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Comment by simion314 | Hacker News Reader

The thing I like about RMS is that when he speaks it is like presenting a mathematical proof, he explains the terms, rules and shows the logic arguments, the interviewers are most of the time impatient or incapable to understand such a rigorous style of response.

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I really think this is how Stallman thinks. As far as I know, he's never mentioned the words "deontic logic" in writing, but I get the impression he believes he's attempting to give a formal logical argument for morally obligatory behavior.

Aside from the hassle involved with using only free software, I think one of the things holding him back is that he's much better at math/comp sci/logic than he is at social skills, and he's not especially suited to being the leader of a popular movement.

Nobody else is doing it.

I don't think he needs to hand over - if someone else was doing a better job of the advocacy of Free Software then perhaps he could choose to 'retire', but until then he is the best there is.

Yes, I like that too, but at times he can also appear very intolerant and dogmatic about his beliefs. This makes it hard for regular people to appreciate his point of view... but I don't think he cares what people think of him anyway ...

Some people can't admit that they ever are wrong, I use proprietary software, believe and FSF and free software and I am a hypocrite, i do not feel the need to justify what I am right for using proprietary software, I am not right, I should not do it but I do if for some bad reasons, my hope is that I may do better in the future.

Anyway some people here that use or create proprietary software try to defend this as a good thing, maybe is necessary for the circumstances but is not good(IMO)

This is basically how I feel about eating meat and free software. RMS and Vegetarians have made an argument that I cannot disagree with. I try to eat less meat and use more free software, but out of convenience and laziness on my part I don’t commit to abstaining from either.

I use some proprietary software (but never as native code; some of the problems are most relevant when it is run as native code), although I intend to replace them with free software when possible (for example, I am currently in the process of writing Free Hero Mesh, as a replacement for Hero Mesh (which is very slow on DOSBOX), that is compatible with Linux, and preferably also BSD; later I may also make FreeZZT as a replacement for ZZT).

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