Live Simply, Live Better
One thing I really like about the philosophy of Dr. Stallman has nothing to do with software or even technology in general. In the 1990s he spoke to the media against loans, mortgages, or ownership of stuff like homes and cars. Remember that when he developed GNU he wasn't some "RK" (Rich Kid), he was a young man living in 'his' office and coding on shoestring budget. His parents were not together and he didn't (apparently) want to spend too much time with them - sometimes they didn't get along. He didn't want to rent some place somewhere just to sleep there; back then MIT had many of the facilities he truly needed and he used these to popularise GNU, GPL etc. He could also socialise with various smart people there. They were like "family" to him (people like Gerald Jay Sussman, several years his senior).
My life remains simple, I keep virtually no physical assets other than my old laptops, but that does not make me sad or inferior. I am healthier than I've been in years (I grew my strength), I enjoy plants and animals (today I'll purchase 20 KG of seeds for our birds), and I am focused enough - not just devoted - to cover various scandals as whistleblowers come to us every week (new ones, too).
Life isn't about "collecting" possessions; it's about doing things that matter and accumulating knowledge so as to make better choices. Conformist people will probably never understand this because their life choices are defined and decided by peer pressure. █
