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Comment by rastingerzoh | Hacker News Reader

rms, he himself, should have kept an eye on the bag, not somebody else...

I agree that would be ideal, but it's hard to expect someone who is so accustomed to not having to worry about such things to keep this in mind. This is especially true in situations where you are excited (eg: after giving a talk about something you are passionate about). Clearly he will not make this mistake again, it would have been the right thing to do for the organizers to take better care of him though and protect him from the risks of the country that they invited him to visit - at the very least within the walls of the conference venue.

I don't understand the downvotes. Care to explain?

It's a technical talk, not a subway car. He's a guest. It's not realistic, or hospitable, to expect him to watch his belongings while he's interacting with his audience. Plus it's a new account that's trolling.

It's his responsibiity to make sure someone is watching it for him or to watch it himself, though. In the ideal case, someone would offer to watch it for him, but I'm guessing that didn't happen here.

That said, I do like the idea (suggested elsewhere) of pooling some money to get him a new one right away.

Like I wrote, he enjoys the ritual of interacting with the audience after the talk. I think most people at this point stop looking at their stuff for a minute.

Like the other guy wrote. He had his passport in the bag. The number one rule of traveling: your passport is your life. There are things in that should not be somebody else's task.

Edit: you guys might be right about the troll thing. I'm terribly confused now as I must confess I agree with a troll..

I traveled overseas for 3 straight years long ago, and with the exception of when I had my own locked apartment, I kept my passport physically on my body at all times. The comment above about developed countries is provocative. I know very little about Argentina, but I believe in the 1930's it was considered on par with European countries and North America in terms of development.

London has some pretty effective pickpockets (try Covent Garden on a busy weekend in Summer). Prague petty criminals prefer the accidental bumping into you approach, especially in the main tourist area outside Tyn cathedral/Astronomical Clock in the old town square.

I must admit that I relax a little when I enter an academic environment.

I have one of those wallets that have little straps that hook over your belt, and then you put the wallet inside your trousers. Works for me.

I also agree with the troll and it really does look like that was deliberate trolling. But really, it made sense anyway. You're not allowed to criticize Stallman on HN. I found that out the hard way. It's frowned upon even more than criticizing Steve Jobs (both before and after his passing). But since you brought this up I'd also like to add that I question how this got to the front page. I mean, yeah it sucks and I feel for the guy but this stuff happens. It's not like it was Obama or his bag was filled with national security secrets or a cure for cancer. I can summarize the story in a few words: Stallman had his bag containing his passport and important personal items stolen at a talk he gave. He was very upset. Really? That's big news? I could see bloggers passing the story around but when it ends up here I begin to wonder how much longer before HN is "not like it used to be".

I've criticized both RMS and Jobs on HN. People upvoted me for it. The quality of your arguments matters a lot in those and similar cases because people are more inclined to downvote for a poor argument where they would otherwise let it slide.

Exactly, thanks. Plus, HN is not a FOSS advocacy board. Most here are working with FOSS building proprietary products.

Exactly! If you want to convince a Christian that it would be better if some of Jesus's lessons were not followed, and you actually care about convincing them, then you should carefully phrase your criticism.

Perhaps that shouldn't be necessary, but if you rank spreading certain opinions higher than being able to spread them in a certain way, then you'll have to choose. I usually choose adjusting my communication to be more effective in spreading the opinion.

Of course some people can't be reasoned with, but if you communicate effectively, you will find most people can be reasoned with.

It appears 'rastingerzoh created an account just to troll this thread.

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