Accommodations:

I am willing to stay in a hotel if there is no other way.
Please book the hotel for me and arrange to pay the hotel directly.

But please DON'T make a hotel reservation until we have fully explored
other options.  If there is anyone who wants to offer a spare couch, I
would much rather stay there than in a hotel (provided I have a door I
can close, in order to have some privacy).  Staying with someone is
more fun for me than a hotel, and it would also save you money.

My distaste for a hotel is less if it does not know my name, but
staying in a house with people is normally more enjoyable than staying
alone.

Many countries have a law that hotels must report all guests to the
police.  In most cases, this orwellian policy applies not only to
foreigners like me, but to citizens as well!  The citizens should be
outraged by this, but often they are not.

Please call the hotel and ask whether they will demand to see my
passport, and whether they report all their guests to the police.  If
it has this policy, please join me in striking a blow against Big
Brother, by looking for a place I can stay in that doesn't demand to
see my passport, or report my visit to anyone.  If the police want
information about free software, they are welcome to come to my
speech.

If you have found a person for me to stay with, please forward this
section and the two following sections to that person.


Temperature:

Above 72 fahrenheit (22 centigrade) I find sleeping quite difficult.
(If the air is dry, I can stand 23 degrees.)  A little above that
temperature, a strong electric fan blowing on me enables me to sleep.
More than 3 degrees above that temperature, I need air conditioning to
sleep.

If there is a substantial chance of indoor temperatures too hot for
me, please arrange _in advance_ for me to have what I need.

If you are planning for me to stay in a hotel, DO NOT take for granted
that the hotel has air conditioning--or that it will be working when I
arrive.  Some hotels shut off their air conditioning systems for part
of the year.  They often think it is unnecessary in seasons when the
temperature is usually in the mid 20s--and they follow their schedule
like stupid robots even if there is a heat wave.

So you must explicitly ask them: "Do you have air conditioning?  Will
it be functioning for the dates XXX-YYY?"

In some hotels with central air conditioning, it simply does not work
very well: it can make a room less hot, but can't make it cool.
Before using a hotel that has central air conditioning, find out what
temperature it can actually lower a room to, during the relevant
dates.

Or look for a hotel that has a real cooling unit in the room, not a
central system.  Those tend to work well enough, if they are not
broken.


Pets:

I like cats if they are friendly, but they are not good for me; I am
somewhat allergic to them.  This allergy makes my face itch and my
eyes water.  So the bed, and the room I will usually be staying in,
need to be clean of cat hair.  However, it is no problem if there is a
cat elsewhere in the house--I might even enjoy it if the cat is
friendly.

Dogs that bark angrily and/or jump up on me frighten me, unless they
are small and cannot reach much above my knees.  But if they only bark
or jump when we enter the house, I can cope, as long as you hold the
dog away from me at that time.  Aside from that issue, I'm ok with
dogs.

If you can find a host for me that has a friendly parrot, I will be
very very glad.  If you can find someone who has a friendly parrot I
can visit with, that will be nice too.

DON'T buy a parrot figuring that it will be a fun surprise for me.  To
acquire a parrot is a major decision: it is likely to outlive you.  If
you don't know how to treat the parrot, it could be emotionally
scarred and spend many decades feeling frightened and unhappy.  If you
buy a captured wild parrot, you will promote a cruel and devastating
practice, and the parrot will be emotionally scarred before you get it.
Meeting that sad animal is not an agreeable surprise.


Email:

It is very important for me to be able to transfer email between my
laptop and the net, so I can do my ordinary work.  While traveling, I
often need to do the work and the transfer late at night, or in the
morning before a departure.  So please set up a way I can connect to
the net from the place I am staying.

I do NOT use browsers, I use the SSH protocol.  If the network
requires a proxy for SSH, I probably can't use it at all.

If a hotel says "We have internet access for customers", that is so
vague that it cannot be relied on.  So please find out exactly what
they have and exactly what it will do.  If they have an ethernet, do
they have a firewall?  Does it permit SSH connections?  What
parameters does the user need to specify in order to talk with it?

Please check those things directly, or ask the people who actually run
the network.  If you talk with someone who doesn't understand what
"SSH connection" means, or if he doesn't understand the difference
between "Internet" and "web browsing", that person is not competent to
give reliable information.  Don't rely on information from such a
person--talk to someone who knows!

For reasons of principle, I am unwilling to identify myself in order
to connect to the Internet.  For instance, if a hotel gives a user
name and password to each room, I won't use that system, since it
would identify me.  I would need some other way to connect.

A modem connection is fine if it works, so please verify in advance
that the telephone line you expect me to use has a modular jack and
that it works to call the ISP from that line.  Hotels in Europe and
Asia often have peculiar phone systems; the staff may tell you it is
possible to call an ISP from the hotel *but they may be wrong*.  For
instance, their phone switchboard may not recognize the tones produced
by modems.  The only way to tell for certain is to go to the hotel,
try phoning with a computer from a guest room, and see if it actually
works.  Until you have tested it, don't believe it!

