511
which ones do you think I missed? (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 1 year ago by lemmesay@discuss.tchncs.de to c/linuxmemes@lemmy.world
181 comments fedilink hide all child comments

image transcription:

big collage of people captioned, "the only people I wouldn't have minded being billionaires"
names(and a bit of info, which is not included in the collage) of people in collage(from top left, row-wise):

  • Alexandra Elbakyan, creator of Sci-Hub. perhaps the single-most important person in the scientific community regarding access to research papers.
  • Linus Torvalds, creator of linux kernel and git, courtesy of which we have GNU/Linux.
  • David Revoy, french artist famous for his pepper&carrot, a libre webcomic. inspiration for artists who are into free software movement
  • Richard Stallman, arch-hacker who started it all. founded the GNU project, free software movement, Emacs, GCC, GPL, concept of copyleft, among many other things. champions for free software to this day(is undergoing treatment for cancer at the moment).
  • Jean-Baptiste Kempf, president of VLC media player for 2 decades now
  • Ian Murdock, founder of Debian GNU/Linux and Debian manifesto. died too soon.
  • Alexis Kauffmann, creator of framasoft, a French nonprofit organisation that champions free software. known for providing alternatives to centralised services, notable one being framapad and peertube.
  • Aaron Swartz, a brilliant programmer who created RSS, markdown, creative commons, and is known for his involvement in creation of reddit. he also died too soon.
  • Bram Moolenaar, creator of vim, a charityware.

on the bottom right is the text reading, "plus the thousands of free software enthusiasts working tirelessly."

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] dipshit@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Would these people actually be billionaires though? Seems to me many of them would put that money to good use instead.

[-] vox@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

- me. i wouldn't mind being a billionaire. now give me money /s

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 7 points 1 year ago

agree with @avidamoeba@lemmy.ca, power corrupts – radix malorum est cupiditas

[-] squiblet@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It would probably ruin them and their work though. While I have little sympathy for the plights of billionaires, it's difficult for people to not allow that level of ridiculous wealth and power to affect them. These people have found a much healthier path to success. I'm sure the living ones are all financially comfortable without the ridiculous distortion of excess wealth.

Also though I'd object to anyone being a billionaire since it's absurd.

[-] youpie@lemmy.emphisia.nl 6 points 1 year ago

I dont want anybody to be a billionaire, also they couldn't because to be one you have to be exploitative and a bad person

[-] NAXLAB@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Idk man we just saw a week ago how atrociously Linus used to treat people. Imagine combining that with enough greed to hold onto a billion dollars. Imagine what any of these people would be like if they were the type to ruthlessly exploit others to get rich. I think a billionaire Linus would be worse than Bill Gates. At least Gates is a nice guy.

It is the act of holding onto that much wealth that is immoral, not who is doing it. This is just fantasizing from a painfully neoliberal perspective: OP is imagining the world would be better if the good guys hoarded inconceivable amounts of wealth and exploited the labor of others.

[-] VubDapple@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I haven't met gates and I agree these days he comes across pleasantly, but perhaps you are not old enough to remember stories of what he was like in his 30s and 40s when Microsoft was younger. He was a tyrant and viscously anticompetitive. As a husband my understanding is that he cheated on his wife (not uncommon I know but still hurtful). He might have become a somewhat better person, maybe, but he certainly wasn't one when he was making his fortune.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] merthyr1831@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Fundamentally speaking, none of these people would've ended up as billionaires for long. Most FOSS heavyweights already gave up their chance at being much more wealthy for their current roles. That being said, I'm pretty sure Linus and a few others here aren't exactly short on cash

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 year ago

The creator of Vim is unfortunately no longer with us.

[-] ultra@feddit.ro 6 points 1 year ago

Cory Doctorow

[-] s_s@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago

Hummmmm...Lennart Pottering?

[-] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

Ooh, I've met three of them on this list. Jean-Baptiste was the best though ;)

[-] Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 year ago

Ian Murdock, founder of Debian GNU/Linux and Debian manifesto. died too soon.

ACAB

[-] lemmesay@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 year ago

I never heard the acronym before.
also, you could say that in case of Aaron Swatrz too.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] beSyl@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago

Why are you saying that in relation to Ian? What do cops have to do with him?

[-] rockettaco37@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I'm sorry, but Stallman is an asshole..

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Resol@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

The year Aaron Swartz died is the year that everything started going to shit.

[-] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

There's a whole bunch of people that deserve to become billionaires a lot more than people in tech and that would have a much better impact on the world if they did. I would much rather have a bunch of billionaire physicists, immunologists, virologists, pediatricians and so on.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2023
511 points (83.9% liked)

linuxmemes

21282 readers
958 users here now

Hint: :q!

Sister communities:

Community rules (click to expand)

1. Follow the site-wide rules

2. Be civil
  • Understand the difference between a joke and an insult.
  • Do not harrass or attack members of the community for any reason.
  • Leave remarks of "peasantry" to the PCMR community. If you dislike an OS/service/application, attack the thing you dislike, not the individuals who use it. Some people may not have a choice.
  • Bigotry will not be tolerated.
  • These rules are somewhat loosened when the subject is a public figure. Still, do not attack their person or incite harrassment.
    • 3. Post Linux-related content
  • Including Unix and BSD.
  • Non-Linux content is acceptable as long as it makes a reference to Linux. For example, the poorly made mockery of sudo in Windows.
  • No porn. Even if you watch it on a Linux machine.
    • 4. No recent reposts
  • Everybody uses Arch btw, can't quit Vim, and wants to interject for a moment. You can stop now.
    •  

    Please report posts and comments that break these rules!

    Important: never execute code or follow advice that you don't understand or can't verify, especially here. The word of the day is credibility. This is a meme community -- even the most helpful comments might just be shitposts that can damage your system. Be aware, be smart, don't fork-bomb your computer.

    founded 2 years ago
    MODERATORS
    poopsmith@lemmy.world
    zephyr@lemmy.world
    rtxn@lemmy.world