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Whether gods exist or not, there is no way to get absolute certainty about ethics. Without absolute certainty, what do we do? We do the best we can.

Richard Stallman

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Richard Stallman
Age: 71
Born: 1953
Born: March 16
Activist
Blogger
Computer Scientist
Engineer
Free Sofware Activist
Inventor
Programmer
Manhattan borough
New York City
Richard M. Stallman
rms
Richard Matthew Stallman
St. iGNUcius
Chief GNUisance
Way
Gods
Absolutes
Absolute
Ethics
Exist
Whether
Best
Without
Certainty

More quotes by Richard Stallman

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Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system software free, just like air.
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Open source is a development methodology free software is a social movement.
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Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.
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My favorite programming languages are Lisp and C. However, since around 1992 I have worked mainly on free software activism, which means I am too busy to do much programming. Around 2008 I stopped doing programming projects.
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Our mailing lists (and their repeater newsgroups) are only for the purpose of promoting proprietary software.
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I'm always happy when I'm protesting.
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Android is a major step towards an ethical, user-controlled, free-software portable phone, but there is a long way to go.
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Would a dating service for people on the net be frowned upon by DCA? I hope not. But even if it is, don't let that stop you from notifying me via net mail if you start one.
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Proprietary software tends to have malicious features. The point is with a proprietary program, when the users dont have the source code, we can never tell. So you must consider every proprietary program as potential malware.
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No person, no idea, and no religion deserves to be illegal to insult, not even the Church of Emacs.
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Playfully doing something difficult, whether useful or not, that is hacking.
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You can use any editor you want, but remember that vi vi vi is the text editor of the beast.
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The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we've redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do.
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Copying all or parts of a program is as natural to a programmer as breathing, and as productive. It ought to be as free.
Richard Stallman
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The idea of copyright did not exist in ancient times, when authors frequently copied other authors at length in works of non-fiction. This practice was useful, and is the only way many authors' works have survived even in part.
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If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict the use of these programs.
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Today many people are switching to free software for purely practical reasons. That is good, as far as it goes, but that isn't all we need to do! Attracting users to free software is not the whole job, just the first step.
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Without absolute certainty, what do we do? We do the best we can. Injustice is happening now suffering is happening now. We have choices to make now. To insist on absolute certainty before starting to apply ethics to life decisions is a way of choosing to be amoral.
Richard Stallman
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Anything that prevents you from being friendly, a good neighbour, is a terror tactic.
Richard Stallman
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I've read that male dolphins try to have sex with humans, and female apes solicit sex from humans. What is wrong with giving them what they want, if that's what turns you on, or even just to gratify them?
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