RMS Robbed of Passport and Other Belongings In Argentina 386
New submitter Progman3K writes "Richard Stallman, father of the FSF, had his bag containing his laptop, medicine, money and passport stolen after his talk at the University of Buenos Aires on Friday, June 8." Adds reader jones_supa, excerpting from the same linked story: "As a result of this occurrence, he was forced to cancel his talk in Cordoba, and it's still unknown how this will impact the rest of his speaking engagements throughout the world."
FIRST POST (Score:5, Funny)
Passports want to be free.
Re:FIRST POST (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't this one of the old internet scams?
Please Help! I'm on vacation in a strange country and had my wallet stolen, please send $$ to my address: scammer23@aol.com to help me get home!
Re:FIRST POST (Score:4, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:4)
Sigh. (Score:5, Funny)
Free as in steal it.
Re:Sigh. (Score:5, Funny)
No, no, no his passport was "open sourced"
Re:Sigh. (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
So what you're saying is the guy just wants to get in his car and drive somewhere, to do actual stuff that really needs to be done, but he can't. He can't because the DRM (the keys, if you will) authorizing the key to operate the car's ignition switch has been revoked by the machine's manufacturer?
Wait, maybe this was a rental unit while on vacation. Perhaps this is just some sort of licensing mixup maybe? Oh, I am so confused on ./ lately.
Re:Sigh. (Score:4, Funny)
Much better analogy would be he keeps his stuff but copies must be freely redistributed with the source.
Re:Sigh. (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder if someone took he speeches, did his speech, and collected the pay for that speech, he would be fine with that.
Re:Sigh. (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, but only if they contributed back any ad-lib comments they made.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I think he would like that. The man seems to be all about getting his message out.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I think he would like that. The man seems to be all about getting his message out.
Wouldn't a tee shirt saying "I'm unrealistic and naive to the point of being a nut-bag" lessen his carbon footprint considerably?
Re:Sigh. (Score:4, Informative)
he was not fine once he learned it was stolen
Pablo Antonio:
It was a very sad moment. He was really distressed. He started yelling and punching himself in the head. He was worried because he had to be in Brazil soon, and he wouldn’t make it without his passport and all. And, apparently, his notebook was stolen too, and he said he wouldn’t be able to work for a week or so because of that.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I've known Richard for decades. There's an American gesture where you close your fist and bang the top of your fist against your forehead, an expression of one's own stupidity. It's not painful, just dramatic, and it is *not* punching yourself in the head.
Not even the most secure system can prevent that (Score:4, Interesting)
So, did he use truecrypt?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
With the Truecrypt license? If he is using encryption, I suspect he is using the GPL licensed dm-crypt!
Re: (Score:2)
truecrypt isn't distributed with open software license, so my guess would be no...
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Re:Not even the most secure system can prevent tha (Score:4, Interesting)
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I've been told more recently (within the past two years) that this isn't quite true any longer: the computer in his office doesn't have a password, but he has to use one for any other machine on campus.
Donning flameproof underwear in 3...2....1 (Score:5, Funny)
Whichever Argentinian stole it is probably claiming that it is theirs as a result of their ancestor looking after the cow that the bag was made from between 1828 and 1832.....
Re:Donning flameproof underwear in 3...2....1 (Score:5, Informative)
"The malvinas/falklands issue goes waaaaaay back, centuries back."
Hardly. Argentina issued initial disputes up until 1849 and once in 1885, but then accepted British sovereignty. It was only in 1941 that Argentina decided to bring it up again because as it does now, and as it did in '82 it had a weak government that desperately needed to stir nationalist sentiment to try and bolster it's standing and the Falklands is an easy target. It's really no coincidence that the issue only ever comes up again each time Argentina has a government that's managed to completely fuck up the country through political incompetence.
"But anyway, why does england claim a couple of islands on the other fucking side of the world and nobody thinks that's strange?"
Because it's been inhabited by British people since the 1640s with only a couple of breaks hundreds of years ago?
You could similarly ask why Alaska isn't Russian or Canadian when it's geographically closer to those nations than it is the US.
There's a number of ways to determine the nationality of a nation and geographical proximity is only one of these, others include who got there first, what the population wants, who won it militarily and the fact of the matter is that Britain wins out hands down in all of these - it's questionable whether the British or French got there first, but the French support the British claim regardless, the British have clearly won it militarily when Argentina tried that tactic, and the population is British, and has been for hundreds of years.
