Update

rms.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Stallman has been critical of [capitalism](capitalism.md) though he probably isn
 
 In the book *Free As In Freedom* it is also mentioned that **Stallman had aversion to passwords and secrecy in general** -- at MIT he used the username RMS with the same password so that other people could easily log in through his account and access [ARPANET](arpanet.md) (the predecessor of [Internet](internet.md)). Indeed, we applaud this, the "[security](security.md)" hysteria is killing the computing world.
 
-As [anarchists](anarchism.md) we of course despise the idea of worshiping people, creating [heroes](hero_culture.md) and cults of personalities, but the enormous [historical](history.md) significance of Stallman cannot be overstated, it's a plain and simple fact and though we may disagree with some of his methods and views, it's as clear as it can be that he many times acted [selflessly](selflessness.md), in favor of all people -- something that can ever be said about very few. Most other old time hackers, such as [Eric S. Ramyond](esr.md) and [Rob Pike](rob_pike.md), immediately abandoned all ideals of ethics and jumped the capitalist train with the first smell of [money](money.md), Stallman stayed opposed to it, and for this he holds our uttermost admiration. Even though in [our days](21st_century.md) his name is overshadowed by rich [businessman](entrepreneurs.md) and creators of commercially successful technology and even though we ourselves disagree with Stallman on some points, in the future [history](history.md) may well see Stallman as perhaps the greatest man of the software era, and rightfully so. Stallman isn't a mere creator of a commercially successful software product or a successful politician, he is an extremely morally strong philosopher, a great example to others, a prophet, someone who sees the truth and hands it to the people -- he brilliantly foresaw the course of events and quickly defined ethics needed for the new era of cheap programmable computers at the right time, before the hammer hit. And not only that, he also managed to coordinate efforts so as to establish this ethics as a standard IN SPITE of all the world's [corporations](corporation.md) [fighting](fight_culture.md) back, in a field that back then was relatively obscure, unpopular in the mainstream and hence not much supported by any mass media. He is also extremely unique in not pursuing personal self interest, in not succumbing to luxury, in TRULY living his own philosophy, dedicating his whole life to his cause and refusing to give in even partially. All of this is at much higher level than simply becoming successful and famous within the contemporary capitalist system, his life effort is pure, true and timeless, unlike things achieved by pieces of shit such as [Steve Jobs](steve_jobs.md).
+As [anarchists](anarchism.md) we of course despise the idea of worshiping people, creating [heroes](hero_culture.md) and cults of personalities, but the enormous [historical](history.md) significance of Stallman cannot be overstated, it's a plain and simple fact and though we may disagree with some of his methods and views, it's as clear as it can be that he many times acted [selflessly](selflessness.md), in favor of all people -- something that can ever be said about very few. A multitude of old time hackers, such as [Eric S. Ramyond](esr.md) and [Rob Pike](rob_pike.md), immediately abandoned all ideals of ethics and jumped the capitalist train with the first smell of [money](money.md), Stallman stayed opposed to it, and for this he holds our uttermost admiration. Even though in [our days](21st_century.md) his name is overshadowed by rich [businessman](entrepreneurs.md) and creators of commercially successful technology and even though we ourselves disagree with Stallman on some points, in the future [history](history.md) may well see Stallman as perhaps the greatest man of the software era, and rightfully so. Stallman isn't a mere creator of a commercially successful software product or a successful politician, he is an extremely morally strong philosopher, a great example to others, a prophet, someone who sees the truth and hands it to the people -- he brilliantly foresaw the course of events and quickly defined ethics needed for the new era of cheap programmable computers at the right time, before the hammer hit. And not only that, he also managed to coordinate efforts so as to establish this ethics as a standard IN SPITE of all the world's [corporations](corporation.md) [fighting](fight_culture.md) back, in a field that back then was relatively obscure, unpopular in the mainstream and hence not much supported by any mass media. He is also extremely unique in not pursuing personal self interest, in not succumbing to luxury, in TRULY living his own philosophy, dedicating his whole life to his cause and refusing to give in even partially. All of this is at much higher level than simply becoming successful and famous within the contemporary capitalist system, his life effort is pure, true and timeless, unlike things achieved by pieces of shit such as [Steve Jobs](steve_jobs.md).
 
 **Is Richard Stallman a celebrity?** To [us](lrs.md) the question is of importance because we oppose the existence of celebrity status in itself. The answer is likely this: to a certain degree he indeed is a small celebrity (though not nearly a Hollywood scale one, 99% of normal people never heard of him), but at least to a similar level he is just a well known expert in a very important, though obscure area of software ethics. So yes, we ought to dislike the celebrity part -- any worship of a man as god is acceptable only as subject of a [meme](meme.md), we must never see him as a [hero](hero_culture.md) or "leader". He seems to be a very rare case of a mini celebrity that managed to keep a sense of morality despite his fame, perhaps because he never aimed to become famous and his celebrity status, quite uncommonly, came to him rather accidentally, more because he wasn't careful enough to avoid it rather than because he would actively pursue it (which even in his time was rare, and [nowadays](21st_century.md) is probably impossible). This is not an excuse -- if someone resists hard enough, he can never become a celebrity -- but it may be an extenuating circumstance. This is to say: yes, it sucks he's partially a celebrity, but at least one of the least harmful ones.