Software activist Richard Stallman calls cellphones “Stalin’s dream”

Thu, Mar 17, 2011

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Free software advocate Richard Stallman is an interesting fellow. Known as an American software activist, Stallman studied at both Harvard and MIT and is well-known for launching the GNU Project in 1983 and for taking his passion for non-proprietary software to ridiculous extremes.

To wit, here’s the setup he uses.

I am using a Lemote Yeelong, a netbook with a Loongson chip and a 9-inch display. This is my only computer, and I use it all the time. I chose it because I can run it with 100% free software even at the BIOS level.

To initialize the machine and boot, it uses PMON. Above that, it uses gNewSense, one of the totally free GNU/Linux distros.

I spend most of my time using Emacs. I run it on a text console, so that I don’t have to worry about accidentally touching the mouse-pad and moving the pointer, which would be a nuisance. I read and send mail with Emacs (mail is what I do most of the time).

Most recently, Stallman opined on the threat of cellphones, explaining why he doesn’t carry one.

“I don’t have a cell phone. I won’t carry a cell phone,” Stallman says. “It’s Stalin’s dream. Cell phones are tools of Big Brother. I’m not going to carry a tracking device that records where I go all the time, and I’m not going to carry a surveillance device that can be turned on to eavesdrop.”

via Network World

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