Fundamentally though, the United Nation's key point in terms of determining sovereignty is the will of the people living there. This is important, because no one should have to be ruled against their will, and whilst it does get abused (i.e. Russia pushing pro-Georgian people out of Georgian breakaway regions whilst making pro-Russian people Russian citizens to claim the will of the people) it is for the most part the most sensible option. It's also not as if Britain annexed it by pushing out an Argentine population, the British population has been there as long as any (including when the Spanish were there), the Spanish left, Argentina tried to settle elsewhere there on the island but with no British interference failed to do so because they were not prepared for the harsh weather and so gave up and left it.
The fact is the people living there are living their legitimately, their ancestors settled their legitimately, and they did not use any kind of force to push anyone else out. Everyone else that settled/tried to settle left of their own accord. So if the population is there legitimately, and the population wants to be British the case is pretty clear cut - Argentina just doesn't have an argument.
Again, Argentina's claim is about absolutely nothing more than bolstering a weak incompetent government with the time tested tactics of winning over the ignorant amongst society by using nationalism and populism.
It's also worth noting that Britain even offered to work with Argentina on oil exploration etc. around the islands in the late 90s to at least try and improve relations which it did not have to do, but the Argentine government at the time, again, having fucked up the economy, decided it needed to ramp up the populist rhetoric and pulled out going on about sovereignty.
Again, Argentina's arguments would have far more merit if it weren't for the fact that any claims continuously coincide with bad governance and decreasing popularity of the party in government at the time. When Argentinian governments have been doing well in the polls, they've not even brought up the issue, and have even sought to improve relationships, but every time an Argentinian government starts to struggle, it brings it up. It's pathetic.
Re: (Score:3)
"1. AFAIK Argentina never "accepted British sovereignty""
It wasn't Argentina's to accept. Argentina didn't exist as it does now at the time Britain claimed sovereignty.
"2. The current government of Argentina was elected in 2011 with more than 50% of the votes. I'd be cautious about calling that 'political incompetence'."
There are many examples of politicians getting elected with a strong voter base, it doesn't mean they were in any way competent leaders though. That is after all the fundamental problem with
License Royalties ? (Score:2)
Maybe Linus can send him some royalties for the GPL, so he can pay for a new passport and a ticket back home?
Re: (Score:2)
Thieves got it backwards (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
you have it slightly wrong.
"leave the gun, but take the canolies"
Re:Thieves got it backwards (Score:4, Interesting)
How much could they get for Stallman?
Maybe Microsoft would pay them to keep Stallman captive?
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Leave the stuff, take the person. How much could they get for Stallman?
That depends .. are they asking on a per pound basis?
Re: (Score:2)
Are you making some lame Merchant of Venice reference because he's Jewish? How "edgy"...
No .. I was making a lame fat joke.
Re: (Score:2)
If they don't think people should pay, why would they care about a person who charged for his software and encourages others to charge as much as they possible can or want? And why would they pay $840 000/year to his organization?
By the way, your post reminded me that I intended to donate to the FSF, thank you.
Re: (Score:3)
I can't match the sheer eloquence of the sibling poster, but this is bullshit ; all the GNU FAQs explicitly state it's totally OK to make money from Free software. It's Free as in Freedom, not as in beer.
Would you tolerate Ford selling you a car, but not allowing you to peek under the bonnet, fix it yourself, soup it up, change things around? What if your contract didn't allow you to sell on your pimped out car? What about if you wanted to give it away to your son when he gets his license, but they didn't a
Such a loss... (Score:5, Funny)
What a loss, the only laptop running Gnu Hurd. The individual who stole it will be very sorry though, as he will be forced to use emacs, and as it does everything, it will be the only program on the computer... :D
Re:Such a loss... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I thought Gnewsense was abandoned - no updates since September '09. Not so?
Re: (Score:3)
No news – Happens all the time (Score:5, Insightful)
This is really not newsworthy. It happens in Buenos Aires all the time. I was there 2009 at Wikimania (where RMS also attended) and I in the few days I was there multiple of my friends had their bags/laptops stolen, while I was in the same room.
The thiefs are really skilled and they make it almost impossible for you to notice the theft. The only way to defend yourself is to have all your stuff at your body all the time, thus being a harder target than everyone else.
Re:No news – Happens all the time (Score:5, Funny)
I think we have a suspect
Re: (Score:2)
That is what i would do.if i was traveling abroad, id never let it out of my hand, and no 'Velcro flaps' either. All zipped up with a lock, even as i was holding it. ( hell i don't even leave my stuff unattended here in the states during a convention, we have thieves here too )
And i agree, it wasn't some grand conspiracy and they weren't targeting RMS personally, so it's a non story: "foreign traveler lost bag with belongings" *yawn*
( tho knowing RMS, he may think it was personal and the 'man' is out to
help! (Score:4, Funny)
quick - someone lend him a windows laptop.
