5 ms·

You can't blame that on Stallman. He has always been completely clear and up front about what he will and will not speak about. And he always agrees on the topi

You can't blame that on Stallman. He has always been completely clear and up front about what he will and will not speak about. And he always agrees on the topic ahead of time with who ever is arranging the event. In other words. Who ever arranged this graduation obviously did a horrible job, and is the person you should blame.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
maximusprime 15y ago
I think it's fair to assume most people have basic "people" skills, humility, manners etc. Unfortunately that isn't the case with Stallman. He's an obsessive fundamentalist only concerned with one topic.
- Duff 15y ago
  That fact is well known. If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian, would you be upset at the speaker, or the idiot who hired him?
  - hugh3 15y ago
    It's well known within a certain rather narrow community of people. The folks who booked him may just have read his name on a list of "vaguely important people who are willing to give speeches".
  - fleitz 15y ago
    If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian but spit in people's faces when they extended their hand for a handshake, would you be upset at the speaker or the idiot who hired him? RMS lacks basic social graces. He preaches to the choir but somehow still manages to piss them off with pedantic shit like GNU/Linux. Why doesn't he just copyright it so he can plaster the GNU logo all over everything and be done with it.
    - burgerbrain 15y ago
      "If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian but spit in people's faces when they extended their hand for a handshake, would you be upset at the speaker or the idiot who hired him?" If their spitting was common knowledge, as RMS's eccentricities are, then yes. Of course I would be upset primary with whoever booked them...
    - wnight 15y ago
      > He preaches to the choir but somehow still manages to piss them off with pedantic shit like GNU/Linux. Maybe, just maybe, you aren't in the choir. I'm only saying this because you dismiss things many people find important.
- jtheory 15y ago
  He does, however, provide a rider before to anyone considering inviting him to speak that makes his personal obsession and his inflexibility around that obsession abundantly and explicitly clear. I have a suspicion that whoever booked him simply didn't read it, or didn't understand it. I mean, come on now -- other people make lots of noise about his eccentricities, and he himself basically wears a signboard explaining them, and then people are still surprised?
  - maximusprime 15y ago
    There are plenty of eccentrics who are still nice people.
    - kstenerud 15y ago
      And there are plenty who have no social graces. What of it? If you book a speaker without researching them, you have only yourself to blame when things go wrong.
    - jtheory 15y ago
      Yes; they are likely better candidates for commencement speakers. I wouldn't say rms "isn't a nice person" in this context -- he's just very focused on his cause, and he doesn't take detours or "tone it down" for the sake of avoiding temporary inconvenience to others. It's rare for people to stick to their own principles so studiously (unfortunately, perhaps?), so he even goes out of his way to warn them. It's not exactly stepping on puppies.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

maximusprime 15y ago

I think it's fair to assume most people have basic "people" skills, humility, manners etc. Unfortunately that isn't the case with Stallman. He's an obsessive fundamentalist only concerned with one topic.

Duff 15y ago
That fact is well known. If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian, would you be upset at the speaker, or the idiot who hired him?
- hugh3 15y ago
  It's well known within a certain rather narrow community of people. The folks who booked him may just have read his name on a list of "vaguely important people who are willing to give speeches".
- fleitz 15y ago
  If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian but spit in people's faces when they extended their hand for a handshake, would you be upset at the speaker or the idiot who hired him? RMS lacks basic social graces. He preaches to the choir but somehow still manages to piss them off with pedantic shit like GNU/Linux. Why doesn't he just copyright it so he can plaster the GNU logo all over everything and be done with it.
  - burgerbrain 15y ago
    "If your university hired someone who only spoke Mongolian but spit in people's faces when they extended their hand for a handshake, would you be upset at the speaker or the idiot who hired him?" If their spitting was common knowledge, as RMS's eccentricities are, then yes. Of course I would be upset primary with whoever booked them...
  - wnight 15y ago
    > He preaches to the choir but somehow still manages to piss them off with pedantic shit like GNU/Linux. Maybe, just maybe, you aren't in the choir. I'm only saying this because you dismiss things many people find important.
jtheory 15y ago
He does, however, provide a rider before to anyone considering inviting him to speak that makes his personal obsession and his inflexibility around that obsession abundantly and explicitly clear. I have a suspicion that whoever booked him simply didn't read it, or didn't understand it. I mean, come on now -- other people make lots of noise about his eccentricities, and he himself basically wears a signboard explaining them, and then people are still surprised?
- maximusprime 15y ago
  There are plenty of eccentrics who are still nice people.
  - kstenerud 15y ago
    And there are plenty who have no social graces. What of it? If you book a speaker without researching them, you have only yourself to blame when things go wrong.
  - jtheory 15y ago
    Yes; they are likely better candidates for commencement speakers. I wouldn't say rms "isn't a nice person" in this context -- he's just very focused on his cause, and he doesn't take detours or "tone it down" for the sake of avoiding temporary inconvenience to others. It's rare for people to stick to their own principles so studiously (unfortunately, perhaps?), so he even goes out of his way to warn them. It's not exactly stepping on puppies.