Richard Stallman: Freedom is the Goal (Updated)
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2021-04-15 09:51:06 UTC
- Modified: 2021-04-15 13:25:28 UTC
11M
Summary: What Richard Stallman (RMS) told me in person on his trip here (I stand next to him in this video, hence he speaks to his side)
Update: Transcript below.
[00:00]
(intro music)
Roy (RSS): Let's say you are presented with a situation where GNU/Linux gets a market share considerably above say, 50%, and a lot of people are using computers that are in many ways proprietary. They run something like the Steam Engine and they run things like proprietary drivers, how would you relate this to the goal of your work?
RMS: Well, our
[00:30]
goal is that all software be free, so that all users of software are free. If people are running mostly free software, we've taken a big step towards that goal, but we haven't necessarily gotten all the way there. Because if you are running a non-free driver or a non-free application, then somebody still has a chain
[01:00]
or cords tied around part of you. So, how are we going to get all the way there? We're going to have to make continuing efforts. And why would people do that? Only if they value freedom. If you want to reach a goal that requires a long journey the crucial point is to remember the goal. If you forget the goal, you won't get there.
[01:30]
If we're going to get to freedom some day, the crucial requirement is remember that freedom is the goal, teach others that freedom is the goal, so that we don't forget it and wander off in some other direction.
Roy: To what degree to your think that GNU and the FSF should be seen as important to the focusing on freedom as the goal?
RMS: Well, I
[02:00]
already explained that. The name helps only because the name GNU is associated with our ideas and the name Linux is associated with other ideas.
Roy: Perhaps also corporate sponsorship and all kinds of sponsorships from companies ...
RMS: That's just part of the same thing.
Roy: Ok. And when it comes to software freedom, the full future with people running entirely
[02:30]
free software, are you a pessimist or an optimist?
RMS: I'm a pessimist by nature, but that's irrelevant. We can't see the future. The future depends on you. So instead of speculating about what the outcome's going to be, which is not a useful question, I urge people to think about a different question, a useful question, what can I do to win
[03:00]
freedom for me and for others? That question will help you make the world a better place. Whereas thinking about whether to be pessimistic or optimistic doesn't help anything.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Microsoft-Connected Sites Trying to Shift Attention Away From Microsoft's Megabreach Only Days Before Important If Not Unprecedented Grilling by the US Government?
- Why does the mainstream media not entertain the possibility a lot of these talking points are directed out of Redmond?
- Firefox Has Fallen to 2% in New Zealand
- At around 2%, at least in the US (2% or below this threshold), there's no longer an obligation to test sites for any Gecko-based browser
-
- GNU/Linux in Georgia: Looking Good
- Windows down from 99% to less than 33%
- Tomorrow is a Historic Day for Press Freedom in the UK
- Take note of the Julian Assange case
- Hiding in a Forest Without a Phone and Hiding Behind the First Amendment in the United States (US)
- some serial defamer is trying to invert the narrative
- Links 19/05/2024: Iran's President Lost in Helicopter Crash, WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Awaits Decisions in Less Than a Day
- Links for the day
- Links 19/05/2024: Microsoft Investigated in Europe
- Links for the day
- 4 Old Articles About Microsoft/IBM SystemD
- old but still relevant
- Winning Streak
- Free software prevalence
- Links 19/05/2024: Conflicts, The Press, and Spotify Lawsuit
- Links for the day
- GNU/Linux+ChromeOS at Over 7% in New Zealand
- It's also the home of several prominent GNU/Linux advocates
- libera.chat (Libera Chat) Turns 3 Today
- Freenode in the meantime continues to disintegrate
- [Teaser] Freenode NDA Expires in a Few Weeks (What Really Happened 3 Years Ago)
- get ready
- GNU/Linux is Already Mainstream, But Microsoft is Still Trying to Sabotage That With Illegal Activities and Malicious Campaigns of Lies
- To help GNU/Linux grow we'll need to tackle tough issues and recognise Microsoft is a vicious obstacle
- Slovenia's Adoption of GNU/Linux in 2024
- Whatever the factor/s may be, if these figures are true, then it's something to keep an eye on in the future
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 18, 2024
- IRC logs for Saturday, May 18, 2024
- Links 19/05/2024: Profectus Beta 1.2
- Links for the day
- Site Archives (Not WordPress)
- We've finally finished the work
- [Meme] The EPO Delusion
- on New Ways of Working
- EPO Representatives Outline Latest Attacks on Staff
- Not much has happened recently in terms of industrial action
- Links 18/05/2024: Revisiting the Harms of Patent Trolls, Google Tries to Bypass (or Plagiarise) Sites Under the Guise of "AI"
- Links for the day
- Links 18/05/2024: BASIC Story, Site Feeds, and New in Geminispace
- Links for the day
- GNU/Linux in Kyrgyzstan: From 0.5% to 5% in Eight Years
- the country is almost the size of the UK
- Justice for Victims of Online Abuse
- The claims asserted or pushed forth by the harasser are categorically denied
- [Meme] Senior Software Engineer for Windows
- This is becoming like another Novell
- Links 18/05/2024: Deterioration of the Net, North Korean IT Workers in the US
- Links for the day
- Windows in Lebanon: Down to 12%?
