On Sun, 2009-11-01 at 17:05 +0000, Brian McNeil wrote:

I'm looking at doing a couple of in-depth feature length interviews in the next week or two. It seems I've landed the first, and the second may come in the next week or so.

The subjects are Richard M. Stallman ('almost' confirmed) and Lawrence Lessig (email has to go through secretary/assistant and I'm trying to circumvent that).

RMS' response to my approach was basic preconditions. He gets quite upset when people mix up GNU, Linux, the Free Software Movement, and Open Source.

Please comment on this and suggest research avenues.

I've done the initial research into RMS, and this could end up a sprawling and messy interview. GET INVOLVED! Even is that is just commenting that this is interesting, and you want the work to go ahead. I could do with the encouragement on what is a complex interviewee, who could be 'difficult' to work with. If you've not seen RMS' response to my approach and reaction to his "terms of interview", email me off-list and I will forward.

Anyway, RMS isn't known to our non-geeky readers, and those who are may have some prejudices, writing an article with all his preferred terminology is not going to be enlightening or informative.

So, interview would be done over a series of emails - frame who he is, where he fits in, why he pushes Free so hard, and then move on.

For context, I've some background on RFCs (*the* Internet standards). Question what he thinks of Jon Postel's contribution, &c.

RFCs started '69; first April 7, 1969. 69-98 Postel rfc editor; his obit is RFC 2468.

[There's a reference to Van Nuys High School in relation to Postel - I link that to PKD, can anyone see a way to use that?] * Vint Cert wrote the RFC obit.

For RMS:

The Wikipedia article on [[GPL]] currently has a NPOV-related tag.

GPLv1 - 1989, general-use to replace Emacs, debugger, compiler licenses. circa '06 - over 50% of known free' software packages GPL. *GPL gave framework for projects like Linux with minimal risk to contributors having work 'misappropriated'.

GPLv3 released June 29 '07. Aiming to close loopholes/abuse of commercial parties on prior GPL.

-Ballmer called the GPL a "cancer" in 2001.

RMS - history

-At MIT AI lab '71. Graduated Harvard magna cum laude '74. Objected to DARPA constraints/'interference' in academic research. Took stance against password-protected access to systems, wrote password cracker, sent all other AI lab users their 'cracked' passwords, said make blank - back to anon access.

'79 called "timebomb"/usage restrictions in Scribe "crime against humanity". Later nuanced to 'block user freedom being the crime; not the fact you paid for the software'.

- views the 'moral' aspect of software freedom as vitally important.

'85 GNU manifesto. Led to FSF, 'copyleft'.

'90 began Hurd.

'91 Linus starts Linux.

'02 Technlology journo Andrew Leonard in a Salon article, 'uncompromising stubbornness common among top programmers'. - Re: "Code free or die" bio.

- Seriously opposed to Software Patents. - Started GNUpedia around time of Nupedia, shifted support to WP. - considered non-materialistic; describes self as living like student. - doesn't browse web (has this changed?)

That's it for now. I've some ideas on opening questions from this. The rest of you get with the program. ;-)