Re: RMS (was Re: Copyright response from Pine Development)

[Raul Miller <rdm@tad.micro.umn.edu>]

Bruce Perens:
 > This is something that I have difficulty communicating to people
 > who have not dealt with Richard at first hand. He does seem to
 > exhibit a profound lack of empathy, as you have observed. People
 > sense his intelligence and expect him to be intelligent and
 > reasonable - you only get the first part.

There's some truth to what you say.

[I've written and deleted about twelve paragraphs here going into
detail on this subject.  Suffice to say: I think I know about this
issue.]

However, a lot of this diffuses if you hold some empathy for him, and
keep your perspective.  Note that empathy is not the same thing as
"yes sir, yes sir."  And, frankly, I'm amazed at anyone who expresses
reverence towards RMS.

But, you don't need reverence to tackle technical (or even social)
issues.  I don't know, maybe I've been corrupted by my current job
(where my financial security has depended for years on, uh...
creatively reinterpreting management directives).

However, in any design/development context you have a responsibility
to understand what the real needs are.  Frequently, this means
questioning your boss (and I mean in the sense of talking and asking
questions, not silent scepticism).  Too often, this can mean going way
outside the defined bounds of activity to address some gap in vision.
Etc.

Yes, I know that personal friction can be very tiring.  But... 

I think that RMS has done me a tremendous lot of personal good (in
terms of providing me with decent tools, and some interesting outlooks
on life).  I cut him a fair bit of slack on that issue alone.

I don't think he's anywhere near perfect, but then neither am I.

And, there's lots worse than RMS around -- some of them a lot more
popular.  [A bit of perspective here: I work in DC, and I work for a
Washington Post subsidiary that focuses almost exclusively on tracking
congress and the regulations from the executive branch.  [At least at
the moment -- I'm not really earning enough to be stable here to be
the sole provider for a family with student loans, etc.]  You have to
not take some issues too seriously if your job depends, for example,
on providing a design based on the Escher-like structure of the US
Federal Government.]

Argh, I've spent a lot longer on this message than I wanted to, and
accomplished a lot less in it than I set out to.

Later,

-- 
Raul