This isn't the first time that RMS has proposed something like this. He's talked about it since before he was aware of bitcoins and it stems from the problems presented by companies such as PayPal. I think that people tend to forget just how much coding RMS HAS done in the past. From what I understand he has problems with his fingers that cause him a lot of pain when he spends too much time typing. He even had(and maybe still has) a small keyboard that he would connect to his notebook because the keys were easier to press and it hurt less. A person with that problem probably isn't capable of much coding anyway. It's really easy for people to take stabs at RMS because he's quirky and doesn't always say or beleive the most popular things. It's funny because we want our politicians to be more real and honest but when people like RMS are real and honest we want them to be more like politicians.

If you feel this way then you need to let the W3C know. Join their mailing list and let them know how you feel. Right now they pretty much have a Netflix employee defending everything he can about DRM. The only people in opposition to it on that mailing list right now have a very small voice. Jump on and voice this opinion. Overwhelm them the way that we overwhelmed them with PIPA and SOPA.

I knew that much about it. I didn't know just how much of their software wasn't free software and actually didn't care that much to dig in and find out at the time. I might look into it some more though. I try to avoid non-free software.

I have one of their cameras in use as well. I didn't even try their program I just used ZoneMinder directly. That works pretty well actually. I couldn't do a direct video stream to the system and ended up running it through ffmpeg but it is still working well. My biggest complaint with the camera is the cheap plastic mount. If you use the camera outdoors then the wind blows the camera and causes a motion event. Other than that it's great for the price.

You are entitled to your opinion. The fact of the matter, though, is that there are thousands(being conservative) of useful software packages that are free. Being free is a major priority but being free only matters when the software is useful. In fact RMS didn't even like Unix back when he started the GNU project but he realized that in order to have a really USEFUL system it needed to be portable. Unix was a good fit for that. Freedom was not good without a useful system and the same holds true today.

RMS himself has stated that software freedom takes a back seat to more important moral issues in the world. He knows this and you should too being that you've claimed to have read all of his essays. Additionally, as more and more aspects of our daily lives are controlled by software this issue has become important. As Lawrence Lessig has written: "Code is Law".

I think much of that has to do with the fact that most people learn of Linux and want to know more. They do some research and stumble upon Linus Torvalds. Many never even hear of RMS until an article like this one is posted to ./ or some other tech site. Most times it's just a forum to bash RMS for his eccentricity. It's the popular thing to do right now.

The movement grows based on its principles, not on the people that started it.

Bad hygiene is one thing, opinions and ideas are another. I think that everyone should leave this video out of discussions about real issues. All it does is detract from the topic under discussion. If you want to fixate on that video start a blog and talk about it all that you want.

Richard, I know of all of the essays you've written but have never come across any detailed writings about your experiences in putting together the GNU project and writing different tools. Have you ever thought about describing your experiences and publishing those writings? I'd be very interested in learning more about specific experiences you've had and specific problems you've encountered. Getting a perspective of what you were thinking when you encountered various problems and the thought process you used to solve these problems could be useful to other people when similar problems are encountered. Your general philosophy is well documented but I'm sure there are many technical problems you've been able to solve that many people don't know about or would like to know more about. Thank you for your contributions to Free Software!

There are laws that forbid that sort of thing. Where there are not a limit imposed by a software license wouldn't do any good.

Very nice. I'm going to read up a bit more on this project as I find it interesting. Hopefully you're free of all binary blobs. Keep hacking!

I chose "other" because I'm running Replicant. Technically it is Android but it's Android liberated. So there is a distinction.

I'm not going to bother reading every post made here. The premise of the question is wrong and either needs to be rethought or have the wording corrected and re-posted. I'm seeing arguments here about patents. Who said IP was a patent? Could it be copyright? Maybe trademark? Do any of these seem to have anything to do with each other? No. Quit using the term Intellectual Property. If you mean copyright then refer to copyright. If you mean trademark then refer to it. Don't screw up the debate by confusing the issue from the beginning. See RMS: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html

I totally agree with you on this one. It's just their propaganda. They'll deliver it any way that they can.