[Wftl-lug] Google earth on Linux

[Christian Einfeldt]

hi

On Dec 26, 2007 6:43 AM, Charles McColm <twccomprec at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Most people don't care about the FSF and think RMS is a bit of a
> nutjob, sometimes he comes off that way. But read his essays and
> you'll find some very logical and thorough arguments.
>

I also didn't really "get" the whole "Free Software" and "GNU Linux" thing
at first, either.  Then something quite remarkable happened.  Richard
Stallman appeared on the OpenOffice.org discuss mailing list one day, and
asked that all references to Linux on the OOo site be changed to GNU/Linux.
People started to give it serious discussion, and then here comes one of the
Windows-users in the group, Chad Smith, and he did something that I will
never forget.  (Please bear in mind that this is not a story which paints
Chad Smith as a villain).

On that list, to which Richard was now subscribed, he became irritated that
so much attention was being given to someone who had just joined the list
(Richard Stallman) and that they were seriously considering his request
ahead of other work that needed to be done.  He complained, "I don't
understand why one little GNU-phile can come on this list and suddenly take
over the dialog."  In other words, Chad didn't even know who Richard
Stallman was !  Didn't know his name!!!!  And Richard is the guy who
basically created a coherent vision of software as being Free (as in
freedom).

I will never forget that event, because it really made clear to me the truth
of some of what Richard had been saying all along, i.e., if people don't
know the history of the Free Software part of the greater FOSS story, they
won't really grok the importance of software being Free as in freedom.
IMHO, most of the power of Open Source Software lies in the fact that it is
Free as in freedom.  All the rest of it (security, stability, modularity,
low cost, great community) flows from the single fact that the software can
be copied, improved, and shared legally.

Chad Smith knew all about Linus Torvalds, and respected him, but knew
nothing about Richard Stallman, which means that he didn't really understand
the importance of freedom in cyberspace.

I am not religious about Free Software versus Open Source Software or even
proprietary software; nor do I have an aversion to saying "Linux" as opposed
to "GNU Linux" when referring to the whole operating system; and so when I
am speaking with someone like Patrick, who has expressed a preference for
saying "Open Source Software", I have no qualms about saying that.  But my
own default expression is Free Software or Free Open Source Software or FOSS
or GNU Linux, simply and solely because of one mistake made on the fly by
Chad Smith,

Imagine the massive contribution that Richard has made to humanity.  And all
he asks (yes *asks* !) is that we type a few more characters.  Doing so is
not a burden on me, personally, and so I abide by Richard's wishes.  But, as
I say, I can see lots of reasons why others would think differently.  GNU is
difficult to say.  GNU Linux is confusing, and GNU/Linux is an outright
marketing disaster, and I have told that to Richard.  I have suggested that
he change it, but he said it is too late now, because there are too many
jokes upon jokes based upon it (such as calling Richard "St. iGNUtius" and
gNewSense to name just a few.  So I understand if others might not want to
use GNU Linux, and, in fact, when I speak with newbies, I use "Open Source
Software" and "Linux" so as to not confuse them.  But on the DTP home page
and in the film, I do try to bring in GNU and Free Software as much as
possible.

And Richard does bring an awful lot of charisma and juice to our community
still.  I saw him speak in Extremadura, Spain (he spoke in fluent Spanish),
and he was really really popular.  He spoke to a packed house of 5,000
people, and everyone was quiet and they laughed at all of his jokes.  People
all over the world respect Richard, and many find his speeches and
exhortations to say "Free Software" and GNU Linux to be not all that
burdensome at all.  Of course, in Spanish, French, and Portuguese, there is
no problem with "Free" Software.  The confusion of free (as in beer) and
Free (as in freedom) doesn't exist.  And so Richard just seems a lot less
pedantic in Spanish than in English.

-- 
Christian Einfeldt,
Producer, The Digital Tipping Point

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