That's enough (Score:4, Funny)
Okay, that's enough Linus. It's simply not funny any more. Hand it back now.
RMS? (Score:4, Funny)
Clarification, as I live here and study there. (Score:5, Informative)
This much freedom has the obvious drawback that, as no one checks your student ID at the entrance, anyone can go in including thieves, which often mix up with other students to steal stuff. I've seen this happening several times myself so you have to watch out for strange people and your belongings all the time.
As pro human rights groups are so strong here (product of opposition to US-Sponsored dictatorships during most of the past century), law is lax and stronger security measures are often seen in a negative light, as the population don't know anymore where to draw the line.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Clarification, as I live here and study there. (Score:5, Insightful)
...as no one checks your student ID at the entrance, anyone can go in including thieves, which often mix up with other students to steal stuff.
You're making the assumption that students are not thieves. I doubt that the entrance requirements for this university include the question:
"Are you a thief? yes/no".
One Bag? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Maybe that's why he was reported to repeatedly hit his head afterwards.
I've done many stupid things in my life, some which I regret, some which I don't, some that had negative consequences and some that fortunately didn't. If you tell me you haven't, I know you're lying.
Re: (Score:2)
Someone from a civilized country.
Re: (Score:3)
Someone from a civilized country.
I don't care whether you're travelling to San Francisco or Santiago - The same rules apply (in fact in some cases your stuff is safer in a police state). If this was the Kettles from Topeka travelling to Paris for the first time I think I would catch them some slack - But this guy is supposedly very bright and travels all over the place, so he should know better. I'm sorry, but there's no excuse for this sort of thing.
Re: (Score:2)
You shouldn't have been modded Troll for that.
Naive people don't take security measures. That some REFUSE means the point doesn't get hammered enough!
In other news, slow Zebra get eaten.
Who steals from wizards? (Score:5, Funny)
Not surprising (Score:2, Interesting)
When I was last visiting Buenos Aires Jenna Bush (George Bush's daughter) was robbed while she was dining with friends - while being protected by Secret Service!
Why didn't he know better? (Score:5, Insightful)
While I am sorry for his loss (and that is only a story because of who was robbed - a zillion other tech people get robbed in foreign countries and they don't make /.) RMS has traveled the world for years, and I would have thought he knew better about he risks of theft. His passport and money should not have been left unsecured, and he should have ascribed to a layered packing regime that I learnt about years ago that includes three general zones:
On your person - Contains stuff that is critical to your well being and ability to travel
Passport and money belongs squarely in that last category. They are replaceable, but their loss has a much greater impact on a trip than losing stuff from the other two categories.
Leaving his passport and money in an unsecured location was a stupid and idiotic move on *his* part (although I bet that that is probably somewhat offset by him being distracted for a moment). And yes I know that this sounds like blaming the victim, but there is a point where you have to take responsibility for your own actions.
Re: (Score:3)
Right.
I was ready to make a joke post about "information wants to be free" (before noticing that the first post already did that), but it later occurred to me--could that be exactly what happened? Remember way back when when RMS refused to put a password on his MIT account and when was forced used the password "rms" so everyone could log in? And remember him getting a fifth of users to change their password to the empty string?
If RMS is as bad in his personal security as he is in his computer security, it
Blaming the victim (Score:3)
Leaving his passport and money in an unsecured location was a stupid and idiotic move on *his* part (although I bet that that is probably somewhat offset by him being distracted for a moment). And yes I know that this sounds like blaming the victim, but there is a point where you have to take responsibility for your own actions.
If you just change a few specifics, but not the tenor, in your argument, you'll get a drastically different result. To wit:
"Leaving her hotel room dressed like such a slut was a stupid and idiotic move on *her* part. And yes, I know that this sounds like blaming the victim, but there is a point where you have to take responsibility for your own actions."
Eggs in one basket (Score:2)
If i was abroad and had everything important to me in a single bag it would be chained to my leg.
what happened to slashdot? (Score:4, Insightful)
Every comment I've read is either abrasively sarcastic or downright mean. What gives? This used to be the land of OSS/free speech.
To be sure, /. has never been exactly "nice". But, come on guys! This kind of negativity needs to stop.
