Stallman eulogises Jobs

Richard Stallman has jumped the shark!

I came across this article the other day Stallman blasted over Jobs eulogy.

Here is what Richard Stallman said in his blog post:

Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died.


As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone." Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing.


Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective.

This post is a great example of whats wrong with the Open Software movement. Its out of line and ignores the realities of the world for a narrow point of view.

Most of the world doesn’t see the Apple ‘ecosystem’ as a ‘jail’, they see it as a solution to their problems.

Android is great but after living with a Samsung Galaxy SII for a while I have to admit that Android for all its promise is fundamentally flawed.

To make it work I need to play with it, software doesn’t always work from model to model, the bluetooth pairing with my car is patchy, most time it works - sometimes it doesn’t - when it doesn’t its a major pain and the voice command system isn’t great.

On the other hand the iPhone just works. I’ve had no trouble with stuff working as I expect, the bluetooth pairing is rock solid, the voice command system works, including with my car’s bluetooth which the Samsung doesn’t want to use.

If the Apple jail is all about making the technology accessible, and as easy to use as a toaster, you know what, great! Lets have more of it because most people don’t want to fuck with technology just to make a phone call from their car, get music moved from their computer to their portable player and so on.

99% of the planet just want it to work without any screwing around.

Its not a jail, its giving people what they want. They just want it to work.

This is something the Open Source movement needs to take to heart. If you want to become more than just a geek paradise, if you want to change the world, you need to solve people’s problems, not give them new ones.