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Comment by madair | Hacker News Reader

As much as I like Rob Pike, that's a pretty horrible patent to try to rationalize. Pretty weak rationalizations too: They let me do the research I want, they get to patent it; And: Heaven is boring.

I suppose there's a contingent here that doesn't mind patents on basic techniques, but let the karma suffer, my momma taught me right from wrong.

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I also don't buy his line that AT&T never threatened to sue anyone over the patent. Maybe not in the strict legal sense of the word, but if my company receives a letter from AT&T's legal department saying "hey maybe you guys should license this technology that you're using, which we have a patent on", then I'm going to pay attention. Why else would anyone give AT&T money after receiving this letter if not for the implied threat of a lawsuit?

Edit: It seems like he has the patent number wrong. US Patent #4555755 appears to be for a multiphase AC control system - http://www.google.com/patents?id=CFg7AAAAEBAJ&dq=4,555,7...

Yep: http://www.google.com/patents?id=UOMZAAAAEBAJ&dq=4555775

775, not 755

Riiight. You were in such danger of being voted down when you came out against software patents on Hacker News.

I don't like software patents or RMS; can't there be a sane middle ground?

Hehe, touche in hindsight. I don't know what I was thinking, but I do tend to expect worse for remarks like that, given the heavy VC presence.

Hackers loving patents & all those restrictions?. The world has changed hell a lot from the days I read real hackers notes on text files. I was a kid then & loved all that.

Update: added real

Those days hackers replied with facts, but didn't hide others opinions.

Yeah, his "only boring people [go] to heaven" comment acknowledges that RMS has the higher moral ground, and that seems to be the basis of his resentment. For someone who pretends to be okay with the moral compromises he has made -- and God knows we all make moral compromises -- he's pretty touchy about having them pointed out, no matter how politely.

"Yeah, his 'only boring people [go] to heaven' comment acknowledges that RMS has the higher moral ground"

I took at as a sarcastic indication that he didn't think it was a valid moral claim.

No, I think he was saying that normal people make moral compromises to improve their quality of life. A lot of people could walk or bike to work every day but drive instead. We recognize that choice as morally suboptimal, but we don't get worked up about it. We don't think people have an absolute obligation to always make the morally optimal choice.

As an ideologue and a moral gadfly, Stallman is less compromising than most. That's central to his role and value to the community. And it makes him annoying. Pike's statement was trying to swing sympathy from Stallman to him by pointing out that he (Rob Pike) is like us -- more compromising -- and Stallman is a purist who doesn't cut us the kind of slack we're accustomed to allowing ourselves.

Which does give me sympathy for him. Even minor moral compromises look dirty when you examine them closely. But there's value in the kind of intolerant, absolutist examination that a self-styled saint applies. That's Stallman's role, and I think he plays it well.

Good point.

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