The Free Software Foundation Wants You To Celebrate Its 35th Anniversary (fsf.org) 73
"Today, on October 4th, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) celebrates its thirty-fifth year of fighting for software freedom," announces a blog post at FSF.org:
Our work will not be finished until every computer user is able to do all of their digital tasks in complete freedom — whether that's on a desktop, laptop, or the computer in your pocket. The fight for free software continues, and we wouldn't be here without you.
To celebrate, we have a full week of announcements and surprises planned starting today, and we will end in an online anniversary event featuring both live and prerecorded segments this Friday, October 9th, from 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC) until 17:00 EDT (21:00 UTC). We'd love for you to join in celebration of this amazing community by submitting a short (two-minute) video sharing your favorite memory about free software or the FSF, and a wish for the future of software freedom. We'll be collecting the videos all week and airing a selection during the birthday event on October 9th...
If you are able to, please make a donation of $35 or more to help keep the fight for user freedom going another 35 years, we'll send you a commemorative pin... We're another year older, but that doesn't mean we're slowing down our efforts to bring software freedom to users around the globe. Stay tuned for more information on how we plan to ring in the FSF's next year, and the vital role each one of us plays in ensuring free software's success for the future. We hope that you'll be able to take part in our festivities this week!
The announcement suggests 10 different ways to celebrate, which include:
To celebrate, we have a full week of announcements and surprises planned starting today, and we will end in an online anniversary event featuring both live and prerecorded segments this Friday, October 9th, from 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC) until 17:00 EDT (21:00 UTC). We'd love for you to join in celebration of this amazing community by submitting a short (two-minute) video sharing your favorite memory about free software or the FSF, and a wish for the future of software freedom. We'll be collecting the videos all week and airing a selection during the birthday event on October 9th...
If you are able to, please make a donation of $35 or more to help keep the fight for user freedom going another 35 years, we'll send you a commemorative pin... We're another year older, but that doesn't mean we're slowing down our efforts to bring software freedom to users around the globe. Stay tuned for more information on how we plan to ring in the FSF's next year, and the vital role each one of us plays in ensuring free software's success for the future. We hope that you'll be able to take part in our festivities this week!
The announcement suggests 10 different ways to celebrate, which include:
- Try a fully free distribution of GNU/Linux, which can be run "live" without making any permanent changes to your computer's hard drive.
- Take an hour to follow our Email Self-Defense Guide, and learn how to opt out of bulk surveillance .
- Download and experiment with one of the oldest parts of the GNU operating system, the GNU Emacs text editor. Try the tutorial by launching the editor and typing Ctrl-h + t (C-h t), or see if you can make it through some of the games included with Emacs, such as Alt-x (M-x) dunnet or M-x tetris.
- Make the commitment to replace one nonfree program that you use with one that respects your freedom, such as using LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office.
- Petition the administrators of your favorite Web site to free the proprietary JavaScript lurking on their page that many users run and download without ever realizing it.
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"Long gone"? They're asking you to play Tetris in Emacs, and encourage websites to turn their pages pre-Javascript? I think all that's left of the old FSF *is* the old FSF.
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They aren't asking websites to get rid of javascript, just to make sure the javascript is open source.
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It's not the same organization anymore, the old FSF is long gone. Now it's been taken over by SJWs and other pro-censorship leftist types. Same thing has happened to many other open source organizations as well.
I'm kind of guessing here, but weren't they always a pretty far left group?
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Re: No thanks (Score:1)
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Stallman has been writing about politics from the start. He started the GNU project for social justice reasons, calling early DRM a "crime against humanity". He compared the FSF to Mahatma Gandhi.
He even invented new pronouns that are gender neutral, such as "per" instead of him/her.
Re: No thanks (Score:1)
It only created "pets" because it believes that nobody should force it to use a persons chosen pronouns.
So from now on, I'm going to refer to Stallman as "it".
With its history of misogyny, that's all it deserves.
As for the FSF, their campaign to "free Windows 7 source" was a public admission that the latest free software can't compete with obsolete proprietary software.
The two App Stores produce $50 billion a year for developers of proprietary software. That's a LOT of people who find value there
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It only created "pets" because it believes that nobody should force it to use a persons chosen pronouns.
So from now on, I'm going to refer to Stallman as "it".
With its history of misogyny, that's all it deserves.
So you're concerned that he's dehumanizing people, so you're going to dehumanize him. Way to make the world a better place! Guess what? You can't force people to use made-up words. Which is why nobody is saying "per" or "pers". Although IMO that's a better gender-neutral option than anyone else has put forth yet. It still has the "problem" that it sounds like "her" and "hers" and that will turn some people off, but those people are going to be annoyed at the idea of a gender-neutral pronoun no matter what.
