Thoughts on the film "Revolution OS"?

ozar · 2010-02-20 05:34:57

I enjoyed the film thoroughly and think all serious Linux users should view it at least once. Obviously there wasn't a lot of money spent on production, but the film did manage to get the point across.

Borosai · 2010-02-20 08:43:09

Peasantoid wrote:

Here is a link if mirrors.unixsol.org is going slow for y'all.
http://3p.peasantoid.org/revolution-os.avi

Thanks for the link.

mythus · 2010-02-20 12:02:07

Cyrusm wrote:

sure Richard Stallman might be a little nutters, but he's full of great ideas and a driven passion, without which the free software community wouldn't be what it is today. and as for Linus Torvalds, he offers a personable, friendly, and of course marketable face for open-source software. Plus, he came up with a really catchy name (you have to admit that Linux sounds more catchy than GNU.)

Yeah, especially since Linus didn't come up with the name Linux. He originally named it something else. It was his friend who hosted it for him that decided he didn't like the original name and named it Linux, a name that Linux ended up liking and keeping. Now if only Stallman had a friend that came up with a better name than a recursive acronym. No offense but GNU's Not Unix simply isn';t the best name idea IMO. But oh well eh?

toad · 2010-02-20 12:20:39

Berticus wrote:

I'm gonna be meeting Stallman in person on Monday. Sorry for being off topic, I just remembered.

Yeah, I'd have forgotten that, too

Seriously, he gave a great talk in Munich, Germany, on patents. I particularly liked the references to Beethoven or Mozart using copyrighted material - had current laws existed during their days.

And you know what? Of course he is right.

What I don't get: Why is he supposed to be nuts? I mean, I can think of plenty of people who are nuts, but RMS ain't one of them.

userzero · 2010-02-20 12:29:16

Thanks a lot for sharing this video! I really enjoyed watching it. And I do agree with Misfit138 about Linus and his kids on stage...

lustikus · 2010-02-20 12:52:10

I found a streaming video link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid … 627775409#

JezdziecBezNicka · 2010-02-21 10:04:01

Nice movie, gotta try this "linux" stuff one day ;)

That's something to show to ms fans. They might change their minds some day.

As for the "GNU/Linux vs Linux" case, I think Stallman is right. GNU represents a philosophy and imho it's very important that people that come to foss world are aware of it.

Besides, Linux wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for GNU:)

Last edited by JezdziecBezNicka (2010-02-21 10:04:21)

barzam · 2010-02-21 11:04:29

Is the movie really free to distribute? I personally wrote the director some time ago asking for permission to show the movie publicly and he authorized it if I acquired a legal copy of it. In the end I never had the opportunity to show it but that's besides the point I guess.

We don't want to pirate a movie about GNU/Linux would we?

Didn't find anything here saying it's free to distribute either:
http://www.revolution-os.com/about.html

JezdziecBezNicka · 2010-02-21 11:43:34

One can watch the whole piece from Google Video, no need to pirate.

Peasantoid · 2010-02-21 15:01:23

re: worries about piracy

It would be sadly ironic if a film advocating freedom were to be encumbered by ridiculous intellectual property laws.
Just saying.

** edit for typo

Last edited by Peasantoid (2010-02-21 15:01:56)

tlaloc · 2010-02-21 16:20:13

Linus summed that all up pretty well: "He is the philosopher, think of me as the engineer." And I cannot see anything else but a loving father playing with his daughters in this video. He may be an asshole from time to time, but talking to the Dalai Lama might get boring pretty soon, right?

JezdziecBezNicka · 2010-02-22 15:01:04

Tlaloc, we should be glad we have a representative like Stallman: http://bit.ly/RCVkW (note that the speech is mostly not about software)

As for Torvalds - he impressed me with git. I mean - that guy is really genius.

sHyLoCk · 2010-02-22 16:04:46

I liked the awesome cool song at the end. Very cool!

barzam · 2010-02-22 20:48:42

Well, Stallman himself likes those ridiculous IP laws. Why? Becuase with shorter copyright the works licensed by GPL will become public domain, free for everyone (including Microsoft et al.) to use to their liking. In any case, this movie is indeed "encumbered" by copyright - as is Arch Linux btw.

OT aside, I like the movie and I have seen it several times. I think it gives a fair and balanced (ha) picture of Linux and GNU. The movie "Pirates of the Silicon Valley" makes a good partner to this movie. The story of MS and Apple is as important and interesting.

Peasantoid · 2010-02-22 21:05:42

barzam wrote:

Well, Stallman himself likes those ridiculous IP laws. Why? Becuase with shorter copyright the works licensed by GPL will become public domain, free for everyone (including Microsoft et al.) to use to their liking. In any case, this movie is indeed "encumbered" by copyright - as is Arch Linux btw.

