Synchronicity on the intertubes today!
David Berlind has an article up today about his recent interview with RMS over at InformationWeek.com.
Behold this shocking reporting!:
After the interview’s conclusion, Stallman said I was particularly nasty in the way I started to ask my question to which I responded that I understood the issue well, that I have understood it for many years, and that I meant no disrespect. He admonished me to go back to the recording and listen to the way in which I phrased the question. He was right. Stallman chooses his words very carefully. I didn’t. If you compare his request in email to the question I started to ask, you can see how my question essentially endorses “Linux” as the accepted name of an operating system that should be called “GNU/Linux.” Stallman continued:
Now-a-days, there are thousands of programs in most GNU/Linux distributions of which hundreds are GNU packages. But among the programs you need, they range from very big programs like the C Compiler to very small programs like “RM” which is what you use to delete a file. I think I wrote the original RM in 2 or 3 days… at the beginning, I was doing most of the [software development] but I was also trying to recruit other people to contribute and over the years, more and more people joined in. So, by now, the code I wrote is a small part.
Nevertheless, Stallman makes an important point. Stallman’s and the Free Software Foundation’s significant contribution to one of the greatest disruptive forces the software industry has ever seen have essentially been dismissed. So much so that the millions of people who currently use or rely (knowingly or unknowingly) on GNU/Linux every day may never understand the critical roles that Stallman, the FSF, and the GNU Project played in bringing those computing experiences to them.
[...]
So, to Richard Stallman, I apologize for my choice of words as I began to phrase my question. And to those of you reading this post, and to Red Hat, Novell, and the countless other people and companies who have commercially benefited from the FSF’s pioneering work in the area of free software, it’s time to give credit where credit is due.
When you are referring to the Linux kernel, feel free to call it Linux. But, in deference to the people and organization that gifted you the technologies you now benefit and in many cases profit from, call it GNU/Linux. Call it GNU/Linux when discussing it. Call it GNU/Linux in your product literature. Call it GNU/Linux on the side of your product boxes and on your Web sites. Just call it GNU/Linux. It’s the least you can do.
Compare this gentleman’s reflection and consideration of RMS’ points with the enthusiastic ignorance we saw earlier on the very same point.
Examples like this are exactly why I have come to the conclusion that the noisy people that disagree with RMS (and, by extension, the “Free Software” concept) fall into one of two camps: ignorant or malicious.
Disclaimer, sadly necessary against straw men fighters across the intertubes: As I said before, this is not because RMS is always right or that there is no valid disagreement with him. Just that a specific subset of critics (loud, obnoxious, and fallacious) are not to be taken seriously.
Anyway, quite refreshing to see someone take the time and testicles to examine their own position and acknowledge RMS may indeed be talking sense.
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