I wrote: > So yes, inquiring minds want to know. And this inquiring mind is now satisfied as to what probably pays RMS's rent lately -- the ~$268K Takeda Award he received in 2001. (You couldn't keep a family in Cambridge for four years on that, but RMS doesn't have that problem.) Me, I'd be kind of ashamed to preach the economic superiority of the free software system while living on grant money and conference banquets; but YMMV.
Again, I don't really care how RMS makes his money; I do care, a little, how Eben Moglen makes his, but only because he uses his status as a law professor at a respected university to bolster claims I find incredible. Mostly I care about the freedom to pursue what is for me both an intellectual interest and a trade, on terms which more or less reflect an accurate perspective on the surrounding law and economics. Misrepresentations and charlatanry draw my scrutiny, whether they come from saints or sinners. ObOnTopicForDebianLegal: This thread was originally about GStreamer. The FAQ at http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/doc/gstreamer/head/faq/html/chapter-legal.html reflects the public posture of that project's principal contributors (and principal corporate funder, Fluendo) on the matter, and claims to be "certified by the FSF lawyer team and verified by FSF lawyer and law professor Eben Moglen." Whether or not it accurately reflects the relevant law, I would expect it to form a pretty strong basis for estopping the people who have published it from making conflicting arguments in court. IANAL, TINLA. Cheers, - Michael
