallman Collapses At Barcelona Conference - nutmeg
http://www.publico.es/ciencias/432664/richard-stallman-rajoy-nos-quiere-matar-a-todos
======
me_myselft
Hi, I am from Barcelona, and I was there. Stallman is a great man. I dont know
what happened at the end, but when we were in the talk the organizers told us
that the talk is suspended because Stallman was not well. The medical service
arrive 20 minutes after Stallman ask for attention. This delay was used by him
to say: "Son los recortes, Rajoy nos quiere matar a todos", meaning: The delay
is because of the cuts in the spanish health systems, Rajoy (the president)
want to kill us". :-).

~~~
planetguy
Wow, if only he were in the United States where you don't have to rely on the
Government for medical care...

~~~
me_myselft
Yes, but in US you have to have a lot of money for receiving a very basic and
fundamental human right: medical care...

~~~
jdminhbg
I wasn't going to respond to this to avoid prolonging this burgeoning off-
topic health care flamewar, but I figured that in the name of cross-cultural
understanding, I'd correct you:

Hospitals in the US are obligated to treat any emergency patient regardless of
whether they can pay.

~~~
brudgers
They then charge those people least able to pay a higher rate, add interest,
and turn it over to a collection agency.

[http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/15/new_york_hospitals_sad...](http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/15/new_york_hospitals_saddle_uninsured_patients)

[http://www.democracynow.org/2004/1/7/state_secret_why_are_un...](http://www.democracynow.org/2004/1/7/state_secret_why_are_uninsured_patients)

[somehow Democracy Now seems appropriate for a Stallman discussion]

~~~
ismarc
This isn't entirely true and varies from state to state and hospital to
hospital. We had a trip to the hospital last year (non-ambulance, but was an
actual emergency). Prior to checking out, we refused to sign anything from the
hospital itself until checkout time. (quick sidebar, I've never seen anything
as sleazy as an administrator trying to get someone who's heavily sedated and
mediated but hasn't been fully diagnosed yet (triage and stabilization only)
to sign paperwork related to billing and insurance, and then to authorize a
room change to long term and the to an overnight room...all before they even
knew what was going on). At checkout time, they had no insurance info...if we
had no insurance, they would consolidate the fees from all groups (contracted
doctors, anasthesiologists, equipment use, medications, etc.) and waive 2/3 of
it and set up a payment plan (non-loan style, so no interest, or fees). This
total was lower than if we used insurance and paid what was remaining on the
deductible for the year and happened late enough that we wouldn't have
benefited from using the insurance. I have no idea if it was attitude,
handling it like business, persistence or just how they do business, but it
greatly impressed me.

------
patrickaljord
He's ok [http://www.fsf.org/news/richard-stallman-speech-in-
barcelona...](http://www.fsf.org/news/richard-stallman-speech-in-barcelona-
canceled)

~~~
tomrod
Thanks for letting us know. I really like rms, even if I don't agree with his
every position. Here's to hoping he gets into good health soon.

~~~
hkmurakami
RMS is controversial, extreme, and perhaps even crazy.

But it's scary to imagine a world without the counterpoint that RMS singularly
embodies.

In a way, he evokes images of the Dalai Lama: In (metaphorical) exile,
regarded as a heretic from many, and revered as a guiding beacon by others.

~~~
Produce
One step ahead of the curve and you're a genius. Two steps and you're crazy.
Three and you're dangerous. RMS#2

~~~
mibbitier
Actually, I believe he's _behind_ the curve.

There was a time when some of the things he talks about mattered (1980s), and
that time has long gone.

The general public don't buy "computers" to tinker with any more. They buy
them just like they buy a toaster. As an appliance to use. The software or
hardware it runs is irrelevant. All that matters is the user experience, and
if it fulfils the purpose - does it make good toast.

~~~
jerf
I find it ironic how vocal the anti-RMS contingent is being in the same week
that Microsoft is locking Firefox out of one of their Windows 8 lines, while
we live in a world where Apple rigidly controls what you do with everything
not-Mac and continue making strides towards locking down the Macs as well,
where consumer electronics like eBook readers are rapidly displacing
computers, and where Google's dedication to openness seems to come and go and
is held hostage by hostile phone carriers and indifferent-at-best hardware
manufacturers. Let us not forget Microsoft's ongoing efforts to ensure BIOSes
can only boot approved (read: Microsoft) OSes. I can barely even remember all
the ways in which almost every tech company under the sun right now is trying
to lock us in a box.