My ISP phone numbers are old; I don't know if they will still work.
If you propose I use a modem, please find a number I can call.  It is
best if you lend me a permanent account that someone else uses, one
that will continue working afterward, so that I can use it again if I
come back or use it from other places in the region.  Hotel phone
rates may be high; I expect you to cover them.  However, I normally
connect to the net only for around ten minutes at a time, twice a day,
so the total won't be too big.

If I need to use a dialup connection, please cover the costs of the
telephone calls I will need to transfer my email -- especially in a
hotel.  Some hotels charge a lot of money for this.

Wireless modems mostly do not work with my machine, so do not plan on
my using one.  I won't refuse to use them if you have an expert who
can make it work, but success is rare.  If it involves loading a
nonfree driver, I will refuse.


Paying me a reimbursement or a fee:

Please pay my reimbursement or fee to me personally; do not pay it to
the FSF.  The FSF and I have completely separate finances, and the FSF
never pays for my travel.  The FSF welcomes donations, but please make
sure that money intended for me is not sent to them, because moving it
afterward would mean accounting headaches as well as extra work.

My assistant is not involved with my finances, so she cannot help you
with that issue.  Please send questions about payments to me directly.

If you pay me by check, and you're not in the US, make sure to get a
check that lists a corresponding US bank--otherwise it will cost me a
fee to deposit the check.  Please mail the check _in US dollars_ to:

    Richard Stallman
    77 Mass Ave rm 32-381
    Cambridge MA 02139
    Phone number: +1-617-253-8830

Do not mail it to the FSF!

A wire transfer is also a good method of payment.  I will send you the
coordinates; ask if you need them.  The bank you use will charge a
fee, and my bank charges me $10 for each incoming transfer; please add
those fees to the amount, rather than taking them out of what I
receive.

If you are outside the US, please convert your currency to dollars in
your bank, then use one of the above methods to pay me the dollars.
My bank gives very bad exchange rates; yours is surely better.

Cash is also fine.

If you want an invoice, I will be glad to give you one.  Let's work
out what it should say by email before I arrive.  Please also check
before the visit whether you need any other forms, such as tax forms.
I would like to be able to take care of any necessary forms while I am
there, rather than wait till afterward.


Hospitality:

Please pass this section to everyone who will be helping me directly
in any fashion during the visit.

It is nice of you to want to be kind to me, but please don't offer
help all the time.  In general I am used to managing life on my own;
when I need help, I am not shy about asking.  So there is no need to
offer to help me.  Moreover, being constantly offered help is actually
quite distracting and tiresome.

So please, unless I am in grave immediate danger, please don't offer
help.  The nicest thing you can do is help when I ask, and otherwise
not worry about how I am doing.  Meanwhile, you can also ask me for
help when you need it.

One situation where I do not need help, let alone supervision, is in
crossing streets.  I grew up in the middle of the world's biggest
city, full of cars, and I have crossed streets without assistance even
in the chaotic traffic of Bangalore and Delhi.  Please just leave me
alone when I cross streets.

In some places, my hosts act as if my every wish were their command.
By catering to my every whim, in effect they make me a tyrant over
them, which is not a role I like.  I start to worry that I might
subject them to great burdens without even realizing.  I start being
afraid to express my appreciation of anything, because they would get
it and give it to me at any cost.  If it is night, and the stars are
beautiful, I hesitate to say so, lest my hosts feel obligated to try
to get one for me.

When I'm trying to decide what to do, often I mention things that
MIGHT be nice to do--depending on more details, if it fits the
schedule, if there isn't a better alternative, etc.  Some hosts take
such a tentative suggestion as an order, and try moving heaven and
earth to make it happen.  This excessive rigidity is not only quite
burdensome for other people, it can even fail in its goal of pleasing
me.  If there is a better alternative, I'd rather be flexible and
choose it instead--so please tell me.  If my tentative suggestion
imposes a lot of trouble on others, I want to drop it--so please tell
me.

When you need to tell me about a problem in a plan, please do not
start with a long apology.  That is unbearably boring, and unnecessary
-- conveying useful information is helpful and good, and why apologize
for that?  So please be practical and go straight to the point.

If I am typing on my computer and it is time to do something else,
please tell me.  Don't wait for me to "finish working" first, because
you would wait forever.  I have to squeeze in answering mail at every
possible opportunity, which includes whenever I have to wait.  I wait
by working.  If instead of telling me there is no more need for me to
wait, you wait for me to stop waiting for you, we will both wait
forever -- or until I figure out what's happening.


Dinners:

If you are thinking of setting up a lunch or dinner for me with more
than 4 people total, please consider that as a meeting, and discuss it
with me in advance.  Such meals draw on my strength, just like
speeches and interviews.  They are not relaxation, they are work.

