VanLUG Email Archive
leaf@cosby.dhs.org
Sun, 22 Aug 1999 05:24:56 -0400 (EDT)
Thanks to the person who quoted Richard Stallman's interview with someone
from the Tokyo Linux User Group all the way back in 1996 I believe. I
thought it was an opportunity for me to comment on how far Richard
Stallman's
ability to express himself have advanced in the little time that has
passed.
Note: the tlug story was noted for the interviewer asking what any linux
fan would consider awkwardly uninformed questions and Richard being sorta
had enough of him :)
Well... I have to say... when ever he gets a question about the same old
topic, he is bound to find a better answer as time goes on. The classic
ofcourse is the "communist" question we all heard of...
Richard has taken the story telling route in this latest interview where
he snarfs and barfs a excellent positive example of being a concerned
activist--or the plight of a tree-hugger and stream-defender *grin*--this
is call story telling. One of the most assured way of getting your points
across--often across culture boundaries and beliefs--because all humans
have the same stories told over and over again. And Richard commands it
brilliantly here (sorry for this awkwardly extensive quote--I apologize):
Okay, a pre-conclusion: my point is, when you look at the tv, ever notice
there's always a story in the more polished advertising? Or there is
always
a story to explain a news piece? There's something behind all this if you
just take a moment of silence and realize how powerful a story is--how if
you abstract a problem or conflict or statement into a story--it takes on
the form of a a dart designed to pierce--guaranteed for comprehension. It
might not explain all you need to say--but hey--we all take little steps--
and then we get there.
Okay, I'll shut my mouth now:
-- Li, leaf@cosby.dhs.org
[from linuxworld:
http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworldtoday/lwt-indepth7.html]
LinuxWorld Today: I've heard you described as a socialist,
or a communist. Do politics enter into the Free Software Foundation?
Richard Stallman: Politics do, but I'm not a socialist or a
communist.
LinuxWorld Today: How would you describe yourself?
Richard Stallman: Well, I guess I am a sort of combination between a
liberal and a leftist anarchist. I like to see people working
together, voluntarily, to solve the world's problems. But, if we
can't do that, I think we should get the government involved to
solve them.
The idea of democracy is that it enables the citizens in general to
put a check on the power of the richest, and these days in America
we are failing to use that tool, which of course, leads to a harsh
life for most people.
LinuxWorld Today: Especially the contrast between the
world's wealthiest man, Bill Gates, who has derived his wealth
entirely from proprietary software, where people have no choice at
all in the selection on the one hand..
Richard Stallman: Well, I should point out that people who are
determined enough do have a choice. I was in the same position as
lots of people said they were in, and I decided I wasn't going to
use that. When I started the GNU project, Microsoft was not
particularly important or particularly large, but what you can
accurately say is that the only other choices were difficult ones.
Most people look at those difficult choices and say that's too hard
for me. Because they are not absolutely determined to get freedom.
The most important thing about the GNU project is that it is giving
people an alternative to proprietary software that is easier, and
because it is easier, more people feel they can choose it. So that's
the way it spreads freedom to people, by giving them a less heroic
way they can get freedom.
Anyway, the people who call me a communist are engaging in
Red-baiting. It's a standard thing. If anybody criticizes something
about what business is doing, at the present, they get called a
communist.
When people said, "Don't pour poison in the river," they were called
communists. But they didn't want to abolish business. They wanted to
abolish pouring poison into the river. The free software movement is
a lot like that. It's a lot like the environmental movement because
the goal is not to abolish business, the goal is to end a certain
kind of pollution. But in this case, it's not pollution of the air
or the water, it's pollution of our social relationships.
When somebody says, here is this nice thing that you will enjoy
using but if you share it with your neighbor we'll call you a pirate
and put you in jail, they are polluting society's most important
resource, which is goodwill, the willingness to cooperate with other
people.
LinuxWorld Today: If I understand what you have said and
written previously, that was the impetus for you.
Richard Stallman: Yes, that is the reason why I decided to dedicate
my efforts to free software. To change an ugly system. And I don't
mean a computer system. I mean a social system.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu 09 Sep 1999 - 06:40:36