- latest from statCounter
- [Video] 'Late Stage Capitalism': Microsoft as an Elaborate Ponzi Scheme (Faking 'Demand' While Portraying the Fraud as an Act of Generosity and Demanding Bailouts)
- Being able to express or explain the facts isn't easy because of the buzzwords
- Links 18/05/2024: Caledonia Emergency Powers, "UK Prosecutor's Office Went Too Far in the Assange Case"
- Links for the day
- Microsoft ("a Dying Megacorporation that Does Not Create") and IBM: An Era of Dying Giants With Leadership Deficits and Corporate Bailouts (Subsidies From Taxpayers)
- Microsoft seems to be resorting to lots of bribes and chasing of bailouts (i.e. money from taxpayers worldwide)
- US Patent and Trademark Office Sends Out a Warning to People Who Do Not Use Microsoft's Proprietary Formats
- They're punishing people who wish to use open formats
- Links 18/05/2024: Fury in Microsoft Over Studio Shutdowns, More Gaming Layoffs
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 17, 2024
- IRC logs for Friday, May 17, 2024
- Links 18/05/2024: KOReader, Benben v0.5.0 Progress Update, and More
- Links for the day
- [Meme] UEFI 'Secure' Boot Boiling Frog
- UEFI 'Secure' Boot: You can just ignore it. You can just turn it off. You can hack on it as a workaround. Just use Windows dammit!
- The Market Wants to Delete Windows and Install GNU/Linux, UEFI 'Secure' Boot Must Go!
- To be very clear, this has nothing to do with security and those who insist that it is have absolutely no credentials
- In the United States Of America the Estimated Share of Google Search Grew After Microsoft's Chatbot Hype (Which Coincided With Mass Layoffs at Bing)
- Microsoft's chatbot hype started in late 2022
- Techrights Will Categorically Object to Any Attempts to Deny Its Right to Publish Informative, Factual Material
- we'll continue to publish about 20 pages per day while challenging censorship attempts
- Links 17/05/2024: Microsoft Masks Layoffs With Return-to-office (RTO) Mandates, More YouTube Censorship
- Links for the day
- YouTube Progresses to the Next Level
- YouTube is a ticking time bomb
- Journalists and Human Rights Groups Back Julian Assange Ahead of Monday's Likely Very Final Decision
- From the past 24 hours...
- [Meme] George Washington and the Bill of Rights
- Centuries have passed since the days of George Washington, but the principles are still the same
- Daniel Pocock: "I've Gone to Some Lengths to Demonstrate How Corporate Bad Actors Have Used Amateur-hour Codes of Conduct to Push Volunteers Into Modern Slavery"
- "As David explains, the Codes of Conduct should work the other way around to regulate the poor behavior of corporations who have been far too close to the Debian Suicide Cluster."
- Video of Richard Stallman's Talk From Four Weeks Ago
- 2-hour video of Richard Stallman speaking less than a month ago
- statCounter Says Twitter/X Share in Russia Fell From 23% to 2.3% in 3 Years
- it seems like YouTube gained a lot
- Journalist Who Won Awards for His Coverage of the Julian Assange Ordeals Excluded and Denied Access to Final Hearing
- One can speculate about the true reason/s
- Richard Stallman's Talk, Scheduled for Two Days Ago, Was Not Canceled But Really Delayed
- American in Paris
- 3 More Weeks for Daniel Pocock's Campaign to Win a Seat in European Parliament Elections
- Friday 3 weeks from now is polling day
- Microsoft Should Have Been Fined and Sanctioned Over UEFI 'Lockout' (Locking GNU/Linux Out of New PCs)
- Why did that not happen?
- Gemini Links 16/05/2024: Microsoft Masks Layoffs With Return-to-office (RTO) Mandates, Cash Issues
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 16, 2024
- IRC logs for Thursday, May 16, 2024
- Ex-Red Hat CEO Paul Cormier Did Not Retire, He Just Left IBM/Red Hat a Month Ago (Ahead of Layoff Speculations)
- Rather than retire he took a similar position at another company
- Linux.com Made Its First 'Article' in Over and Month, It Was 10 Words in Total, and It's Not About Linux
- play some 'webapp' and maybe get some digital 'certificate' for a meme like 'clown computing'