Protest against ATI nearly led to the arrest of RMS

I am no RMS fan.

Not even close.

Things like this, however, are precisely why we need the head-case brigade. Reasonable folks don't tend to do the annoying things that preserve our freedom.

Is it silly for RMS to stand there with his anti-ATI sign?

Probably.

But...

You never know from whence the Patrick Henry ("but as for me, give me liberty or give me death") moments will arise. Sometimes, even silly fights protect important rights...even more important than those originally intended.

Shame on the people who put on that event. A silent protest of the type in which RMS engaged was well within the bounds of civil expression.

Good to see the police got it right once they figured out what was going on. You'd think the folks with Phds would have been one step ahead of them.

dinotrac not an RMS fan?!? I'm shocked, shocked I say! Anyone want to help me organize a little effigy bonfire on dino's front lawn? We must purify him for his own good.

I'll quote a bit more of the article, here. Should be sufficiently little to be fair use as well as remaining a 'teaser' to read the real thing.

"The officer then asked what the disturbance was and the faculty member relented - they were worried that there would be an incident, but that it hadn't yet happened.

"The officer did not like this answer, [...]"

dinotrac: The above suggests the police "got it right" as you say, even in the face of misinformation. That faculty member simply jumped the gun. Hmm -- maybe the 'phone call went like... 'Officer, come quick! There's a disturbance here with a long-haired, bearded man with a sign!' And a possible post-removal, post-questioning explanation, 'Well, he has long hair, a beard and his sign disagrees with our guest speaker. It disturbed me.'

I can see why some might consider RMS a little scary looking. ;-) Still, I just love my civil rights.

dcparris: Your comment made me think. (That's not good for air quality). Since the speech was delivered on campus property, wouldn't the campus cops actually have the right to remove him even if the real police could not, without some violation?

> Since the speech was delivered on campus property, wouldn't the campus cops actually have the right to remove him even if the real police could not, without some violation?

That would depend on the university's internal rules and regulations. Some token nod to free speech is probably a given, so RMS was probably safe.

This is just plain cool. RMS is a cool guy. You call that silly? I call it a sight I wished I could see more often, someone standing up for what he believes, no matter what.

jdixon: If it were clearly public property or clearly private property (like, for instance, ATI's corporate headquarters), it would be easier for me to figure out jurisdiction and rights, etc. The campus setting makes it a puzzler for me. Would everyone there be considered guests of the university? Was it a gamble on RMS's part that any attempt to stop his protest would be made by public police instead of university officials?

Yeah, I know, it's a bunch of hypothetical stuff.

One would hope that MIT would give more than a token nod to free speech.

all --

On reading my original post, my usual brilliant clarity of thought managed to stumble, allowing room for a tiny confusion...

My reference to silly fights was not aimed at the substance of RMS's protest. It is not silly to pressure vendors into providing open and free drivers. Depending on your point of view (that is, without benefit of hindsight and the unexpected freedom-enhancing impact of making the faculty gestapo look just plain loopy), the act of standing in that room with that sign could be viewed as silly.

But...and this is key...different strokes for different folks. It's those darned agitating differences that make good and wonderful things happen. Ain't we all glad he don't listen to me?

I for one would be ecstatic if ATI were to succumb to the pressure, and, release their driver source.

dinotrac:

It's ok. We understand that sometimes the attendents are a little slow with the meds.

The photo of RMS with that huge sign tucked under his hairy chin is what I assumed you were referring to in your original comment. Taken alone, without knowing the context, it does look comical. That's good marketing, IMO. It's a pretty safe bet that at least one attendee turned to another and asked, 'Who is the [hippie||clown] with the sign?'

grouch -

>It's a pretty safe bet that at least one attendee turned to another and asked, 'Who is the [hippie||clown] with the sign?'

Or possibly even something more useful, like "I don't know who those ATI people are, but I'm sure not going to buy anything from them. What kind of people would go around agitating a poor homeless guy like that? I'll bet they're keeping him from getting his meds."

Hey -- nobody ever said the truth was the only way to get where you're going!!!!

LMAO!

This is the same fight RMS started with.

He started writing Free software to use a printer that had no drivers publicly available.

He wants the freedom to use, distribute, enhace, and review the drivers.

The GPL he helped create allows any author to charge as much as they want for their software and services, as long as the source is freely available. So he is not against making money.

He has not changed. He should not change.

The fight he started for user's freedom is not over. He is still fighting for your rights.

Many of us don't feel as passionate about it as RMS does. (That's why he's holding the sign and I'm not.) But I do understand his passion, and do not begrudge him his beliefs.

> One would hope that MIT would give more than a token nod to free speech.

One would, yes, but given the way many universities are acting lately, that's not a certainty. Especially when it comes to religious or political positions.

>Especially when it comes to religious or political positions.

aka "The really important stuff"

>but given the way many universities are acting lately,

Heh... given the clues that government and business are giving them, why are we suprised ;-) ?

> ...why are we suprised...

Not surprised, just disappointed.