Richard Stallman's advice -- Live cheaply.

Richard Stallman, the godfather of OSS and founder of the Free Software Foundation started back in 1984, handed out some advice to a small audience of mostly supportive onlookers at Lehigh University last week.

He doesn't use a mobile phone, or mp3 player because they contain proprietory software. He didn't mention whether he has a landline phone. Or a television, or a microwave oven, or a washing machine or dishwasher. He did advise not buying a house or a car or having kids because they all cost money. What about a digital stills or video camera? Hey. If you don't have kids there's no memories worth keeping for prosterity.

He uses the internet for sure, right? Of course, from a system running GNU/Linux. So which distribution does he use? Debian, Red Hat, Fedora, Gentoo, Lindows, Mandrake, SCO, Slackware,SUSE, United, Xandros?

Well no. You see, all of these include some proprietory software, device drivers, codecs that sort of thing, and using a distribution that contains proprietory software is like saying that it's okay to use proprietory software.

I wonder if his IP packets are specially marked so the only ever get sent to switches and routers that don't contain proprietory code?

What does he use? He mentioned those other, popular distributions: Utoto, Blag & gNewSense. What do you mean you've never heard of them? What do you mean, your Nvidia card doesn't work with them? Nor your cell phone link (You shouldn't be using one. See above). Nor your photoprinter. Nor your scanner. Nor your home wifi or cable modem. Hmm. I wonder how he copes?

So, no software should ever cost money huh? What if you're a programmer? How do you afford to eat?

If you happen to be Richard Stallman, you can get a nice earner from handing out free lifestyle advise on the after-dinner speaking and lecture ciruits. Except of course, those fees mean it ain't free advise.

Apparently, the difference between software, and other stuff we pay other people to produce, is that software is easy to copy. So, that means we shouldn't be paying songwriters and musicians for their (digital) music then? Or actors and directors for their films? Or photographers for their pictures. Poets for the poems, writers for their stories, essays and articles.

How about lecturers for their lectures and lifestyle advise? I guess you don't always get what you pay for.

In reply to Richard Stallman speaks at Hehigh University. by Anonymous Monk

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