From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 040456cb for ; Sat, 5 Jan 2019 21:52:58 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id B48ADA2DE7; Sun, 6 Jan 2019 07:52:57 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ADBBCA1FA0; Sun, 6 Jan 2019 07:52:30 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id C7183A2050; Sun, 6 Jan 2019 07:52:28 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mcvoy.com (mcvoy.com [192.169.23.250]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A7312A1F2E for ; Sun, 6 Jan 2019 07:52:18 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mcvoy.com (Postfix, from userid 3546) id B37E935E086; Sat, 5 Jan 2019 13:52:17 -0800 (PST) Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2019 13:52:17 -0800 From: Larry McVoy To: "A. P. Garcia" Message-ID: <20190105215217.GI24497@mcvoy.com> References: <201901050226.x052QigU089781@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> <22BA2F17-310F-4396-A35A-23E2D1130018@ronnatalie.com> <20190105153133.GA24497@mcvoy.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.24 (2015-08-30) Subject: Re: [TUHS] Isaacson v Unix X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: tuhs@tuhs.org Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" On Sat, Jan 05, 2019 at 04:38:40PM -0500, A. P. Garcia wrote: > On Sat, Jan 5, 2019, 3:27 PM Paul Winalski > > On 1/5/19, A. P. Garcia wrote: > > [concerning Richard Stallman] > > > > > > Building an operating system in and of itself was not so much his goal as > > > building the friendships and community surrounding it. > > > > > The GNU Hurd kernel certainly seems to have gotten nowhere, and with > > the success of Linux IMO the free software community doesn't need it > > anymore. But FSF certainly has made a big impact and contribution > > with the gcc toolchain and the free versions of the Unix shell and > > utilities. > > > > But RMS sort of invented that community, just like Al Gore sort of invented > the internet (as we know it today). He was certainly an important catalyst, > and his views remain influential to many people. I'll remind you all of a story I'm sure I shared here in the past. I was friends with the 3 Cygnus founders and I was having a dinner with them at Gumby's house. (This is an aside but it is important: Gumby was, at that time, married to a very nice German woman named Silka; she still had a pretty strong accent, English was not her first language). Cygnus was pretty much a 100% GPL / LGPL shop. So the discussions were all "RMS this", "RMS that" and went on for a long time (hours). Silka was clearing the table and she pipes up with "Are you saying 'RMS this'?" We say yes, and she responds with "Huh, all this time I heard 'Our mess this', 'Our mess that'". We all looked at each other in silence, sort of replaying everying through that view. And started laughing (and freaking out a little) that every sentence made sense as "Our mess ". I'm clearly not a fan of RMS, yeah, he did some good but in the process he took credit for an enormous body of work in which he didn't write a line of code. As a programmer, that's lieing and I can't stand liars. And that's all I have to say on the RMS topic, it's probably too much as it is.