Erik MoellerApr 2, 2021

When you're talking about Linux, it's okay to say that it's "open source".

It's okay to say that it's "free software".

It's okay to call it "GNU/Linux", "Linux", or to mess up its name.

It's okay to refer to it as "the one with the friendly penguin".

Part of RMS' legacy has been an incessant obsession with terminology and pedantry, overshadowing far more important shared objectives which are fundamentally emancipatory in nature.

Pedantry is not activism; it is alienating, not emancipatory.

Show threadFeoh
@eloquence I think you're 100% right but I think that's just part of the problem. The FSF represents a philosophy that is inherently and openly hostile to pragmatism, and quite frankly it isn't helping and never has. Advising user groups to have someone dress as a devil and antagonize people because their hardware has non free graphics hardware is a fine example IMO.
Apr 2, 2021 at 3:52pmWeb
Show threadErik MoellerApr 2, 2021

@feoh

Yeah, I think there is a lot of value in this question of "how open can the whole stack be" -- and how can we make that happen -- but to lash out against individual users because they use some proprietary driver somewhere is just absurd.

Show thread🚲Apr 2, 2021

@feoh @eloquence ill readily admit that public advocacy for software freedom has a history of being hamfisted, tone deaf, and and ridiculous.

I do need clarification on what pragmatism have the staunch libre activists been hostile to?

Show threadFeohApr 5, 2021
@the_gayest_doggo @eloquence RMS advising the folks who run Linux install parties that they should have someone dress up as a devil to antagonize folks with hardware that has non 100% free chipsets would be a prime example. Encourage 100% free hardware? Absolutely! It benefits everyone. Shame and antagonize people who didn't know any better and bought Nvidia? I see a marked lack of pragmatism in that stance.