I had dinner with Richard M. Stallman (RMS) tonight. He is an interesting and impressive person but also a very quirky character and somewhat argumentative. I invited him and a few others to a nice restaurant downtown in Minneapolis. RMS likes good food. RMS makes lots of little jokes about words. I ordered "nori encrusted sirloin w/ ponzu" and he a said "careful, it may be a 'ponzu scheme' and you'll have to get two of us to order it before they'll serve yours." Someone else at the table worked in microfinance and RMS said that "microfine ants must be really tiny ants." He told me he had visited Tumbaco, Ecuador. (My wife is Ecuadorean.) He said "it's where they bury all the people who die from cigarette smoking." I was surprised to hear that. Then he told me it was a joke. Tomb + tobacco = Tumbaco (that is how it is pronounced). Doh! I told my wife later and she thought it was kinda funny because it works in Spanish even better than in English (tumba = tomb & tobaco = tobacco, so it would be like Tombacco in English, just asking for a joke). This is the guy who brought us GNU = GNU's Not UNIX, so I should have known there'd be silly wordplay at dinner. Aside from the funny stuff, it was interesting to hear him talk about free software. He says that proprietary software is unethical. I need to hear more from him about ethics. I've read a lot of his stuff but I don't understand why proprietary software is immoral, at least I don't understand it well enough to convince anyone else. I know why I don't like it and why I want to avoid it, but that is based on years of bad experiences with it (and good experiences with free software), not on a philosophical argument. He'll be giving a talk tonight (Tuesday) and I'll find out more there. I asked him how he makes a living and he told me that all of his income comes from speaking engagements -- all of it. I guess the FSF, book sales and software sales don't add up to much at all. He's very politically aware. Just after I ordered a Diet Coke, and it was too late to change my mind, he told me that Coca Cola has been hiring people to murder labor organizers in Colombia. He directed me to this web page: http://www.killercoke.org/ I haven't been able to study it yet and decide if I believe it, but he clearly believed it and he won't consume any Coca Cola products. RMS travels often to many parts of the planet and knows people in many countries. He is a very impressive guy, but I would be remiss and maybe a little biased if I didn't mention that he is really very socially maladroit at times. There is no doubt that this is hindering his progress in promoting free software. On the other hand, he is so extreme in his dedication that he accomplishes much more than anyone else despite his social limitations. Maybe no one person can have everything at once. It certainly seems that most computer geniuses and most extreme idealists have some problems getting along with others. The price they pay? Apparently, RMS doesn't say good-bye. Instead, he closes with... Happy Hacking! Mike