Richard Stallman has his bag stolen in Argentina

By tiagosilva29
in Real World News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

tiagosilva29

Posted
Posted
As a conference curator and fellow argentinian, and due to the lack of any reports in English, I thought I?d share a brief summary of a very unfortunate occurrence: Richard Stallman, father of the FSF, had his bag containing his laptop, medicine, money and passport stolen after his talk at the University of Buenos Aires on Friday, June 8.

Despite his controversial views on a variety of topics, his evangelism work all over the world is a true inspiration for countless people. Almost a decade ago, as I was getting fully immersed in the world of Unix and programming, I sneaked out of school to watch the genius who created GCC, GDB, emacs deliver a compelling presentation in flawless spanish.

His presentation back then was followed by a ritual that was repeated yesterday: anyone in the audience could walk up to him, exchange a few words, get a sticker and a picture. Unfortunately, on this occasion someone decided to take advantage of the ruckus and take his bag.

Shortly after he realized his bag was gone, according to Partido Pirata, Stallman found himself in utter despair, cursing out loud. The report goes on to convey the truly heartbreaking image of a hopeless RMS sitting at the university staircase, crying.

As a result of this occurrence, he was forced to cancel his talk in Cordoba, and it?s still unknown how this will impact the rest of his speaking engagements throughout the world.

For the rest of us who also do fair amounts of traveling and speaking, more than ever is it important to emphasize that it is not just cyber-crime we should watch out for.

Source: http://www.devthough...d-in-argentina/

YQmRXl.jpg

Give it back, Mephistopheles.

Community Regular

seafirex

Posted
Posted

Another thing people don't realise, they said : As a result of this occurrence, he was forced to cancel his talk in Cordoba, and it?s still unknown how this will impact the rest of his speaking engagements throughout the world.

That means , so basically he had everything in there, his speech etc.... if he spent a large amount of time to write it and if he was going to be paid to present it, they just destroyed his work. With a basic act like that.

I think he does have the right to cry at this point. ( no money no way of getting out of the country he his in, or sleep somewhere, eat ).

Grand Master

Japlabot

Posted
Posted

He probably does have it backed up, on an offsite hard drive back home because as he does not trust the Cloud or anyone other than himself to hold his data. That, or he refuses to touch anyone elses' computer out of principal that it might contain non-OSS software in the BIOS (He uses a special computer that is fully OSS right down to the hardware I heard). Travel insurance covers everything that is material. To put himself in a position where he needs to cancel his talk because of a laptop loss (which just as easily could have been hardware failure), he must not be as smart as everyone seems to think he is.

Veteran

rfirth

Posted
Posted

if he spent a large amount of time to write it and if he was going to be paid to present it, they just destroyed his work. With a basic act like that.

I spend a large amount of time writing software and I'd like to be paid... piracy is also a basic act :p

Grand Master

tiagosilva29

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Crying over that tho, thats pretty sad. I've had worse happen, but to cry over it, geez man..

In other news, I pooped about 37.5 minutes ago. Oh, what's that, you don't care? Because I am not famous? Lol...
I don't think you ever looked at the **** that is posted in this section. Then again, the helicopter accident from Paul Allen's yatch (neither Allen or Gates were involved) was frontpaged last year.
Grand Master

mudslag

Posted
Posted

Ok so he is someone I could care less about, got it.

In all fairness, I understand copyright laws can get out of hand but at the same time, I understand people have a right to do with what they please with their software that they worked hard for.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) 18.1.5.5

      By Copernic · Posted

      Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) 18.1.5.5 by Razvan Serea Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) is a utility for completely removing AMD/NVIDIA/INTEL graphics drivers and related packages from your system, attempting to eliminate all leftovers (including registry entries, folders and files, driver store). Though AMD/NVIDIA/INTEL drivers can usually be removed via the Windows Control Panel, this uninstaller tool was created for situations where standard uninstall fails, or when you need to fully remove NVIDIA or ATI graphics card drivers. After using this driver cleaner, your system will behave as though it’s the first time you’re installing a new driver—similar to a fresh Windows installation. As with all such tools, we recommend creating a restore point beforehand, allowing you to undo changes if issues arise. If you're having trouble installing an older or newer driver, try it—there are reports that it resolves such problems. Recommended usage: The tool can be used in Normal mode but for absolute stability when using DDU, Safemode is always the best. Make a backup or a system restore (but it should normally be pretty safe). It is best to exclude the DDU folder completely from any security software to avoid issues. You do NOT need to uninstall the driver prior using DDU. Requirements: .NET Framework 4.8 Compatible with Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11 (32-bit or 64-bit) Note: Using on Insider Preview builds is at your own risk. Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) 18.1.5.5 changelog: Added 'Reset to recommended' button for the Options. General fixes and improvements. Download: Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) 18.1.5.5 | 1.7 MB (Freeware) Download: DDU Portable | 1.2 MB Links: Display Driver Uninstaller Home Page | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • WACUP 1.99.51.24568 Preview