Re: (Score:2)
If I do something stupid, even my best friends will call me out on it.
That's WHY they are my best friends.
Re: (Score:3)
To be sure, /. has never been exactly "nice". But, come on guys! This kind of negativity needs to stop.
Hmm .. let me see if I have this right
/. of free speech that you felt you knew and loved, you are saying that we have to stop posting what ever we want?"
"In an attempt to get back the
Is that a good summary of your opinion?
Carry your passport. (Score:3)
Carry your passport/docs ON YOU, separate from your wallet, end of story.
If you need medicine to survive, wear enough to buy time to reload.
That's basic security at home or abroad. You should also carry duplicate info on a flash drive and wear that, and be able to access another copy online.
People who understand that computers "don't give a fuck what they think" need to understand many PEOPLE don't give a fuck what they WANT.
Any geek should be delighted to embrace physical security measures as they are to embrace computer security measures.
Re: (Score:3)
Carry your passport/docs ON YOU, separate from your wallet, end of story.
Passport, Wallet, Phone. That's enough to get me from anywhere in the world to a friendly country (i.e. visaless), so that's what always stays in my jeans pocket.
I also make sure I have half a dozen phone numbers memorised that I can call 24/7 in an emergency.
That's basic security at home or abroad. You should also carry duplicate info on a flash drive and wear that, and be able to access another copy online.
Certainly. Having scans of your passport(s) and visas available in a secure gmail account, that someone trusted (that isn't travelling with you) also has access too, is a good precaution. I don't bother with the USB stick any more (I have them on my la
419 (Score:2)
Big brother and his ethics (Score:2)
Hes going to have to or had to go to the consulate or the embassy. He already has an unhealthy distrust of the system. How is he going to manage?
Let me guess... (Score:2)
He used someone else's cell phone to call 911?
(see his appearance rider if you don't get the joke)
even more disturbing (Score:3, Informative)
Re:this guys sure misses a lot of engagements late (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps he would had been better off if he made a living producing software and selling it.
Re:this guys sure misses a lot of engagements late (Score:5, Insightful)
> Perhaps he would had been better off if he made a living producing software and selling it.
Maybe he would; but we're surely better off since he chose to benefit mankind over himself.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a religious thing... but IMHO overall tech progress got a powerful impulse with the GPL and things like Linux (or GNU/Linux in his lingo). It's easy to underestimate the role of Free Software in mankind's advancement.
Now it would be nice if someone explained that to the thief. Argentinians have an advanced culture and possibly even a thief might grok why it is important not to take this man's passport.
Re:this guys sure misses a lot of engagements late (Score:4, Insightful)
I earn my paychecks by writing Free Software. Sucks to be you, I guess.
Re:this guys sure misses a lot of engagements late (Score:4, Insightful)
And I earn my paychecks because of the various free platforms that are available thanks to GNU. Although we sell our end product, it runs on OS's that are free, written using free compilers and tools, connects to backends running free software, stores customer data in free software databases, etc. The business side does use a lot of non-free software though.
I'd be curious to find an accounting of what percentage of business value out there can be traced down to being "enabled" by free software vs. non-free software.
Re: (Score:3)
I earn my paycheck writing free software. Business model? My company lives out of donations and contributions made to us.
I even earn more than my last job; where we wrote non-free software.
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Tell me something...
Why is Richard Stallman's religious fervour around free software any less extreme than Apple's religious fervour over their commercial-software based walled garden approach?
I'm not saying you're an Apple fanboi and whilst I myself use and work with Linux and free software, even I believe Stallman's views are somewhat extreme, and that harmony exists somewhere along the line that joins Stallman to Apple - namely that there's a place for both free and commercial software.
It's very easy to
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:4, Insightful)
Blindly spawning mindless stereotypes like "third world countries are best shunned" is also first-class idiocy.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
[quote]In ALL conferences in EVERY country stuff is robbed[/quote]
Not in any of the countries I've done conferences in. And they didn't even have security guards.
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
In ALL conferences in EVERY country stuff is robbed cause people are idiots.
Well, a couple of years ago I've co-organized an international conference (2 years in a row), and nothing got stolen. It worries me that you think that is the norm.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:5, Informative)
If you're going to be a smartass, at least do it properly.
Re: (Score:3)
asaulted and almost killed in his own hotel room
Be careful who you take to your room. Worse could have happened: wrongly accused of rape...
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:5, Insightful)
The USA has it's third world areas..... Detroit, New Jersey, South Central LA, Mississippi......
