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Comment by zozbot234 | Hacker News Reader

There's no better ambassador for the free software movement than RMS, full stop. It's pretty much his idea in the first place, and he's been by far the most consistent in his advocacy for it, even as he has changed his mind on lots of unrelated things (including wrt. minors' autonony, minors' rights and how to best protect minors from potential harm to their rights). It's mind-boggling and hardly believable to me that people would fail to grok this point.

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> There's no better ambassador for the free software movement than RMS, full stop.

I disagree.

RMS is (much like Joseph Ratzinger, for a different religious movement) much better as a chief theologian, theorist of doctrine, and internal enforcer of and exhortationist to doctrinal purity within the Church than an ambassador or evangelist to those not already deeply committed.

An ambassador is usually not a leader, but a subordinate to the leader.

Really?

Literally no person, anywhere, regardless of background, history, technical capability, history with free software, networking or speaking ability, is capable of acting as ambassador for the Free Software movment in the same capacity? Only RMS?

You realize he's a mortal human, right? Because if your premise is that no one else can ever be worthy to replace him, your conclusion must be that the movement will die with him.

We will build a 100% free software virtual-RMS. We have the technology.

I've seen enough free software to know the UX would be even worse than with the real Stallman.

If RMS is really the best ambassador possible for the free software movement then I guess we might as well just give up on the whole idea, as he's done a pretty terrible job of it.

Being the person who comes up with an idea doesn't have anything to do with being good at selling the idea to other people.

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