[astrod]

Maybe not the best example there, known or not - Plato's influence on us today is pretty heavy.

There are even strong theories connecting early Christianity directly to Plato.

[bawolff]

Sure, and arguably RMS has had a pretty significant indirect impact on the lives of people who don't care about technology but still use free software in their day to day lives (it is everywhere). But those people don't really think about his message anymore than the average person contemplates the impact of neoplatonists on their present cultural context.

[Before anyone gets offended, this is just a metaphor. Obviously plato had a much more significant impact on the world than RMS did]