Richard Stallman (RMS in the Open Source world) has called for a boycott of Harry Potter. I can sympathize with his premise (a Canadian court ordered that people who were erroneously sold the book early weren’t to read them), but this is the stupidest idea I can think of as a response. RMS obviously does not have children, and admits he’s not a fan. Wow, what a meaningful gesture he’s made, not buying a book he never had a compelling reason to buy in the first place.
We were at the midnight release here in Chelsea last night. It was madness. There were so many kids who would have stayed up all night if they could. Denying a child a book the only book they want all year out of the parents’ political motivations isn’t the answer. That child doesn’t understand why they can’t have the book. Stallman has good intentions but makes an emotional response to a problem with more angles than just his perspective.
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