Re: No thanks (Score:2)
Is social justice only a concern of the left?
Re: No thanks (Score:3)
Should be ready for the final funeral on their 50th anniversary.
Like RMS and ESR, the FSF is not relevant any more. Same with the tired old "Cathedral and the Bazaar " that failed to anticipate the Google Play and Apple App Store bazaars generating $50 billion a year for developers and their backers.
Re:Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS yet (Score:5, Insightful)
I stopped donating to the FSF when Richard Stallman was booted as a sexual predator but the FSF took no further action to ensure it couldn't happen again or that he'd also be removed from the GNU Project that he still leads [slashdot.org].
I'd love to get back to helping them out (they're still doing great work!), but this is a hard stop for me.
Found guilty by the court of public opinion, eh?
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Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS ye (Score:2)
Same thing as happens when you criticize the freetards.
Except less so now, as more people are realizing that the average Linux distro is less stable today than it was at the turn of the century.
Thanks for nothin', Poettering!
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What "prevailing ideology" are you concerned about, the "don't be a sexual predator" ideology? Really fringe, huh?
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS ye (Score:2)
The evidence was VERY public. So, while being an asshole isn't a criminal offence, it's something we can make a rational judgment on based on the evidence.
Now, back on-topic:
Never going to happen, because the license model doesn't allow developers to generate a stable revenue. Just look at the 250 Firefox devs who were laid off.
The average distro has the same shitty games they had at t
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The license model isn't the issue. If people can make money selling bottled water, this is more likely a marketing issue. Case in point: can you explain the meaning (let alone current relevance) of the "Gnu" logo to any millennial or beyond in a way they can relate to as something other than a historical interval?
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"The average distro has the same shitty games they had at the turn of the century. Same with many other pieces of software."
I gave up on linux gaming when people here earnestly insisted that all you needed was Tux Racer (a "racing" game with nobody else in the race), FreeCiv, and Wine (which didn't actually run anything). I realized if they're going to spin clear weaknesses as not existing they'll probably never address those weaknesses.
The funny thing is now if I point out that Linux doesn't run the softwa
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These days there are a lot of games available via Steam. If you want the latest AAA you might be disappointed, or maybe you could just buy a games console instead, but the situation has vastly improved compared to what it was.
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True, which is why the weird sudden anti-game rhetoric seems kind of surprising. If it had been available when I was younger I probably would have switched more permanently. Now, ironically, the proprietary software I didn't care about back then I need.
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS ye (Score:4, Insightful)
Linux gaming is healthier today than it ever has been, but mostly because Wine has improved, PlayOnLinux exists, and Valve has made their own fork of Wine for Steam called Proton which runs many (though obviously not all) Steam titles. In fact, it even runs some older titles better on Linux than they run on new versions of Windows, although that's not saying much.
Of course, that's also a long-winded way of saying that gaming is generally still better done on Windows.
On the other hand, I prefer to run business apps in a windows VM on Linux, because that way when Windows has problems the rest of my PC still works
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS ye (Score:4, Informative)
BarbaraHudson complained:
People buy computers to DO THINGS, and free user software is rare indeed on the most ubiquitous platform in the world - the smartphone.
Not really - the F-Droid [f-droid.org] repository includes a wide variety of free software for Android-based smartphones.
Or perhaps you're an iPhone baby. Admittedly, there your choices are considerably more limited [wikipedia.org] ...
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS y (Score:2)
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You don't matter. Nobody cares that you don't use open source.
People smart enough to matter have been using F-Droid for years.
You're so stupid you've got personal grudges in your sig, and they're even embarrassingly stupid grudges.
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS y (Score:2)
My laptop runs Linux. And guess what - I never use it any more. All the distros have gotten rot.
So my computing platform of choice is now an iPhone 6. Unlike Linux, it just works. After a certain point you get sick and tired of tweaking shit when updates break things and upgrades leave the machine unbootable and hunting around for your last bootable USB memory stick.
Really, Linux today is far less stable than 25 years ago. Must be the corporate cruft.
So my next device will be either a Mac (FreeBSD un
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People don't care that software is "libre" - they want it to work. Without any RTFM bs.
I'm a person, I care, and I know other people who care. Your comment is BS.
Granted, the majority of people don't care, but so what? The majority is often tasteless, inconsiderate, selfish, etc.
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS ye (Score:5, Informative)
The evidence was VERY public.
No it wasn't. The public evidence was this email thread [documentcloud.org] which doesn't say anything nearly as inflammatory as was claimed. He did not describe the victims as willing, and the arguments that he did make have been mischaracterized or ignored. What we're supposed to accept [medium.com] in lieu of public evidence are claims about a long pattern of misbehavior.
