A Saint in Computer Science

If you ask me if I am religious, I’d say yes. I believe in Church of Emacs, a church exists in the Computer Science.

Two years ago, I desperately fell in love, with GNU/Linux. That is not a girl’s name, but an Operation System. Maybe that is why I am still single.

Like most computer science student, I don’t like Microsoft and its highly-cost, unstable, dangerous product – Windows. How many of you can afford 900$ for a Genuine Windows and Office? How many of you have ever pressed Ctrl + Alt + Del after your Windows fails to response?

In our mind, Bill Gates is a greedy, rude king in the computer world. As a result, when we talk about Microsoft, we use the abbreviation M$ instead of MS because they think about money all day. And we love the phrase “Kill Bill”, the name of a movie.

However, Richard Stallman, a genius from Harvard and once working at an Artificial Intelligence Lab in MIT, doesn’t want to kill Bill, he does it in a noble way. In 1984 he set up the GNU project, a project of a collection of free software.

In Stallman’s vocabulary, ”Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ”free” as in ”free speech,” not as in ”free beer.” Hard to understand, isn’t it? That’s why we call it GNU philosophy. But one thing is clear that Stallman is a warrior for freedom, like Wallace in the movie Brave Heart. But I guess Stallman could not shout the word “Freedom” as loudly as Wallace did.

I think Stallman is a missionary spreading the faith of freedom all over the world more than a hero fighting against the evil Microsoft Empire. He calls himself Saint IGNUcius — a saint in the Church of Emacs. Emacs is the most famous free software developed by Stallman.

As a saint, Stallman often gives speeches to his believer, like students, professors, engineers and his friends. Look at the photo, once he put on a black robe made by a plastic grocery bag and placed a yellow computer disk on his head.

“I am St. Ignucius of the Church of Emacs,” said Stallman, raising his right hand in mock-blessing. “I bless your computer, my child.”

The audiences’ laughter turned into applause after a few seconds.

Then he continued, “Emacs was initially a text editor; eventually it became a way of life for many and a religion for some. We call this religion the Church of Emacs. To join the Church of Emacs, you need only say the Confession of the Faith three times:

    There is no system but GNU, and Linux is one of its kernels.

To be a member in the Church of Emacs doesn’t require more than a life of moral purity. Get rid of the evil Windows from your computer and then install a wholly free operating system. And then you must install only free software on top of that. If you live by it, then you will be a saint in the Church of Emacs.

Soon the free software movement booms all over the world, volunteers devote themselves to the great project to build the church of Emacs. Everyday Stallman has to read dozens of letters about release news, bug reports and progress of some software.

After I read the story of St. Patrick, I was always wondering, was Stallman doing the same thing like St. Patrick. Stallman just does it in an electronic way. He is a scientist, hacker, philosopher, and saint. He does research in Artificial Intelligence Area. He is the leader of hundreds of thousands engineers. He creates and spreads the GNU philosophy all over the world. He’s been to China, Brazil, Singapore, Switzerland and many other places.

So what would you say? Oh my God? Yeah, he is my god, too: The godfather in the church of Emacs.