Happiness Quote by Richard Stallman

Stallman lands this like a preacher who knows his congregation is already laughing. The “Church of Emacs” bit is insider comedy with a bite: it turns the famously tribal editor wars into a mock religion, complete with sins and penance, exposing how easily technical preference hardens into identity. He’s not just making a nerd joke; he’s satirizing the impulse to moralize tools while simultaneously indulging it for effect.

The key move is the pivot from “sin” to “penance.” In Emacs lore, vi is the rival, the austere alternative. By granting that using “a free version of vi” isn’t sinful, Stallman threads his real doctrine into the banter: software freedom matters more than personal taste. The only real heresy, in his worldview, is proprietary software. Everything else is a matter of discomfort, inconvenience, and character-building. Penance also implies that vi users are suffering for a lesser path, which flatters Emacs devotees without outright condemning the other camp.

Context does the rest. Stallman built Emacs and built the Free Software movement; he’s long treated computing as an ethical arena, not a neutral marketplace. That’s why the religious metaphor sticks: it’s a parody of zealotry from a man often accused of it. “So happy hacking” softens the punchline into fellowship, reminding you that the joke isn’t meant to exile anyone. It’s a boundary marker, delivered with a grin, smuggling a serious value statement into a laugh line.