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The locals in Petersburg haven't forgotten the siege, huh? Should have let them know the war was over.
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:5, Informative)
He was going well until he said:
That's an extremely ignorant comment. RMS has been to Argentina (and around Latin America) plenty of times without any problems. Shit happens. And it can happen in your beloved first-world New York too.
Fuck condescending comments about the third world.
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:4, Informative)
1) Argentina was quite prosperous at one time, but the past decade or so has been really hard on them. Their economic problems have caused a significant drop in the standard of living for many of its citizens, and crime has become much more of an issue. Today, it is much more akin to an African nation than it is to a Western nation.
As an Argentinian myself, i have to (sadly) agree. The standard of living for major cities (Cordoba, Rosario, Buenos Aires) has dropped sharply in the past decade, but it is practically nonexistant once you travel to the north, where basic services like running water, electricity, or sewers are scarce if present at all.
That said, Buenos Aires is more akin to a typical european city. But crime rates are horribly high - the citys' premimum neighborhoods and locations sits next to a shantytown so big it's almost a favela by now. You got to be careful if visiting.
Re: (Score:3)
Because i do live there. Argentinas' GDP has doubled sure enough, but his government expenditure went through the roof as well, reaching US$150,000 millions in 2011. Thats almost 40% of the GDP. If properly executed, on paper this should mean that Argentina has a better quality of life than Switzerland. Rest assured, it is not.
Ah, and an unemployment rate of 25% is atrocious. It's akin to third world countries, or countries undergoing deep recession like Spain... or Argentina in 2002, which you're comparing
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:5, Insightful)
And in today's world, avoiding third-world nations "just because" is ridiculous. You're saying that executives from Apple should never have gone to China. You're saying that Venezuela, a member of OPEC, should never have members from other OPEC nations visiting there. And where do you draw the line...I'm not sure I'd consider Argentina a third-world country just because they had an economic breakdown...and there is no way they are more akin to an African country than a Western one. If a financial meltdown with long-term effects qualifies a country for third world status, then why not Japan? They still haven't recovered from the financial collapse that happened in the 90s.
And let's keep something in mind...this was Richard Stallman speaking at a conference in a major city. This was not him going off into a remote area in the countryside to dig a well. There are places in most American states where he'd be statistically more likely to come to harm than he was in that hotel. Petty crime is what happens in such places, and little else.
The reason why the post had been modded down...and why it should still be, even if it is not...is because the whole point of it is ridiculous. For a soccer mom to avoid nations with shaky economies? Fine, if a bit wimpy. But for large-impact entities...be they people or simply influential people at large organizations...to shun safe areas in third-world countries because of petty crime is entirely infeasible, self-defeating, and frankly smacks of the armchair thinking of someone who has never ventured outside middle America. The world is global; that's how it is now.
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We're not quite down to African levels yet. We're getting there, though.
The US and Europe are on their way too (at least for ordinary folks) - on the real road to serfdom.
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:4, Informative)
Well, Mexico is technically in North America. Nevertheless, what's happening in mexico (drug killings) isn't new.
I'm not saying Argenina is a great economy, but I hate being compared to Somalia or whatever. Whenever someone mentions that living in Argentina is "bad" I just let pictures talk:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/1020/catalinas2.jpg [imageshack.us]
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3406/096catalinasnorte.jpg [imageshack.us]
https://ayudabuenosaires.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/obelisco-av-9-de-julio.jpg [wordpress.com]
I know that's just the capital, and things are MUCH better there. But I'll start to worry the day it stops looking as shiny as now.
Re: (Score:3)
Beautiful landmarks of Buenos Aires. And then, you got the other [wordpress.com] side [blogspot.com] of the coin, less than 5km away, and in the middle of the same city.
That last one is the first thing a tourist arriving to BA by bus will see.
Re: (Score:3)
I know. I live in Resistencia, Chaco, so this is a common sight for me: http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/15908735.jpg [google.com]
The point wasn't about pretty landmarks tho, it was about the fact that, if there *ARE* buildings like that, then the economy can't be that bad. If there are cars filling the streets, and if the roads are nice to drive on, then the economy isn't that terrible (again: "yet"). I can see we're going straight to hell if Cristina doesn't react soon - it's going the same way as De L
Re:Uhh, it's a third-world country. Be careful the (Score:4, Informative)
As someone how lives in buenos aires, I must tell you; you're quite wrong.
I know which places to go to, and which no to go to. If you take a wrong turn, and walk 4 blocks down the wrong street, it might be your last wrong turn. Or you might just get mugged.
