The big difference is, Rush does the blowhard thing for ratings and entertainment value. He has said as much himself - "this is showbiz". Not that he doen't hold his viewpoints, but he very much caters his delivery for the sake of "showbiz".

I don't get the feeling Stallman is exaggerating anything for the sake of a public persona.

Comparing Stallman to Limbaugh is unjust. Limbaugh makes millions off of being a small-minded tactless jerk. Stallman is not in it for the money, he's in it to build a better future, whether he's done a good job or not that's up for history to decide.

How do you know that Limbaugh is not also in it to "build a better future", in the best way that he knows how?

I don't. My point is that Stallman is an ascetic and really gains nothing but prestige (such as it is) from his actions. I don't see Limbaugh making sacrifices to live in line with his extreme ideology.

Do you honestly believe that RMS is on anything like the level of Fred Phelps, or are you just taking liberties with the truth for the sake of bombast?

Both Stallman and Phelps are willing to use the deaths of someone they dislike to promote their views. Both consider their own cause to supersede human feeling or basic practicality. Phelps is more extreme and his message less tolerable, but my point is that for both, their mode of expressing their cause hurts their cause.

That's a pretty absurd comparison.

For one thing, Stallman's made no attempt to get publicity from Jobs's death. He wasn't out picketing his funeral, didn't grant interviews on the subject, etc. He slipped in a few sentences on his all-text blog that's full of miscellaneous strong political opinions on nearly every conceivable subject, which only people who care about Stallman's political opinions read (the blog is usually pretty obscure), and he didn't call any attention to that post. The only reason it's gotten any attention at all is because the raging Stallman-hating crowd has put in so much effort to publicize it.

I liked your first comment better :)

I'd like to believe folks when they defend RMS on things like this, but this isn't a first time offense for him. I used to have a lot of respect for the FSF and RMS but then I started reading their websites and publications and my opinions changed. I agree with RMS (to an extent anyway) on the importance of software freedom and I understand his reasoning in this post, but to strangers to the cause, he really does look like (Gene Ray, Alex Chiu, Jack Chick, Insert your cuckoo here.)

If you think analogy was extreme, that's fair I should pay more attention to how I sound to people who don't share my exact beliefs or experiences, but note, you are getting angry at me for exactly the same reason people are angry at Stallman. The difference is I'm a nobody who sometimes lapses in judgment and will gladly admit it whereas Stallman is the representative of his movement and he makes extreme comments all the time. Stallman does more damage to both Jobs and free software than I can possibly do to him.

(PS. This is just a hunch, but I think the reason these statements are getting notoriety is not the Stallman-hating crowd, which is rather small but the Jobs-loving crowd who've taken offense at his words.)

That is some of the most blatant character assassination I've seen in this thread so far.

Stallman wasn't responding to Steve Jobs' death, rather the slick of unbalanced praise for Apple's devices that followed in its wake (no pun intended).