Not to drive the thread too far OT, but I wouldn't say rms likes those laws when it comes to 'intellectual property' (the phrase itself being a fallacy, in my entirely non-humble opinion). However, copyright is what allows copyleft its power. The purpose of IP laws is to enshackle you, whereas the purpose of copyleft is to ensure your freedom from such things. I thus do not advocate the removal of copyright, just 'intellectual property' laws; for without copyright, it would be impossible to have open-source licenses.

tlaloc · 2010-02-22 22:01:36

JezdziecBezNicka wrote:

Tlaloc, we should be glad we have a representative like Stallman: http://bit.ly/RCVkW (note that the speech is mostly not about software)
As for Torvalds - he impressed me with git. I mean - that guy is really genius.

I agree with most of Stallman's ideas - didn't want to bash him in any way. I still think that a representative should wash his hair from time to time, and that he should stop eating things from his feet in public.

Somehow, Linus the pragmatist/engineer appeals more to me - but there can be little doubt that we need both of them.

fogobogo · 2010-02-22 23:23:43

I simply think it's a bit one-sided as a documentary. Reminded me a bit of dot-com bubble hype and propanda. Entertaining nontheless.

Last edited by fogobogo (2010-02-22 23:24:07)

JezdziecBezNicka · 2010-02-22 23:49:22

tlaloc wrote:

I agree with most of Stallman's ideas - didn't want to bash him in any way. I still think that a representative should wash his hair from time to time, and that he should stop eating things from his feet in public. :D
Somehow, Linus the pragmatist/engineer appeals more to me - but there can be little doubt that we need both of them.

Well, I must admit I don't give a cr@p about how often he washes his hair nor what is his favourite meal :P

But true, we need both of them. Torvalds is my "hero" too (I admire them both for their integrity. You don't see many of their kind these days).

Btw Stallman wrote the gcc and gdb, so he also contributed in the "engineering" way ;)

toxygen · 2010-02-23 06:25:11

tlaloc wrote:

I agree with most of Stallman's ideas - didn't want to bash him in any way. I still think that a representative should wash his hair from time to time, and that he should stop eating things from his feet in public.

that's great. That's one of the things (besides his general philosophy) that I dig about RMS, he truly lives the ilfe of a mad prophet/activist/dare I say it, hippie?

Between him and linus, and everyone else in between that's contributed to OSS, GNU and linux in general, and the mindset that comes with the OSS world, I think we're slowly taking over the world, which was the plan all along of course

sand_man · 2010-02-23 11:00:36

I just finished watching it. It really is a great doco. Makes me feel sorry for RMS because he really doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

Misfit138 · 2010-02-23 16:00:00

sand_man wrote:

I just finished watching it. It really is a great doco. Makes me feel sorry for RMS because he really doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

I agree. I am not a doctor, but I personally feel that RMS has Asperger's Syndrome. I like to think of it as having all of your resources loaded up on one half of your brain, while the other half (things like grooming, and social skills) suffers a deficit.

Edit: It's f*cking scary as sh*t to read something like that (the link above) for me!

Last edited by Misfit138 (2010-02-23 16:05:21)

ozar · 2010-02-23 16:03:55

I think of Stallman as a free spirit in both, software and personal hygiene!

toad · 2010-02-23 16:04:53

Asperger? Disagree. He is a thoroughly nice chap, talked to him once. As for grooming - his hair was combed (well, more so than mine anyway) and there was no food in his beard. afaic full marks on all fronts.

Misfit138 · 2010-02-23 16:07:32

toad wrote:

Asperger? Disagree. He is a thoroughly nice chap, talked to him once. As for grooming - his hair was combed (well, more so than mine anyway) and there was no food in his beard. afaic full marks on all fronts.

From my clinical experience I consider that children and adults with Asperger's Syndrome have a different, not defective, way of thinking. The person usually has a strong desire to seek knowledge, truth and perfection with a different set of priorities than would be expected with other people. There is also a different perception of situations and sensory experiences. The overriding priority may be to solve a problem rather than satisfy the social or emotional needs of others. The person values being creative rather than co-operative. The person with Asperger's syndrome may perceive errors that are not apparent to others, giving considerable attention to detail, rather than noticing the 'big picture'. The person is usually renowned for being direct, speaking their mind and being honest and determined and having a strong sense of social justice. The person may actively seek and enjoy solitude, be a loyal friend and have a distinct sense of humour.

It's funny, but this is exactly how I perceive and would describe RMS and it's hard to believe one would disagree, for me.

toad · 2010-02-23 16:11:58

Hm, I hate to disagree with you, but show me one person in this world, just one, who can claim to see "the 'big picture'". I'd probably consider him/her a pretentious twat.

Whatever, interesting point of view. Wonder what RMS would make of this

Arch Linux

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