In a recent interview with Linux Journal, Eric S. Raymond observes that "movements that remain dependent on the talents and charisma of key individuals don't survive those individuals." (article here: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9911) Much of the Free Software movement seems to be driven by Richard Stallman: his talents and charisma. My question is: what will happen (how will the FS political landscape change) when Stallman is gone? Raymond also says "In fact, if your charismatic founder doesn't step offstage, healthy reform movements often end up having to ritually execute, banish or disgrace him/her in order to build themselves properly into sustainable institutions." Can you see that happening with Stallman?

Hopefully it will improve. In the opinion of many of my peers, Stallman has harmed as much as he has helped.

[RANT]
While Stallman understands the subtle difference between freedom and no-cost, most people do not. Maybe if he had called his organization the "Software Liberty Foundation", I would not have had to install "free" Ubuntu on a computer for someone who did not even understand how to operate a Windows machine without assistance. If you correct for the price of my time and the extra parts needed to get the machine on the internet, it ended costing several times the amount of a copy of Windows.

Stallman's physical appearance indicates his lack of savvy in the area of public relations. While most computer experts do not judge on appearance, most human beings do. Once he is gone, hopefully his replacement will be a small committee of people with better interpersonal skills and overlapping sets of technical skills, whose sum will be greater that Stallman's single part.
[/RANT]

It can't do any worse than it has under Stallman, after all, under him they bloated the Linux Standards BASE to the point of non-usability [ they went beyond what a base standard is, they started specifying software that is not required to have a functioning system with the capability to install more software in it ], they created a software license version that will never be accepted, nor used, by the core of the Linux movement.
[ Linus Torvalds does not approve of the GNU-GPL Version 3. ]
Linux = the kernel
GNU-Linux = the os with base system. [ LFS or DIY being the only BASE GNU-Linux collections, nothing but the base system ]
Distribution / Distro = collection of software beyond a base system.

>> "My question is: what will happen (how will the FS political landscape change) when Stallman is gone?"

the next one must be elected democratically ...



.

Not sure if you are saying that prior Windows experience should be a prerequisite to running Linux. When I started using Linux seven years ago, I had not heard of RMS and Linux was barely mentioned outside of the Linux community, which I hadn't yet heard of, either. I was in the market to upgrade my IBM PS/1, running DOS, had heard, via the news media, of Linux as an alternative to Windows and of Microsoft's stranglehold on the market, ie, I couldn't purchase a computer at a computer store without Windows and Linux wasn't a pre-installed option. Because Microsoft had taken my freedom of choice from me, I started looking for a technician to install Linux for me. I found such a technician, a Linux-guru who became a friend, purchased a copy of Mandrake at Staples and have been using Linux since then. As a matter of fact, he's configured other distros for me; the latest being Ubuntu Dapper Drake on my current laptop. Yes, he did have to teach me how to run Linux and familiarize me with using the GUI, but he didn't have to teach me to forget how things are done differently in Windows. Not being computer-savvy, I feel that the money spent on Linux installations and instruction are on par with the cost of night-school courses to learn Windows and trips to the computer shop for repairs, etc., if I had chosen that route. I was very pleased to see that choice is promoted in the Linux community and that its philosophy echoes many of my beliefs. As far as your client is concerned, he may have been mis-led about the "free" part of Linux encompassing your fee for installation and, hopefully, you were paid without too much hassle. The average person doesn't understand the difference between free/open source and free as in beer. Nevertheless, no matter how one enters the Linux fold, he/she is much further ahead having had the choice and, not having had a prior Windows experience, will most likely stay with Linux for life. A very good thing!

As to the initial question of this thread, I really don't know what is likely to happen when Stallman is gone.

Will the FSF and others outlast Stallman?
YES the FSF is a good idea and like other good ideas the FSF will long out live it's creator .
The FSF dose not depend on the power of Stallman's personalty .
The FSF dose depend on the good feeling people get from sharing something they enjoyed doing .
In short the FSF is a kind of love child .

http://www.stallman.org/

You do make a good point regarding the ambiguity of the word "free", but I think it's good that he calls it that. Freedom is far more important than money, and Americans really need to remember that, seeing as how it's what our country was founded on. I've been considering the term "freedomware" for awhile now.

No, I was saying that people who do not have any previous computer experience are trying to get their first computer experience with a Linux machine because they hear it is "free".

I have used Windows and Linux for many years, and I would always recommend Windows to a novice over Linux. When they ask the question, "Can you fix my computer?", there are normally a lot of Windows users around them who can help them out.

If people heard that Linux was "liberated", they would be less likely, and those of us who understand what that means in terms of software and freedom would still have the same knowledge we have today.

But my original point still remains: The FSF is not savvy when it comes to public relations. They come across as just as annoying as <insert name of evangelical group> knocking on your door when you are trying to relax and watch the Matrix while drinking a beverage.

I think free software as well as the FSF itself has already "outgrown" Stallman and will have no problem outlasting or continuing when Stallman is gone.

Actually, "freedomware" has existed for a long time -it was formerly known as "Frenchware"...

it sound like to me "Will the Microsoft and others outlast Gates?"