Richard Stallman at U of M Tonight (Tuesday, Oct 21)

Happened to run across this last night:

mndaily.com: Comp. sci. activist to talk computing freedom at U

Which led me to dig up this press release with details. Willey Hall on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota at 6:30pm.

I'm not sure if I'll make it. I'd love to hear Richard speak in person, even if it's "just" his standard speech. It's a lot more convenient for me to drive down to the U than fly to Boston.

I never got around to writing more about my trip to the FSF Associate Members meeting earlier in the year. Speaking of seeing the Great Man in person, the member meeting started with no RMS in sight. He wasn't scheduled to appear until a panel later in the day, but I expected to see him sitting in the audience along with the other free software luminaries present.

At one point, an audience member asked a question and used the term "Linux," at which time a familiar voice immediately interrupted from the top of the auditorium-style classroom, "Well that would be an insult to the movement..." All heads turned to see Richard standing back there, putting the semantic universe back in balance. Such blasphemy couldn't be allowed at this gathering! I don't remember exactly what he said--the usual spiel about GNU/Linux being the proper term when referring to the entire operating system--but it was quite an entrance.

I highly recommend going to see him speak, if you have the opportunity, here or anywhere. His principled and passionate belief and support of free software is a great inspiration.