[schoen]

Richard Stallman is another example of someone who gives the same handful of speeches over and over (many times in almost exactly the same words). I've heard him describe over and over again the wastefulness of not being able to write software to interact with a university printer because the printer manufacturer choose to keep the necessary details secret.

[theoh]

I've never seen Stallman speak, but that sounds like a similar situation to this anecdote from Nottingham in the 80s:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XvwNKpDUkiE

It's a somewhat tedious story but it's all about the freedom to control your own hardware.

[schoen]

Stallman's version is described in http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch01.html

or with Stallman's edits (I'm not sure if he's modified this chapter) in

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Free_as_in_Freedom_2.0/Chapte...

[kzrdude]

his copyright and community talk has stayed with me since I heard it 12 years ago, it certainly was special (well argued) and left a lasting impression.