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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Richard Stallman has cancer (lemmy.ndlug.org)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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From his website stallman.org:

Richard Stallman has cancer. Fortunately it is slow-growing and manageable follicular lymphona, so he will probably live many more years nonetheless. But he now has to be even more careful not to catch Covid-19.

Recent video of him speaking at GNU 40 Hacker Meeting. Screenshots of video stream.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He mentioned once that he can use a bank that doesn't use free software because he's not logging in to it to do general purpose computing. I think the same would probably apply to medical treatments.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I believe he does extend it to JavaScript however, so if he were required to run unfree javascript on a webpage relating to his treatment that could be a problem.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes, if the JavaScript is running on a computer he owns. JavaScript programs running in a browser are just as much software as any other type of program.

See The JavaScript Trap

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's embedded JavaScript though ... The code is available by design.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The code merely being "available" isn't the same thing as the user having the legal freedom to modify and share it. Besides, that's not always the case; sometimes JavaScript is minified, obfuscated, and packed in ways that make it effectively no different than any other compiled program.

Note that source code is "the preferred form for making modifications" so obfuscated code is by definition not "source."