Andreessen, Metcalfe, Stallman and Swartz added to Internet Hall of Fame The Internet Society has announced the latest inductees into the Internet Hall of Fame, and is including a posthumous entry for internet activist Aaron Swartz. The Internet Hall of Fame was founded last year, and this second round adds 32 appointees in three categories: Pioneers, Innovators, and Connectors. The new inductees …
I am glad that rms made it on to that list.
What you are reading here likely came through code compiled with Richard's gcc. It could not get to you without somewhere touching on GNU code, of that I am sure. We might have had a free Internet without rms, but I doubt it. Look at how vigorous the makers of walled gardens *continue* to battle the open Internet. Imagine if Apple had even more control than it does now. Ugh.
I still think that rms gets a raw deal considering his contribution to the world.
Ten years ago, I wrote the following article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1012416/in-praise-richard-stallman
It was well received, but the world has continued to ignore rms as much as it can. A surprising number of technical people don't really know where all this stuff comes from. I am still peevish about how Dennis Ritchie's passing was overshadowed by Steve Jobs' passing. Doug Engelbart is still alive as I write this. I wonder what percentage of people whose livings depend upon his work have even heard of him. You would probably need a decimal point to express it in numbers.
I am, like rms, a 'hacker'. I am proud of that. In the culture of the people who gave you the Internet, it is a compliment. How many reading this do not even know that?
It does not happen nearly enough, but sometimes the good guys actually win.
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