I don't think the outcry over RMS' statement was because people disagreed with him ... some do and some don't. But it's hard to ignore the utter tactlessness of stating you're happy a recently departed individual is gone. And you could also argue that Jobs pushed the state of our art. When would the GUI have reached mainstream without the original MacIntosh?

So ... everyone has good and bad sides, with some leaning more one way or the other. I'd argue that civility is becoming our society's most lacked attribute.

I think rms was speaking strictly from a utilitarian perspective-- that is, Jobs' absence is overall a good thing for the FOSS movement (even though that might not actually be true, unless Cook is more committed to FOSS than Jobs). I can see how some find his statement tactless, but I'm not offended by it because Jobs was not an important person in my life. That doesn't mean that his life had no value, but his life wasn't more valuable to me than the life of any of the thousands of people who die every day from preventable causes. I honestly don't understand why so many people claim to be sad because Jobs is gone. Why did they feel so connected to a CEO?