The Open Web Honeymoon is rapidly coming to an end and our ability to ignore
his ideas is also rapidly coming to end. His ideas are regaining their
importance fast, because the victories circa 2000 that allowed us to pretend
he was crazy because our world was comfortable are being walked back. The
classic Right to Read [1] is no longer a far-out vision but very nearly a
matter of some switches being flipped in existing software and hardware. I see
a developing consensus group on HN that we can ignore RMS as a loon, but now's
a terrible time for that to take root. We're going to get stomped in the next
several years if that happens. The fight for the openness of the next hardware
generation has started and we're barely showing up.

[1]: <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html>

~~~
mibbitier
The sky is not falling. In fact, if you look at the situation now, with real
browser choice, IE declining market share, and with Android, then the
situation is better than it has ever been. Most games consoles have
opportunities to write software for them. Something you could only dream about
in the 90s.

The market decides these things extremely well. We don't need people shouting
and taking extremist positions.

The only thing that matters is "Does this device solve a problem I have, and
satisfy my needs?". If the answer to that is yes, then I don't care how
open/closed/walled garden it is.

~~~
jerf
Yes. We have real browser choice on our conventional computers and Android.
Less on iPhone, none on Windows 8 for ARM. Game consoles are walled gardens
and I'm not sure what you mean by "most" because I'm pretty sure it's only the
XBox 360 that is open to all, and that a hugely restricted sandbox as well.

So, your bright spots are a fading category under active attack (web browser
choice), a dubious walled garden (XBox 360) from the same company working to
kill our browser choice, and a phone platform which as I've said goes back and
forth between open and not depending on the who, what, and when, with
basically a single project standing between us and the whole platform being
effectively closed (CyanogenMod). (I'm assuming you're not claiming the PS3 as
open after the openness was retroactively removed by Sony. There is nothing
stopping Microsoft from doing that either.)

This isn't extremism to be ringing the bell, our insertion into the trunk is
nearly a _fait accompli_ , and again, we're barely showing up to the fight.

------
firichapo
I just wanted to add that at no point does the article mentions that he
collapsed. Looks like he suffered an increase in blood pressure and decided to
call it of. A doctor was contacted and he was able to walk away by his own
means.

~~~
squidbot
Google's translation made the article a bit more amusing: "The president of
the Free Software Foundation has begun to feel ill, apparently due to a power
surge"

He needs better line filtering I'd guess!

------
jonknee
Ironic that the only way I was able to read that article was through non-free
software (Google Translate). Hope he's OK.

~~~
hub_
Nope. You could learn Spanish and understand it. It is not like the content is
encoded in a proprietary or patent encumbered format.

------
me_myselft
Here, there is a picture when he was in the ambulance:
<https://p.twimg.com/AsjR-wCCEAEVxLa.jpg>

~~~
Cribstopper
Here's my original post of the picture from Twitter:
[https://twitter.com/#!/Cribstopper/status/200641059389313024...](https://twitter.com/#!/Cribstopper/status/200641059389313024/photo/1)

------
tree_of_item
Shit. I hope he's okay, it's difficult to tell what happened through the lens
of Google Translate. Anyone have more information?

~~~
andos
My Spanish is rusty, but the article says that:

\- Stallman felt ill halfway through a lecture he was offering in Barcelona,
probably due to a blood pressure spike;

\- he asked the staff for medical assistance;

\- meanwhile, he continued the lecture with some difficulty, but in a good
mood;

\- the lecture was suspended when the ambulance arrived, and was eventually
cancelled;

\- after being attended by the medical staff, he was well enough to walk out
of the building;

\- no further details on his health.

~~~
Nrsolis
Of course, the big question is whether the firmware in the EKG machine was
open or not.

~~~
carols10cents
I seriously wonder if medical care done by proprietary devices with
proprietary software is something that he would object to!

