Who here have joined the Free Software Foundation as a card-carrying Associate Member? I''m thinking of doing it, but I''m not really sure. You get invitations to see RMS and other speakers every year, a GNU/Linux distro on CD, and probably some other stuff (although I can''t remember exactly). If you''re a student, you pay either $5 per month or $60 per year; otherwise, it''s $10 per month or $120 per year. Has anyone else signed on for this? And I doubt anyone here has done this, but while I''m at it, has anyone here ordered a Deluxe GNU/Linux distro? For $5000, you get a TON of GNU programs compiled and put on CD. The catch: It''s $5000. Geez. ================== Benjamin Heath ==================

I had joined the FSF as an assiciate member. I recieved a copy of GNU hurd as a "busniess card sized" cd (which doubles as a mebership card), and as a full sized CD. I also recieved a copy of RMSs Free Software book (the title escapes me at the moment).

I am not a member now simply for the reason that I am unemployed and cannot afford the $120 / year. When I regain employment I intend to join again. I do it mainly to support the FSF.

Yeah I really want to sign up for it-- I tried to last night-- but I don''t have a credit card right now.

debaere: May I ask, what kind of employment are you looking for?



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Benjamin Heath
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quote:
debaere: May I ask, what kind of employment are you looking for?

You can ask, but you might regret the length of the response

I am not really "looking" for work in the sense that I am actively involved in seeking employment. I have found a camp for kids that I am enjoying volunteering at. I also pick up some courses at colleges to teach from time to time. If I stumble across a job opening that interests me, I will apply, otherwise I''d rather be unemployed and happy helping others. Money doesn''t motivate me, but doing interesting things does.

However, should I accept a position, it would be as either a programmer (non-web-based) or in security. I have found that prolonged web programming is really dull and uninteresting, and bores me to depression. I am really interested in network programming (i.e. server software, and grid computing), and implementing security tools.

I am also really interested in teaching at the college level. I find teaching to be rewarding and fun.

The EFF would probably benefit from distancing themselves from Stallman. As long as that nutjob is involved, I''ll have no part in it.

And flamebait posts again.

Would you mind editing that to something less flameworthy? >:-|
RMS might have "unique" politcal views, but they are thought-out.

quote: Original post by Arild Fines
The EFF would probably benefit from distancing themselves from Stallman. As long as that nutjob is involved, I'll have no part in it.

Your ubiquitous nuggets of sarcasm/criticism/disagreement never fail to crack me up.

[edited by - atcdevil on February 25, 2004 12:13:21 PM]

quote: Original post by Vlion
RMS might have "unique" politcal views, but they are thought-out.

I don''t know. His insistence on telling us what to think and how to behave (remember the "KDE/Qt is not Free Software" situation?) as opposed to telling us what he thinks and letting us make up our own minds is dangerous, especially given the number of people who take his word as gospel truth. RMS suffers from a disconnect from current society; his positions aren''t merely approaches to solving the problem of developing quality, reliable software - he wishes to reformulate society as a whole as some sort of neo-socialist construct. How can software morally want to be free? How can we consider such things in a vacuum, disregarding the economic factors affecting the larger world?

There''s a reason Linux didn''t penetrate the public consciousness until the separation of Open Source from Free Software, until the commoditization of licenses other than the GPL: the needs of society at large. It is not reasonable, practical or feasible in any short-term timeframe to have all notions of intellectual property disappear. It is not wise - or even intelligent - to hold to the principles of socialism/communism, because they fail to countenance the very selfish nature of man. Ergo, RMS is an ideological "nutjob".

He''s made his contributions, for which we are appreciative (well, mildly; I actually find no use for Emacs and am wary of the GCC/libsdtc++/GPL''s viral behavior, and I consider his renaming and deprecation of the LGPL a disservice to humanity), but I''d rather not ally myself with anything over which he has significant influence.

This was taken from an article by Bertrand Meyer in Software Development Magazine:

Mutual friends had thought it a good idea to bring him[Stallman] and a commercial software developer to a dinner party in a restaurant. The software developer, curious about the idea of free software and interested in sharing ideas with a creative colleague with a different background, tried to open a friendly discussion with: "I am a commercial software developer, but I appreciate much of your work and have in fact recently changed the terms of our free software license as a result of your observations". Unfortunately, he never in the entire evening got past the "I am a commercial software developer" part, which triggered an explosion of abuse to the effect that in such a case there was not even anything to discuss, commercial software being the most horrible thing on earth and a denial of everyone''s right to freedom. The rest of the evening, needless to say, was extremely painful, as no one likes friendly overtures to be met with violent rebuke. It also led the commercial software developer, who until then had been not unreceptive to the quasi-universal eulogy of free software, to a much more carefully researched assessment of the pros and cons of the movement.

I just want to comment on the "viral behavior" of the GPL.

Last I checked, hardware manufacturers can't open source their drivers, due to NDAs and licenses. They have to keep their software proprietary because they used proprietary software. I guess "viral" works both ways.

EDIT:
And yes, RMS is very idealogical and uncompromising in his stance. He equates Free software with Free speech. Everyone in America understands that free speech is a guaranteed right, but not everyone thinks of software in that way.

Businesses don't want to hear ideology. They want to hear how things help them save money or create better software. Enter Eric Raymond's Open Source, which is usually Free Software with a different name and different philosophical angle.

I have heard that RMS is also into Free Love, and has been kicked out of one community because he wouldn't stop talking about Free Software. B-)

But make no mistake about it, just because RMS is grating to your personality, it doesn't mean that the movement is wrong. It doesn't mean that the ideals are wrong. The delivery needs work for a lot of people, but RMS will probably disagree and say that the delivery is fine.

If that story about the dinner is true, I wonder how much info was left out.

[edited by - GBGames on February 25, 2004 6:16:46 PM]