* Nala Ginrut <mulei@gnu.org> [2019-11-05 17:03]:
Seriously, if RMS can do some small coding work with existing GNU
packages occasionally,
maybe it's a good chance for advocating the package.
The famous people attracts more eyes, even if some people don't like
him.
But I'm not sure if his current status is suitable for that advocating
work.
Nala, how are you?
In my opinion, RMS's most important work are speeches and relations.
Today, when GNU systems already exist in the world, general software
is not any more priority. There are priorities for specific software
like those for video communication or liberating BIOSes, or liberating
phones with free systems and so on.
I see it most important to spread free software philosophy. Now is not
that much of fight to make free operating system, but there is still a
work to enlighten those areas of the world where free software is not
known. Where people need to understand about users' rights and
freedom.
Stallman is respected world wide. Nothing of those comments and media
rumors is changing it. Majority of people of today are finally not
that stupid, celebrities are always targets of rumors, it does not
change anything. Who said what... who cares really.
Most important work for Stallman now are his connections to various
opinion leaders and closing (in sales terminology) parties to more
freedom for users.
Dr. Richard Stallman contacts opinion leaders and forwards free
software:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/free-software-advocate-richard-stallman-spoke-at-microsoft-research-this-week/
In that case, he did advocacy to Microsoft to teach him to straighten
policies on licenses in Github.com -- makes sense, many developers are
placing vague licenses, or missing a license, or release it as
apparently free software but restrict it to religious sense to use it
only for "good purposes" as given by God, thus rendering it
non-free. There are many issues with the Github, so his points were
totally valid. That is advocacy for free software.
He starts from the head, not from the tail.
Now you can imagine, not everybody can walk into Microsoft and speak
about free software. Stallman can do that. That is position of power
and position of a lot of connection, respect and honor, it is all
based on previous work.
He teaches the world on free software:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCh8EcBrptA
Dr. Richard Stallman provides policies and planning for GNU project,
and he has done so successfuly for many years, and he still does,
nothing changed. His status or position did not change.
Not being president of the FSF in my opinion does not change anything,
FSF is loyal to free software philosophy and continues its work just
as usual.
No strategy changed neither for FSF nor GNU. There is nothing that
changed direction of the FSF or its purposes or goals.
RMS did not change his attitude not even towards those few people from
Guix leadership and other members of their Thoughtpolice Squad[1] who
did everything possible to defame and slander him.
RMS makes advocacy on much higher level and he always did so, since
the inception of the GNU project. He need not advocate a simple piece
of software. Creation of GPL caused whole range of free software to
existence. At the time it was not possible for Stallman to know that
could or would happen. But effect is more than good. Now people and
companies are releasing software under the GPL license without even
knowing who is Stallman or what was his fundamental work.
I hope you got the idea of the type of the fundamental work that RMS
have always been doing and is still doing today.
Jean
Footnotes:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughtpolice