The Genius Loop - Freedom to be Out There

A recent trip to Williamstown found myself and a fellow IT buddy taking in the message of this curious evangelical. An eager and intent crowd of wannabe Ivy Leaguers and their dozing professors seemed rapt in this curious blend of rage and karmatic ease. Fortunately this crowd didn't press him about his accusation that some countries 'rape' violators of software license. When making a point within his framework of 'four freedoms' he makes analogy about a drowning man at the same time acknowledging his inability to swim. The young, primarily male crowd gets rather giddy when Stallman starts his benediction. He dons an old disk platter and paisley tunic and gives a cute sermon ripe with geeky puns. While Linus calls Richard a philosopher its hard to discern a solid epistemology or even etymology when it comes to Mr. Stallman's notion of 'freedom'. His tight argument based on his homegrown tenets resembles a piece of code rather than the more traditional Occidental constructions.

As someone who has played Joe Integrator for almost twenty years, it's hard to envision businesses embracing the idea of 'free' software. Critical decision makers are perfectly happy to pay for solutions that provide reliable solutions without getting there hands dirty in the muck of code. As long as it fits within their profitability goals, all is usually well until the next upgrade. The ability for an employee or consultant to contact technical support fits within that paradigm. Necessary changes in operability is completely within grasp and fits within the normal range of two contracting parties. Rustling up your local GNU/Linux genius takes time and often has time limited results. Stallman's worldview often takes on an Us vs. Them paranoia. Proprietary limitations, flaws and questionable ad-ware policies often contribute to the big bad monopoly syndrome. But, as my buddy says, Microsoft will be there in ten years, your guru might not be. As any first year economic student is taught, not all monopolies are bad. They often produce cheap and efficient goods or services. If they are not dictated to exist by the state and are subject to anybody capable of mounting a challenge, who is being hurt ?

Personally, if a buddy wants my copy of Chief Architect 10, I don't feel compelled to share something that cost me over a grand. The people who took the time to create a product that 10 years ago was not possible deserve my hard earned money that creates utility for me. As far as I'm concerned no greater devotion to my buddy exists that would place the intellectual labor and property of others below it in the social contract. The fact that duplicating my USB key that comes with it is next to impossible or might destroy it, may prevent my urge to give it away, they are certainly justified in protecting their intellectual property. It's never clear if Mr. Stallman is just miffed at Bill Gates for licensing his own OS or thinks we should all wait for our daily bread in the form of universal applications from on high.

When he's not accusing Bill Gates of calling him a communist, Stallman can be on target on some issues. Perhaps it is better not to have a economy of concentrated wealth. Free software might provide employment to an entirely undiscovered segment of the IT industry. If new jobs are created based on free software, there seems to be little argument as to its efficacy. Public education would do well to promote open license/source software. The abominable attempts by Apple and Microsoft to capture the hearts and minds of future consumers in the state controlled classroom could use a dose of Stallman's karma. Students won't be the problem, teachers and administrators who don't/can't learn new things themselves anymore will be the problem. Don't trust anybody over thirty should be revived by savvy students of GNU/Linux revolution. Word processing and Power Point classes will simply not do in the year 2050.

Richard Stallman has a unique position in life. To a large extent he enjoys the luxury of genius. It is re-enforced by foundations willing to provide for him. In another respect he is a relic of the past much like his cherished DEC PDP's. Insulated in an Ivory Tower amongst a coterie of coding elites, his practical experience in the world might be called into question by some. The bottom line is that the GNU/Linux GPL provides people with the 'freedom' to use free software. While Stallman may argue that his ' four freedoms' deal with the issue of control, not choice, people still choose to buy or not buy software. As it becomes easier and easier to load new distributions on any system, it may become possible for future generations to free themselves from the shackles of proprietary regimes that exist in free markets. Markets spur competition and promote innovation, Uncle Bill tapped into that sentiment long before his mama set him up at IBM. Until then, we are stuck with consumers and end-users who would rather play games and visit chat rooms than explore the intricacies of source code. Those who embrace the endeavor as a 'joy' unto itself will always have the example of Stallman to turn to.