[chflags]

I'll bet Zuckerberg and countless Facebook employees have used software written by Stallman.

At the risk of being wrong, I'd even go so far as to say they need this software.

But does Stallman ever need to use software written by Zuckerberg or Facebook employees?

Personalities and errors in judgment aside, give respect and credit where it is due.

I have never needed Facebook's software. And I doubt I ever will.

From a purely utilitarian viewpoint, my gratitude goes to Stallman and the people who brought us the internet. I'm not sure what I could thank Facebook for.

If Zuckerberg had failed to be in the right place at the right time, there would always be a substitute.

But if there was no Stallman back in the 70's and 80's, would we still have gcc, gdb and so much free, open source software?

[umanwizard]

Nobody needs GNU software; they can use FreeBSD which is just as good. They can also use clang and lldb instead of gcc and gdb.

You can debate about whether those would have existed in their present form without the leadership of the FSF, but then you'd be making a different argument.

By the way, I'm not sure if you are trying to imply that Stallman brought us the Internet but I can't see how that could possibly be true.

[chflags]

"...I'm not sure if you are trying to imply that Stallman brought us the Internet..."

No. The opposite. I'm trying to draw attention to the fact that besides free open source software, improvements in the network allow companies like Facebook to grow as big as they are.

Before clang, FreeBSD used gcc. I'm actually not a GNU/Linux user; I wish BSD did not have to use gcc, but for as long as I've been a user, release engineering has always used gcc. I would personally prefer to use something like pcc as opposed to clang.

Today, lots of companies use GNU software, when they could just as easily use BSD. And many BSD users still need gcc to compile their OS. Not how I expected things to turn out but attacking Stallman makes little sense at this point.

Instead, maybe we should be thanking him.

Companies like Facebook offer very little while taking all our personal information for their commercial use, while open source projects like BSD and GNU continue to offer a great deal, without requiring so much as an account or password, much less tracking our every move.

[webkike]

Needed. LLVM hasn't been around as long as Facebook, and for a long time initially you couldn't (or wanted to) build the Linux kernel with it.

[whyever]

The BSD licence only exists because Stallman lobbied for it IIRC.

[swiley]

But the free (as in libre) software movement has done something socially that I don't think could have been accomplished with BSD.