------
kprobst
One of these days it's going to be for real and I wonder how many of his fans
will be enraged when someone says something like "I'm not glad he's dead, but
I'm glad he's gone".

~~~
billpatrianakos
All of them. It's been my experience that Stallman fans refuse to deal with
even fair criticism of him. That aside, I hope no one says that about him or
anyone else ever. I have a lot of problems with Stallman and his ideology but
when he dies I hope we can all take the high road. We may _think_ it's the man
we don't like but it's really his actions and beliefs we have a problem with
and when a well respected public figure like him dies it's just common decency
not spit on his grave like that. When someone dies you should get past all the
negativity you hold for a person and remember their humanity. To some he may
have been an asshole in life but in death we're reminded that the deceased had
family they loved, hopes and dreams, and changed people's lives in a small way
just by having lived and interacted with others. I was one of the people who
was outraged by what he said when Steve Jobs died but I'll forgive it when
Stallmam goes because of what I just said earlier. Let's hope he's alright and
take the high road.

By the way, "he did not, for example, have a heart attack". Really? There are
no confirmed details but he definitely didn't have a heart attack? Well are
there confirmed details or not? If he didn't have a heart attack then there's
at least one confirmed detail, right? Why the need to clarify that one point?
I'm not saying its a lie but whenever someone tells me "I don't know what
happened but I know this one thing _didnt_ happen" they're either guessing or
hiding something.

~~~
lwhi
It amazes me that Stallman is viewed in this way. Steve Jobs was undeniably an
asshole to many .. and Steve Jobs' fans refuse to deal with even fair
criticism of _him_.

There's a strange warped perspective at play.

~~~
billpatrianakos
You're missing the point and rushing to defend someone I'm not trying to
insult. I never said or implied Jobs fans aren't the same. The point is that
when someone dies or has something bad happen to them saying something like
"I'm not glad he's dead but I'm glad he's gone" is like spitting on their
grave and in such times we should remember that they were human like you or me
and forget our petty grievances out of respect. When someone like Stallman
dies it reminds us of our own mortality as would anyone's death. I'd hope no
one was a dick about it "because Stallman said this and that about Jobs after
he died" or "because he promoted some awful ideology" or something like that.
I don't even like Stallman but when someone has a health crisis or dies you
don't celebrate it no matter who they are. It's just common decency. Don't
make this a Stallmam V. Whoever comparison.

~~~
lwhi
I find the way many people talk about Stallman to be patronising and bitter. I
believe this is partly just because he's fighting against the current, whereas
a person like Jobs oiled the wheels of capitalism. Stallman has a huge
positive effect on the world, it's a shame any recognition will need to be
balanced against so much negativity.

------
tranzparency
What's strange is Wikipedia shows him as deceased. First sentence says:
Richard Matthew Stallman (16 March 1953 – 10 May 2012), often shortened to
rms,[1] was an American software freedom activist and computer programmer.

------
raganwald
Social/Moral question: Is it acceptable to wish Mr. Stallman well in light of
allegations that he has advocated for truly awful practices?

e.g. _Dutch pedophiles have formed a political party to campaign for
legalization. I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms
children._

<http://stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html>

~~~
skrebbel
There, you're doing it.

It is all right for someone to be skeptical about any commonly held view,
_except_ when it's about sex with minors.

In any discussion about any kind of sex with anyone under 18 whatsoever, if
you're not 100% fully completely convincedly against it, then _you're a bad
person!!1_

Why can't we just discuss this? Like we can discuss anything else?
_Especially_ in the US, where the norm appears to be that the KKK people and
the Westboro Baptist nutcases are insane, but they should still be allowed to
say what they think? Why is that ok with nazis and homo haters, but not for
people who are merely _skeptical_ about the current social norm wrt sex with
minors?

It's this same attitude that allows governments to block half the internet,
it's to seek out the child pornographers! What, you're against my law? Hey
guys, this one here is in favour of child pornography!

Note: I completely share the common opinion that sex with minors is bad and
that there are only very few edge cases to be found where it isn't (e.g. a
sexually active couple, both 17 years old, one turns 18 and is now a
peadophile? surely not). I just think that, like everything else in the world,
if we're civilized, we'll allow the discussion.

~~~
raganwald
Well actually, I haven’t expressed an opinion about whether his words are
acceptable or whether he’s a bad person, whatever that means. I have heard
more than a few people taking me to task for wishing him good health on
account of his words, and one of the reasons I posted this was to hear from
people like you.

~~~
skrebbel
Genuinely curious, because I don't think I understood this: what do you mean
with "people like me"?

~~~
raganwald
HN readers, especially those who might contruute another perspective. e.g.

reg: Stallman is an important voice.

detractor: He’s also advocating pedo.

reg: He’s still an important voice.

