RMS (again)

[der.hans]

Am 03. May, 2002 schwätzte Todd Hought so:

> Agreed. I've never had the opportunity to meet him, but I've heard he's
> about as friendly as 40 grit sandpaper. Yep, he's got a good cause, but
> the worst execution of said cause I've ever seen. Kinda like the Ford
> Pinto, good idea, poor execution.

RMS has a good idea and a good vision. His method of implementation isn't
very open to letting others do as they desire :(. His view is that they're
taking his freedoms, so he's willing to fight against that. I think that's
understandable even if I don't agree with the way he does it.

GNU and the FSF should have someone else be the mouthpiece. At the same
time, I'd like to have him back if we think we can get people interested in
talking. Maybe this time do more intro for the various groups in town, etc.

> If anyone does happen to go see him, my next-door neighbor is a barber,
> and quite a nice guy, I'm sure he'd donate a haircut and beard trim to the
> FSF.

Blasphemer!

> In fact, I personally challenge RMS to come up with a business plan based
> on the creation of Open Source software that does NOT involve living in
> one's own office at MIT or 'selling tech support'.

As Derek has already pointed out that's a challenge for ESR not for RMS.

What's wrong with 'selling tech support'? That's where the big bucks are.
m$, other software vendors and hardware vendors make tons of money off that.
The real quote should be on 'selling' since, for instance, you have to pay
m$ to report a bug in their software.

RedHat is doing well with a mostly Free Software model. The ogg/vorbis guys
seems to be doing so as well if they can avoid patents, etc. SuSE lost out
in the .us, but is still doing well in Europe. I believe TurboLinux is still
doing well in .jp and I think Yellow Dog is somewhat stable here.

The real inhibitor to Free Software companies is the m$ monopoly. The income
rolling in from 25% of that market would keep lots of geeks off the streets.
If it weren't for the monopoly and proprietary protocols/formats we would
easily have 25% of that market.

Their lock on protocols/formats is dissolving. I think that opens the door
for Free Software and gives us the chance to break the monopoly. Only the
Free Software model is in a position to do that.

ciao,

der.hans
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