As audience members clap, the computer disk on
Stallman's head catches the glare of an overhead light,
eliciting a perfect halo effect. In the blink of an
eye, Stallman goes from awkward haole to Russian
religious icon.
" Emacs was initially a text editor," says Stallman,
explaining the getup. "Eventually it became a way of
life for many and a religion for some. We call this
religion the Church of Emacs."
The skit is a lighthearted moment of self-pardoy, a
humorous return-jab at the many people who might see
Stallman's form of software asceticism as religious
fanaticism in disguise. It is also the sound of the
other shoe dropping-loudly. It's as if, in donning his
robe and halo, Stallman is finally letting listeners of
the hook, saying, "It's OK to laugh. I know I'm weird."
Discussing the St. Ignucius persona afterward, Stallman
says he first came up with it in 1996, long after the
creation of Emacs but well before the emergence of the
"open source" term and the struggle for
hacker-community leadership that precipitated it.
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