HN reader: Actually, he isn’t advocating pedo. <\- new perspective

~~~
skrebbel
ah right! thanks for elaborating. in fact, i'm flattered! :-)

also, my compliments for not turning this into a flamewar. in retrospect, it
would seem that i was about to.

------
etfb
"Stallman, conocido por sus excentricidades..."

The wonderful thing about having a smattering of French and Latin is that I
can recognise "damned with faint praise" even in a language I don't know.

(Hint for the mono-lingual:
[http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|Stallman%2C%20conocido%...](http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|Stallman%2C%20conocido%20por%20sus%20excentricidades))

------
ginko
I'm really beginning to worry about rms's health. I recently saw a tv
interview of him on russia today where he seemed to have put on a lot of
weight.

I hope he doesn't overexert himself.

------
giis
Get well soon,RMS.

------
chj
i don't like all he's promoting, but hope he will get well soon. Bless!

------
benihana
This presents an interesting situation. Is Stallman okay with being hooked up
to medical computers even though they may not be running free software? What
about the privacy issues involved in being checked into a hospital?

~~~
redthrowaway
I'm not rms, and I don't speak for him, but his opposition to non-free
software is predicated upon the claim that it harms the user. As death is
arguably a greater harm than any non-free software could inflict, I suspect he
would say that it is not wrong to use non-free software to save a life if no
free alternative is readily available.

You can ask him yourself, if you want: rms@fsf.org

He replies to almost all emails within a couple of days.

EDIT: He actually answered a very similar question in his reddit AMA [1]:

22\. two_front_teeth: Suppose your doctor told you that you needed a medical
procedure to survive but that the procedure would require inserting a device
inside of your body which ran proprietary software. Would you be willing to
have the procedure done to save your life?

RMS: The only way I could justify this is if I began developing a free
replacement for that very program. It is ok to use a nonfree program for the
purpose of developing its free replacement.

[1] <http://blog.reddit.com/2010/07/rms-ama.html>

~~~
lumberjack
To continue with the above comment, I'd like to point out that RMS has valid
concerns regarding non-free software running inside your body.

You don't want to have a buggy pacemaker with unencrypted unprotected wireless
access.

[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/27/buggy_pacemaker_code...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/27/buggy_pacemaker_code/)

[https://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2010/transparent-m...](https://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2010/transparent-
medical-devices.html)

Moreover I don't feel comfortable using a technology that is owned, developed
and maintained exclusively by one company.

~~~
rimantas
As if free software cannot be buggy and with lousy security. I am so tired of
this "open and free makes everything perfect by magic" thinking.

~~~
VeejayRampay
It's not about it being more secure. It's that at least when it's suffering
from malfunction, you got shitloads of eyeballs on the thing to make it work
and work well. Why do you think all the OpenBSD tools are so ubiquitous?

~~~
w0utert
Keeping this in the context of devices like a pacemaker, do you really believe
that an open-source development model would be safer for the people who depend
on it than a closed-source model? Do you expect them to flash custom ROMs to
the pacemaker that keeps them alive if it turns out there may be a problem
with them, instead of going to the hospital to get the thing replaced?

~~~
jerf
One of the things I've learned in life is that We're All Just Folk. There's no
magical divinely-inspired programmer out there creating firmware for your
pacemaker. The difference between him and me is process, and little else. If
I'm given access to the same testing processes they use as part of the open
source package, I see no reason to believe my code is going to be worse than
anybody else's. Sure, I'd think twice before installing it, but in some sense
that's irrational; I should think twice before anything like that because
We're All Just Folk, and it's just some guys writing all the firmware we all
depend on.

In some ways, it's best not to think too hard about this.

------
jsavimbi
> Richard Stallman: "Rajoy nos quiere matar a todos"

RMS: "Rajoy (Spain's president) wants to kill us all."

Well there you go, Richard.

~~~
adrianb
President? I think you mean prime minister.

~~~
jsavimbi
No, I did not mean prime minister.

In Spain, the head of state is the monarch and the head of the elected
government is known as the "Presidente del Gobierno", or president of the
government. Although a counterpart can be found in other parliamentarian
systems such as the prime minister in the UK, the Spanish president of
government is not primus inter pares but the undisputed head of the
government.

------
recoiledsnake
Wikipedia had him as expired briefly, had to do a double take.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Stallman&#...</a>

------
robwgibbons
"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

------
ch0wda
TIL: Richard Stallman has a heart.

------
ceejayoz
Maybe Microsoft tried the "Surprise! You were actually using Vista!" trick on
him.

------
mandreko
Did he choke on the toenail this time?

------
tobiasbischoff
i will not make a parrot joke here. i will not make a parrot joke here. i will
not make a parrot joke here. ..

