The only reason to look at
patents is to see the bad news of what you can't do."
The audience falls silent. The speech, which began at
3:15, is now nearing the 5:00 whistle, and most
listeners are already squirming in their seats, antsy
to get a jump start on the weekend. Sensing the
fatigue, Stallman glances around the room and hastily
shuts things down. "So it looks like we're done," he
says, following the observation with an auctioneer's
"going, going, gone" to flush out any last-minute
questioners. When nobody throws their hand up, Stallman
signs off with a traditional exit line.
"Happy hacking," he says. Endnotes
1. See "Grateful Dead Time Capsule: 1985-1995 North
American Tour Grosses."
http://www.accessplace.com/gdtc/1197.htm 2. See Evan
Leibovitch, "Who's Afraid of Big Bad Wolves," ZDNet
Tech Update (December 15, 2000).
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0Y/A>
3. For narrative purposes, I have hesitated to go
in-depth when describing Stallman's full definition of
software "freedom.
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