GNU's 40th Anniversary: the FSF's Meeting with Old and New Friends (fsf.org) 17
Devin Ulibarri, the Free Software Foundation's outreach and communications coordinator, writes up an event he describes as meeting with some old and new friends:
On Sunday, October 1, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) hosted a hackday to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the GNU Project. Folks came from both near and far to join in the festivities at FSF headquarters, Boston, MA... Sadi moma bela loza, the Bulgarian melody from which The Free Software Song is set, could be heard faintly playing in a nearby room, its distinctive odd-metered tune performed by a fully-liberated X200...
All in all, the event succeeded in our goal of welcoming both long-time members as well as introducing new people to free software and our cause. A few college students from local universities, for example, were able to ask questions seeking to better understand free software licenses and GNU Project history. We received multiple requests from attendees to host similar events again in the near future. And one parent, whose son played NetHack at the event, reported that, the following morning, his son asked to go to the FSF office after school to play it again. When playing he mastered the "vi" movement keys immediately. We hope they serve him well...!
Happy hacking and please stay tuned for more FSF-hosted events, including LibrePlanet 2024!
All in all, the event succeeded in our goal of welcoming both long-time members as well as introducing new people to free software and our cause. A few college students from local universities, for example, were able to ask questions seeking to better understand free software licenses and GNU Project history. We received multiple requests from attendees to host similar events again in the near future. And one parent, whose son played NetHack at the event, reported that, the following morning, his son asked to go to the FSF office after school to play it again. When playing he mastered the "vi" movement keys immediately. We hope they serve him well...!
Happy hacking and please stay tuned for more FSF-hosted events, including LibrePlanet 2024!
What about Stallman (Score:1)
Why wasn't he invited? Is it because he's crazy?
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks (Score:1)
for undoing it! (did you undo it with meta moderation?)
Re: (Score:2)
for undoing it! (did you undo it with meta moderation?)
Nah, just by posting.
Re: (Score:3)
oh.. (Score:1)
well I'm sorry to hear.
Re: (Score:3)
The weather is cooling down and they can't open the windows.
Re: What about Stallman (Score:2)
Have you ever met Stallman? I have. âzSaneâoe is not the word I would use.
Congratulations to everybody! (Score:3)
Re:Congratulations to everybody! (Score:4, Insightful)
GCC in particular has been an absolute game changer. A high quality free compiler has enabled so much other free software.
I wish there was something similar for hardware description languages so we can open up FPGAs and the like.
Re:Congratulations to everybody! (Score:4, Insightful)
GCC did do a lot for computing as we know it. Linux came out, but as a kernel, it really wasn't useful for much. Porting GCC to it, as well as the GNU suite of tools, things like bash, file utilities, development tools (jmake, etc.) is what turned a kernel into a full fledged environment. Were it not for GNU's work, we still would be paying $500 a machine for something like XENIX or maybe a BSD distribution like BSDI, as well as a few thousand per machine to be able to use a compiler.
Without RMS, we likely would be paying Microsoft $250 a month per PC, using WebTV for our "internet" access, paying for "stamps" for email and paying by the hour for online access. RMS made Linux possible, and a solution other than paid commercial products viable for a day to day environment.
Yes, RMS is an asshole, but he saved computing as we know it.
Re:Congratulations to everybody! (Score:4, Informative)
What GCC did is allowed many people to write software for all sorts of platforms without needing to buy expensive proprietary compilers. Sure there are now other options (like clang) but GCC was (AFAIK) the first genuinely free compiler that anyone could use, modify and distribute.
What about Jeff? (Score:1)
Song? (Score:2)
gathering (Score:5, Funny)
Thank GNU (Score:2)