Today, essentially all software runs on his ideas. Gnu/Linux is at the heart of Android, most (home)routers, the vast majority of webservers. The "hacker" community here at HN is full of knowledge about *Unix systems, that nowadays are full of GNU software. He is awkward a lot of times, but essentially, by being so, he (in conjunction with Linus) won over the world.
Except...:
> "God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.
Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience."
That is a direct quote, from an article titled "Pope Francis assures atheists: You don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-...
Hence my original point. The current pope, has made more efforts to reach out to people outside his own faith, with a reported 1.2 billion followers, than Stallman has.
Stallman's ideas in general should be easier to 'sell' to people too - they don't rely on faith.
> He seems to be very open to cultures and revolutionary ideas
Unless that idea is, I want to release the code that I've written, under a license that lets anyone else do whatever the fuck they want with it.
> Today, essentially all software runs on his ideas.
I think there are a very large number of developers - both open source and commercial - that would disagree with that statement.
> Gnu/Linux is at the heart of Android
No, Linux, the Kernel is at the heart of Android. They specifically don't use the GNU userland environment.
> he (in conjunction with Linus) won over the world.
You seem to be painting Linus and RMS in the same light there, which they very much are not. Linus views Open Source as the best way to get great software. RMS views copyleft as the only way to get morally acceptable software, and cares more about preventing companies from making a profit than he does about the actual result.
Except, the current pope has made statements that show more flexibility to adapt to reality, regarding topics such as the bing bang/creationism, gay marriage, apologising to the gay community and other marginalised groups, etc.
I am in no way religious. At all. Not the slightest bit.
I am 100% convinced I could have a meaningful, pleasant conversation with the Pope. I am positive we would find a middle ground to chat over coffee, for example.
I am 100% convinced I could not do the same with Stallman. As I've said elsewhere in this thread, his general demeanour seems to be "Listen up chumps, I know what I'm talking about, if you don't agree with me, it must be because you're too stupid.". He shows no ability to accept an alternative viewpoint.