FrankForum (Frankness IS Forum)

Richard Stallman: Brilliant Philosopher or Arrogant Idealist ?

Richard Stallmall's belief in FOSS is without question and has done much in the past not least the GNU project and FSF (Free Software Foundation). He has sat numerous interviews purveying his beliefs refusing to budge. He scorns the likes of Linux Mint and Ubuntu for making Linux available to a wider audience by including proprietary software in their package.

But he is also arrogant and refuses to accept there can be a counter argument especially over the copyleft philosophy a prime example being the Brian Aker exchange regarding MySQL and GPL in 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrVayqOHbZw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baH5DvJGUTk

The question is Has Richard Stallman lost touch with Linux in its current form. Is the FOSS argument valid these days as it has been in the past. The blunt truth is the likes of Linux Mint and Ubuntu would fail on all levels if they relied on FOSS alone.

The answer to the problem is that... Stallman is an extremist. So while he has some 'good', there's also a lot of bad. He doesn't bother to take the time to balance his perspective and consider other variables.

In a way, it's a little selfish. What works for 'Stallman' doesn't always work for someone else. He doesn't even like GUIs that much for the most part and prefers console.