Now this is fine as far as it goes, this kind of misbehavior doesn't normally produce evidence. That's not a deal breaker in itself. Had he simply been accused by some people who had been victimized by his misbehavior then this would be easier to swallow. Not easy, he's a well-respected figure and there would have been a lot of resistance regardless, but it would have at least fit into expectations for this type of crime and accusation. Instead, we're given a bunch of malarkey and only then told that, "No, wait, there actually are real reasons to criticize him."
Worst of all, this accusation and whole heap of bullshit came from one Selam G., who was a mechanical engineering student, not a computer scientist, and had never met him. She made this accusation based on nothing but a whole heaping pile of assumptions.
I'm sorry, your comment wasn't really about Stallman himself but rather about insulting and dismissing his life's work. Let me get back on track: We would not have what we have without the things that he did. Whether or not his accomplishments will last is a good question, but they are certainly accomplishments and I am grateful.
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS y (Score:1)
I don't have to degrade Stallman - he's been doing that to himself since the toe-jam-eating video.
When the time comes I'll say the same thing about him as he said about Jobs - I'm not happy that he's dead, but I'm happy he's gone.
After all, he's spent his career saying that people who work on non-free software are unethical, so if he can cast moral judgment on people who do an honest days work for an honest days pay "because software", then he can fuck off.
Every other field of endeavour, earning an h
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Well said, everything including vi.
Also, his shameless jealousy of Linux is revolting, and when you speak of his "career" remember that he's a silver-spooner that's never had to earn a living.
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The basic issue was that he defended Minsky on the grounds that the underage girl he may have slept with would have appeared willing and consenting to Minsky.
The problem with that is that if someone with a reputation for prostituting underage girls on his private island flies you there and an underage girl offers herself to you, a middle aged man, it should be setting off all kinds of alarm bells.
Even just going to that place is a very unwise thing to do. Epstein had already been put on the shit list by the
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a reputation for prostituting underage girls on his private island
In 2001? Epstein had no such reputation, or at least not a public one. I think you have your timeline confused. Regardless, the accusation that Stallman was arguing against was assault. Willingness, regardless of whether or not that willingness had been paid for, is a fine counterargument to that accusation.
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Regardless, the accusation that Stallman was arguing against was assault. Willingness, regardless of whether or not that willingness had been paid for, is a fine counterargument to that accusation.
It's not about paid for, it's about groomed, and coerced.
The smart argument would have been to argue from the standpoint that Minsky refused the offer, and not touch the issue of consent at all, because if Minsky didn't have sexual relations with her then the issue of consent is irrelevant. But he didn't make the smart argument. The smart thing to do would have been to stay out of the discussion entirely, but he didn't do the smart thing, either.
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"he's a well-respected figure..."
Is he? Well respected in what way? Well respected in ways relevant to sexually appropriate behavior? How would you know?
Trump is also "well-respected" by at least some measures. Don't mean he isn't a serial rapist.
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I say the FSF should start by letting people name their own software projects without intervention of the FSF, starting with Linux.
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The FSF is just a jobs scheme for the people running it - we saw just how irrelevant free Software is in their own eyes with their campaign to try to get Microsoft to "free" Windows 7.
Now you're just being a willful ignoramus. The whole purpose of that campaign was to raise awareness of Windows 10 spyware, and Windows licensing in general. They never expected Microsoft to free Windows 7.
Re: Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS ye (Score:1)
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Is it not his choice, considering the outcome was that he "stopped donating to the FSF"? Should he be forced to contribute until RMS is "found guilty" in some court of your choosing? Should you also get to choose what evidence is presented?
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Richard Stallman was booted as a sexual predator? I can't find any references to this.
Re:Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS yet (Score:4, Informative)
Lex Fridman, MIT professor and generally fair guy, was talking about this on his recent podcast.
He says Epstein sent a 17 or 18 yr old over to Minsky to offer sex (Minksy was with his wife) and Minsky declined. Typical Epstein entrapment stuff.
Reportedly that was the end of it and because that was the end of it, Minsky was accused of being complicit in rape.
So then Stallman says something like, "that's not what rape means, words have meanings," and that was all the Administration, needed to get rid of a guy they've been very uneasy about for a long time (he's said to be autistic) but not because he actually did anything fire-able before. Given the political climate it seemed defensible in court, and apparently there was so much Epstein fallout they were taking a flamethrower approach.
This all seems more believable than the trade-rag stories from last year.
Of course so many people have bones to pick with RMS that they load their priors and move the goalposts. ACLU would never take the Stokie case today - nuance is lost on the modern majority.
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Do you have a pointer for the definition of "load their priors"? I think I understand what you mean, and it sounds like a significant current concept, so if there's a standard definition for it I'd like to get more detail. (P.S. "Skokie".)
