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.
Richard StallmanRead
Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.
Interpretation
What this quote means
You may choose to avoid engaging with politics, but it will inevitably affect you regardless of your choice.
This quote emphasizes the idea that while individuals may believe they can distance themselves from political matters, the reality is that politics is deeply intertwined with every aspect of society. Richard Stallman highlights the inescapable nature of political influence, asserting that it will impact peopleβs lives whether they want to acknowledge it or not, suggesting the importance of awareness and engagement in political affairs.
Themes
PoliticsAwarenessEngagementSocietyImpact
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for civic engagement, a speaker might use this quote to encourage people to take an active role in their communities.
More from Richard Stallman
All quotes βProprietary software keeps users divided and helpless. Divided because each user is forbidden to redistribute it to others, and helpless because the users can't change it since they don't have the source code. They can't study what it really does. So the proprietary program is a system of unjust power.
Richard StallmanRead
EMACS could not have been reached by a process of careful design, because such processes arrive only at goals which are visible at the outset, and whose desirability is established on the bottom line at the outset. Neither I nor anyone else visualized an extensible editor until I had made one, nor appreciated its value until he had experienced it. EMACS exists because I felt free to make individually useful small improvements on a path whose end was not in sight.
Richard StallmanRead
One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control. It's just as bad as using a proprietary program. Do your own computing on your own computer with your copy of a freedom-respecting program. If you use a proprietary program or somebody else's web server, you're defenceless.
Richard StallmanRead
Proprietary software is an injustice.
Richard StallmanRead
Proprietary software tends to have malicious features. The point is with a proprietary program, when the users don't have the source code, we can never tell. So you must consider every proprietary program as potential malware.
Richard StallmanRead
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