I expect to do work during my visit, but there is a limit on the
amount of work I can handle each day.  So please ask me in advance
about any large planned meal, and expect me to say no if I have a lot
of other work already.  If we are having a meal that I did not agree
to as a large meal, and other people ask if they can join, please tell
them no.  In both cases, please tell them that I need a chance to
relax after the other work I will have done.

Please don't be surprised if I pull out my computer at dinner and
begin handling some of my email.  I have difficulty hearing when there
is noise; at dinner, when people are speaking to each other, I usually
cannot hear their words.  Rather than feel bored, or impose on
everyone by asking them to speak slowly at me, I do some work.

Please don't try to pressure me to "relax" instead, and fall behind on
my work.  Surely you do not really want me to have to work double the
next day to catch up (assuming I even COULD catch up).  Please do not
interfere as I do what I need to do.


Food:

I do not eat breakfast.  Please do not ask me any questions about
what I will do breakfast.  Please just do not bring it up.

I enjoy delicious food, and I like most kinds of cooking if they are
done well (the exception being that I cannot eat anything very spicy).
If I am ordering from the menu in a restaurant which has a variety,
there's no need for you to worry about the question of what I like; I
will take care of it.

But if you want to cook for me, or invite me to a restaurant that
specializes in just one thing, or invite me to dinner with a preset
menu, you need to know what I dislike:

   avocado
   eggplant, usually (there are occasional exceptions)
   hot pepper
   olives
   liver (even in trace quantities)
   stomach and intestine; other organ meats
   cooked tuna
   oysters
   egg yolk, if the taste is noticeable, except when boiled completely hard
   many strong cheeses, especially those with green fungus
   desserts that contain fruit or liqueur flavors
   sour fruits, such as grapefruit and many oranges
   beer
   coffee (though weak coffee flavor can be good in desserts)
   the taste of alcohol (so I don't drink anything stronger than wine)

Don't ever try to decide what food I should eat without asking me.
Never assume that I will surely like a certain dish, merely because
most people do.  Instead, ask me in advance!

As long as there are many alternatives to choose from, there will be
no problem.


Wine:

Wine is not very important to me--not like food.  I like some wines,
depending on the taste, and dislike others, but I don't remember the
names of wines I have liked, so it is useless to ask me.

Therefore, if you're having dinner with me, please don't ask me what
to do about wine.  I can't decide intelligently, and it matters more
to others than to me.  Have wine or don't, as you prefer; choose it to
please yourself and the others, not for me.

If you get a bottle of wine, I will taste it, and if I like the taste,
I will drink a little, perhaps a glass.


Restaurants:

So I like to go to restaurants that are good at whatever kind of food
they do.  I don't arrive with specific preferences for a kind of food
to eat--rather, I want to have whatever is good there: perhaps the
local traditional cuisine, or the food of an immigrant ethnic group
which is present in large numbers, or something unusual and original.

So please don't ask me "Where do you want to eat?" or "What kind of
restaurant do you want to go to?"  I can't make an intelligent
decision without knowing the facts, and unless I am already familiar
with the city we're in, I can only get those facts from you.

The only general thing I can tell you is that what I like or dislike
about a meal is the sensation of eating the food.  Other things, such
as the decor of a restaurant, or the view from its windows, are
secondary.  Let's choose the restaurant based on its food.

A good approach is to ask around *in advance* among your acquaintances
to find people who like good food and are familiar with the area's
restaurants.  They will be able to give good recommendations.


Sightseeing:

If I am visiting an interesting city or region, I will probably want
to do a few hours of sightseeing in between the work.  But don't try
to plan sightseeing for me without asking me first--I can only spare a
limited time for it, so I am selective about where to go.  Please
don't assume I want to see something just because it is customary to
take visitors there.  That place may be of no interest with me.
Instead, please tell me about possible places to visit--then I can say
what I would like.

I enjoy natural beauty such as mountains and rocky coasts, ancient
buildings, impressive and unusual modern buildings, and trains.  I
like caves, and if there is a chance to go caving I would enjoy that.
(I am just a novice as a caver.)  I often find museums interesting,
but it depends on the subject.

I tend to like music that has a feeling of dance in it, but I
sometimes like other kinds too.  However, I usually dislike the
various genres that are popular in the US, such as rock, country, rap,
reggae, techno, and composed American "folk".  Please tell me what
unusual music and dance forms are present; I can tell you if I am
interested.  If there is a chance to see folk dancing, I would
probably enjoy that.

If there is something else interesting and unique, please tell me
about it.  Maybe I will be interested.


More arrangements:

Once we have a precise date for the speech, my assistant will contact
you with questions about the arrangements for the trip.  Please
respond as soon as possible with the information she asks for.

Please do not ever mail me a file larger than 100k without asking me
first.  I almost certainly do not want to receive it in that form.  If
you would like feedback or approval for proposed publicity, please
talk with rms-assist about it, not with me.  If you want to give me
data about airplane tickets, please send that info as plain ASCII
text, not as images or PDFs.  Thank you.