Yesterday at the @fsf's office I met a fine gentleman who was helping me prepare name tags / lanyards for the conference. He was modest enough that I feel like I only got information out of him by asking the right questions, and because I inquired about how close he and rms were (Richard had come into the office and asked him to do lunch/dinner some time).

That person was Alexandre Oliva, and tonight rms presented him with the annual award for the Advancement of Free Software. He was brought to tears, and expressed that he was glad to know that he made a difference. I wish I remembered his words directly---he stated that he wasn't sure if he _had_ made a difference. It was hard not to share emotion with him. Richard had to ask the audience to stop their standing ovation so that Alex could continue talking.

Yesterday I mentioned that one of the biggest things missing with online communities is small talk---those random encounters that might only last moments, but yield relationships that are otherwise unlikely. This is an excellent example; I may have otherwise never gotten to know him. I've gotten to know many others here well, and everyone has had interesting stories to tell, big or small, free software hacker or not.

#LibrePlanet