I had a friend who got mugged waiting for the bus on their first trip to BA. It wan't just her though; it was the entire line of people waiting for the bus. Inside the main Terminal in Retiro, Buenos Aires.
It's a mix... you have a small area that's first-world-ish, and the area next to it is almost third-world-ish.
It shouldn't be such a tragedy (Score:4, Interesting)
It's the world that needs more openness. And better utilization of the technology we do have.
Losing the passport wouldn't be such a calamity if governments were up to date. We shouldn't even use a physical item like that for purposes of verifying identity and permissions. At a border crossing, stating names and perhaps a number, or undergoing a brief biometric scan ought to be all that travelers need do. The officials at the border can then use their networked computers to check the information. It's just dopey to rely on the picture of a person carried by that person to check identity! That's as dopey as DRM. Yeah, yeah, like cash they have put security threads and watermarks and such on the passport pictures, to make forgery more difficult. And don't forget the embedded RFID chip! Currently, with passports the US now issues business sized cards for your wallet. The cards have useful phone numbers and a space upon which you are supposed to write your passport number, for just such an occurrence. Haven't progressed much!
As for personal data, no one should ever have the only copies of their work on a single laptop, except possibly for whatever was being worked on in the last few minutes or since the last time the laptop had been connected to the Internet. The laptop itself is pretty cheap these days. I hope RMS didn't lose any data. Passwords are similar. Never have unencrypted passwords or or other unencrypted sensitive data on a laptop. But if he wasn't up to scratch on that stuff, this could be the worst loss of all.
Medicines shouldn't be a big deal either. Unfortunately, they can be thanks to intellectual property law. At $5/pill for typical name brand drugs, those medicines could easily cost more to replace than everything else in the bag.
Money? Let's hope he's not in the habit of lugging around thousands of dollars in cash. Sensible travelers only carry a little cash, leaning on credit cards whenever possible. But I could see a guy like RMS scorning credit cards because they come with lots of baggage, like the tracking of your every purchase. At any rate, banks, like governments, are woefully behind on technology. Shouldn't need a piece of plastic to do a transaction.
With all that said, his Argentine hosts treated him very shabbily. If laptop bag theft is such a big problem, they should know that. It's their home, they ought to know what protections guests will need, what crimes are in vogue. Should have had someone or something watching his bag. Wasn't anyone recording his speech on video? There's no footage at all of his bag being swiped? That a thief got away with his bag doesn't speak well of them. They seem negligent at the least. Such thefts may be aided by corruption. I shouldn't wonder that petty theft of that nature is a very low priority for their police, who will undoubtedly say there's nothing they can do.
Re: (Score:2)
. We shouldn't even use a physical item like that for purposes of verifying identity and permissions. At a border crossing, stating names and perhaps a number, or undergoing a brief biometric scan ought to be all that travelers need do. The officials at the border can then use their networked computers to check the information. It's just dopey to rely on the picture of a person carried by that person to check identity! That's as dopey as DRM. Yeah, yeah, like cash they have put security threads and watermarks and such on the passport pictures, to make forgery more difficult. And don't forget the embedded RFID chip! Currently, with passports the US now issues business sized cards for your wallet. The cards have useful phone numbers and a space upon which you are supposed to write your passport number, for just such an occurrence. Haven't progressed much!
Shure, go ahead and recruit people for the globally replicated, government controlled biometric scan database.
And a ton of countries already use a version of the electronic passport. While you see a security guard, many implementations rely on your biometric data stored inside the rfid chip to perform facial recognition. And you know what the best part is? The data is usually encrypted, but the private key is also stored on the chip, so you can actually tamper and re-sign the data so it's valid. How is tha
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An overwhelming majority of the server/desktop/laptop Linux distributions are what you call GNU/Linux. The only notable exceptions I know of are Android, and embedded systems that use busybox due to performance/memory constraints.
Very very few people has actually used some mythical "vanilla Linux" that isn't operated with the GNU tools.
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And absolutely no one runs GNU-free Linux, since it's illegal to distribute the kernel without a copy of the GNU GPL.
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Do simple things like this and you too can be on your way to a much better paying job.
Dear anonymous coward, while I laud your efforts I feel that you are making a false assumption to start with - that the editors want to improve on their lot in life. I am coming to the opinion that that they are raking in so much $$ for so little work that they don't care about the quality.
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Right, because OSX with "TattleTale" would surely have prevented the theft and RMS could never have jammed together a shell script with the same functionality as "TattleTale" within half an hour if he had wanted to.
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