GNU guru Stallman accosted by pro-DRM ninjas

At the end of a debate by the Yale Political Union on the topic of DRM -- the verdict? It should be banned -- well known free software advocate Richard Stallman was confronted by a collective group of ninjas, obviously hired by Microsoft in response to one Chinese student's interruption of Bill Gates' speech in China. Turns out the ninjas were just reenacting a comic from XKCD, which depicts "rms," as he is affectionately known, whipping out a sword to defend himself from anti-GPL pranksters. No sword was thrusted in this example: instead, only a hearty chuckle was heard emanating from the bearded and shoeless father of the free software movement.

Read - Yale Political Union's blog of the incident
Read - XKCD's "Open Source"

[Josh @ Oct 21st 2007 3:02PM]

Here's too a good sunday afternoon laugh!

[Darkest Daze @ Oct 21st 2007 3:05PM]

It seemed stupid till you reminded me of the XKCD comic. Now it's hilarious.

[Tachikomatic @ Oct 21st 2007 3:18PM]

Now I am reading XKCD instead of doing my English term paper. Nice diversionary tactics.

[Jagannath A @ Oct 21st 2007 7:32PM]

anyway you were already reading engadget ;)

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 21st 2007 3:23PM]

Good fun on a Sunday afternoon.

[Andir3.0 @ Oct 21st 2007 5:10PM]

Stupid Microsoft ninjas! ... Pirates always win. ;)

[Ryhan @ Oct 21st 2007 3:27PM]

I thought nijas were strictly japanese...

[Ryhan @ Oct 21st 2007 3:27PM]

I thought ninjas were strictly japanese...

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 21st 2007 3:28PM]

What?

[Ryhan @ Oct 21st 2007 3:30PM]

@strider

I thought "ninja" came from japan... not china

theres always wikipedia.. im just too lazy right now

[daliminator2000 @ Oct 21st 2007 4:29PM]

@Ryhan

The only mention of anyone Chinese here was in reference to a student(?) who rushed in front of a stage with a sign. Chinese dude != ninja. Completely random association there.

But yeah there actually are non-Japanese "ninja" - look up Stephen Hayes and you'll get a crapload of results.

[aperson @ Oct 21st 2007 3:28PM]

Not too long after the comic was written, rms was sent a katana.

[mushrooshi @ Oct 21st 2007 3:32PM]

WHAAAAA I AM NINJAAAAAA!

[josejuan05 @ Oct 21st 2007 4:00PM]

XKCD!!! Awesome!!!

[Ryan Pierce @ Oct 21st 2007 4:16PM]

ew. check that ninja-sweat.

[Atanas Boev @ Oct 21st 2007 4:32PM]

Finally, XKCD on Engadget. Should we consider XKCD mainstream now? XKCD = Latest Nokia phones :)

I would LOVE to see Engadget related jokes on XKCD, though. "My hobby: posting weird comments on Engadget posts..." :P

[h0mi @ Oct 21st 2007 4:59PM]

XKCD FTW. Despite being a stick figure web comic, its easily one of the best if not the best out there, and far better than a lot of other comics.

[hkd @ Oct 23rd 2007 1:31AM]

dwam that ninja has sweaty armpits ^^

chinese have ninjas also but we use the simpler term assasin. we have like the same black suit with a black mask and sword or other weapons

[fuzzybassoon @ Oct 21st 2007 5:55PM]

I can't believe this made engadget! I was there, and found the debate to be terrible, mainly because of misinformation of many people (including rms to some degree).

Also, rms booed at my iPhone on stage; what a wonderous day.

[hn333 @ Oct 21st 2007 6:58PM]

This is why nerds can't get laid.

[Andir3.0 @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:01PM]

Conceited people that think that image is everything and having fun is "wrong?"

I guess I don't fully understand why a woman or a man would look at people dressed like ninjas and feel as though that person needs to be punished with loneliness...

Not "getting into it" sure. Ok, not everybody enjoys this type of thing, but for what reason? They might look funny? Heaven forbid!

[9bit @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:20PM]

Hey. That's my roommate there, in the extreme foreground.
After the debate, Stallman was selling his book and handing out GPLv3 stickers. I asked him if he had any GPLv2 stickers left, but he said that none were ever made.
@fuzzybassoon Stallman spoke better than I expected from him, and while some of the students were a bit uninformed, the debate went pretty well. Stallman behaved himself, other than hissing loudly at a mention of linux without the prefix of gnu. The only problem was other people trying to talk about FOSS, when that wasn't the topic.
The biggest irony is the minutes of the debate are only available in the .doc format. Even as a microsoft supporter, I think that that's dumb.
And fuzzybassoon, everyone should boo the iPhone.

[Dr Buzz0 @ Oct 21st 2007 8:22PM]

I have to think these guys were hired, because I simply cannot fathom anyone being personally so pro-drm that they would pull a stunt like that. "Yes, I feel that DRM is an important part of keeping media secure so that it can be sold fairly and used as desired by the artist and that DRM is getting a bad name..."

I mean honestly, does anyone not associated with media companies really think that enough to pull this? I doubt it. My one question would be how much did these guys get paid? I can't imagine selling my soul like that for any money. I suppose I might do it if I were really hard up for cash, but I could never face the world with that kind of shame. Maybe that explains the ninja hoods. I'd only even consider it if I could at least wear a disguise.

[squelchtoad @ Oct 22nd 2007 8:40PM]

DrBuzz0, I will respect you and assume that your post was satirical, but one can never be too sure on the internet. The "ninjas" were not hired. They are not pro-DRM (if they even have opinions on the subject). It was a joke (and the audience thought it was a funny one) in the form of an xkcd reference. Just a joke. No political statements involved. Sometimes a prank is just a prank.

(Note that the blog post itself makes it clear that this was all in good fun)

[tundraboy @ Oct 22nd 2007 9:57AM]

No sword was 'thrusted'? But perhaps he was 'hitted' and 'cutted' and 'splitted' into two?