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Tone it down. Youâ(TM)re throwing harmful and dangerous accusations around. Does it make you feel good to lash out?
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Tone it down.
Uhm, child rape is rape you don't seem to understand.
Are you a pedophile? If not, why are you trying to downplay child rape?
Do you know that rape of a child is rape???
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He says Epstein sent a 17 or 18 yr old over to Minsky to offer sex (Minksy was with his wife) and Minsky declined. Typical Epstein entrapment stuff.
Reportedly that was the end of it and because that was the end of it, Minsky was accused of being complicit in rape.
So then Stallman says something like, "that's not what rape means, words have meanings,"
That's the problem. Words have meanings. One of the meanings of "rape" is "sex with someone under the legal age of consent". And US law makes it a crime to travel someplace for the purpose of shopping age of consent.
It matters very much how old she was, and there's a big difference in US law between 17 and 18 specifically.
Sure, there are problems with that law. When I was 15 I had a girlfriend who was 20. I pursued her, she wasn't remotely interested in me before that. And I wasn't a typical 15 year old, ei
Re:Has FSF condemned sexual predators like RMS yet (Score:5, Insightful)
I beg your pardon but as far as I know RMS has never been accused of the crime you cited.
Last news about his was https://itsfoss.com/richard-stallman-controversy
Being on the other side of the Atlantic ocean I can't really know the US of America situation but it seems to me that he has been forced to resign because of his personal opinions.
It looks to me many people accused him of "thoughtcrime". Yes, 1984's thoughtcrime.
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You really need to tone it down. Disagreeing with a definition does not make one "an active threat to the community" nor does having an opinion contrary to yours make someone a "pedophile". Also, you should invest some time learning what a pedophile actually is rather than toss around the term as a proxy for bogeyman.
Often, the loudest to condemn on topics such as this are offenders themselves. Are you pedophile? Do you have a problem? Have you ever promoted acting on this problem you have? Sounds lik
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Disagreeing with a definition does not make one "an active threat to the community"
You're downplaying the rape of children. NOBODY IS GOING TO TONE IT DOWN ON THAT ISSUE.
Are you a pedophile? You're defending them openly, while downplaying rape of children.
Often, the loudest to condemn on topics such as this are offenders themselves. Are you pedophile? Do you have a problem?
When adults have sex with children, that is rape of children. That's my position, which you already knew. You're defending child rapists, you're clearly a pedophile.
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Child rape is rape. If you disagree, you're a pedophile.
That is nonsense, because that just isn't what "pedophile" means. Claiming it does, in order to accuse people of it, is indeed 1984-style. Let's ask wikipedia, I think most reasonable people would agree to this general definition:
"Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children."
So, in laymans terms, if one desires to have sex with kids, then that's a pedophile. It isn't relevant for the question "pe
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Child rape is rape.
Yes.
If you disagree, you're a pedophile.
Wrong. If you disagree, you're just incorrect. Rape is rape is a syllogism.
A pedophile is someone who is attracted to children, not necessarily someone who screws them. A pederast is a man who has sexual activity with boys, and from its roots (which do not appear to be gender-specific) ought to be usable for any adult who has sexual activity with children.
if you're being dishonest about your problem, or trying to promote acting on it as an "opinion," then you're also an active threat to the community.
You don't even know what these words mean, what makes you think you're qualified to make these determinations? By some estimates a very significant pe
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Will the FSF be mad if I celebrate their birthday by writing some Apache 2 licensed Open Source using emacs?
I want ten million dollars (Score:2)
I fully support this (Score:1)
Congrats (Score:2)
Where's the cake?
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Unfortunately they were unable to locate a recipe which had been released under GPLv3 - so they decided to just sit around contemplatively, quietly enjoying Stallman's leftover toenail clippings (after Richard himself was done with them, of course).
eh (Score:2)
I'm a nerd, but I don't think even I am enough of a nerd to celebrate this.
What would one use in place of Javascript? (Score:1)
Re: What would one use in place of Javascript? (Score:2)
Something - anything - that doesn't need a shitty web browser to run.
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https://stackoverflow.com/ques... [stackoverflow.com]
Why do you still try?
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Re: What would one use in place of Javascript? (Score:1)
The DOM - yet another abomination.
Web applications - when you're too unskilled to master real programming.
Want proof? Just look at all the crap pumped out by "UX experts."
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I'd argue the problem isn't JS itself but the entire notion that running arbitrary unknown code from some rando's webserver automatically with no vetting is a stupid idea. Most online exploits exist because of JS or other similar implementations. It has too much power and capability for web browsing. We should move back to applications being compiled to run on the system instead of this lazy JIT nonsense. The entire ecosystem was forced on users who didn't know better by lazy programmers.