      By Copernic · Posted

      WACUP 1.99.51.24568 Preview by Razvan Serea WACUP (WinAmp Community Update Project) is a modern, enhanced version of the classic Winamp music player, designed for better stability, performance, and compatibility. Built for Windows, WACUP retains the familiar Winamp interface while adding 64-bit support, bug fixes, and new features like improved audio format support, customizable skins, and optimized playlist management. Unlike bloated alternatives, WACUP focuses on lightweight performance and regular updates, making it the best choice for fans of the classic Winamp experience. Basically, if you miss the good old days of Winamp and want a modern upgrade that doesn’t mess things up, WACUP is for you! WACUP key features: Classic Winamp Feel – Keeps the familiar interface and functionality. Bug Fixes & Stability – Fixes old Winamp issues and improves performance. 64-Bit Support – Works better on modern systems. More Formats & Plugins – Supports additional audio formats and third-party plugins. Customizable UI – Skins and tweaks for a personalized look. Better Library Management – Improved playlists, media organization, and search. No Bloat – Focuses on performance without unnecessary extras. Regular Updates – Community-driven development with new features and fixes. WACUP 1.99.51.24568 Preview changelog: Fixed a deadlock seen from the recent crash reports when doing some of the drag + drop actions within the media library window Fixed a loading crash seen related to a problem with some of the artwork cache image files being restored which should now be better handled allowing for the bad image to be removed without it failing Fixed a deadlock seen from the recent crash reports when the internal metadata cache clearing is triggered which could block the main ui thread for too long with this now being moved to a background thread Fixed some performance issues with some of the methods related to determining artwork support which mainly affected the local library import / refresh (this is still slower for some compared to other players because there's more data & artwork aspects being checked for which means doing more processing on a single file despite the best of attempts to reduce duplicate / heavy processing where possible) Fixed a crash with the JTFE based missing files hotkey which no one seems to have used for an age for this to appear (maybe it's time to seriously consider stripping out features that aren't being used) Fixed how some of the file types which use extra information to reference their sub-songs is handled which was preventing some from being correctly resolved back to their base file (noticed fixing above) Fixed an issue with the handling of files with underscores in their filepath which wasn't being correctly handled causing some of the filename to be lost when shown as the title if title reading is delayed Fixed a few things that might be behind NotSoDirect not being stable for some setups though am still not certain that the changes done for this are going to fully resolve the problem from the crash reports Fixed the OS toast handling when there's no prior shortcut in the OS start menu to now create the shortcut (needed to allow the yes/no buttons for the new build / post-release toast) to be done as a hidden one so it's less likely to cause annoyance for those not wanting to see it whilst still allowing this less than ideal OS api implementation requirement to be met to avoid toasts without the needed buttons Fixed a regression when moving from taglib1 to taglib2 which broke some of the handling in place to allow for external programs to still access files when wacup has a held open cached instance of the file Everything else Updated cppwinrt (gen_win10shell.dll) to 3.0.260520.1 (26 May 2026) Updated libcurl (libcurl.dll) to 8.2.1 (24 Jun 2026) Updated Monkey's Audio (in_ape.dll) to 13.15 (28 Jun 2026) Updated mpg123 (mpg123.dll) to 1.33.6 (6 Jun 2026) Updated OpenSSL (libcurl.dll) to 3.5.7 (9 Jun 2026) Updated pugixml to 1.16 (16 Jun 2026) Updated taglib (tag2.dll) to 2.3.0 (11 May 2026) Updated vgmstream (in_vgmstream.dll) to the latest Git commit from 28 Jun 2026 Download: WACUP 64-bit | 9.6 MB (Freeware) Download: WACUP 32-bit View: WACUP Website | Screenshots Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Dbrand thought they could get away with this Steam Machine case, Valve disagreed

      By Doli · Posted

      "over a thousand engineering hours" and started selling it but could not take a couple of minuets to send an AI email to ask permission. What an expensive lesson.
    • Can't access the forum on mobile

      By WITHOUT-ME · Posted

      just tested it yesterday, a simple page with autoloading ADS takes 60mb....just 1 page for 60 megabytes.   poor people with a limited internet never will visit neolose
    • Tor Browser 15.0.17

      By Copernic · Posted

      Tor Browser 15.0.17 by Razvan Serea Protect your privacy. Defend yourself against network surveillance and traffic analysis. Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody from watching your Internet connection and learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked. The Tor Browser Bundle lets you use Tor on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux without needing to install any software. It can run off a USB flash drive, comes with a pre-configured web browser to protect your anonymity, and is self-contained. Tor Browser 15.0.17 changelog: All Platforms Updated Tor to 0.4.9.11 Updated NoScript to 13.6.25.1984 Build System / All Platforms Bug tor-browser-build#41821: Update gpg subkeys for boklm Bug tor-browser-build#41827: Update morgan's keychain with renewed key Download: Tor Browser (64-bit) | Tor Browser (32-bit) | 109.0 MB (Open Source) View: Tor Browser Website | Other Operating Systems Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      Wakeen1966 earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Rookie
      Almohandis went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Apprentice
      jahara21 went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      526
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      265
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      146
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      99
    5. 5
      macoman
      55
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!