Richard Stallman Resigns From The Free Software Foundation

[Chewi]

I admire him for staying true to his principles after all these years and thank him for how far he has taken us but at the same time, I recognise that he's a rather unpleasant person to interact with. I have heard some first hand stories besides those you may have read here and elsewhere.

For an excellent interview with him done just last week before this latest news broke, check out The Register. Published just today, they have supplemented it with an analysis of what has transpired since.

[iavael]

it looks like it's more along the lines of "what if the child consents tho?" turning into insistence that all of Epstein's victims did consent.

Not actually

https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/d5aiuu/richard_m_stallman_resigns_free_software/f0l57yd/

[ahjolinna]

As Richard Stallman Resigns Let’s Consider Why GNU/Linux Without Stallman and Torvalds Would be a Victory to Microsoft

[Ipkh]

I can buy the Linus Torvalds importance to the Open Source movement, but the FSF has been more of a hindrance of late.

[hotaru]

Not actually

https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comme...tware/f0l57yd/

even if he didn't say that the victims were willing, his belief that it's possible for a child to consent to being raped by a grown man is more than bad enough.

[Blahblah]

He's resigning because Vice directly lied about his quotes. Stallman was arguing essentially that Minsky was tricked into believing the girl he slept with was not coerced, but Vice takes that and runs with "Stallman says the girl wasn't coerced!".

Also, I'm aware that he has a moronic position about pedophilia. However, keep in mind that he made that argument 10 years ago in an academic context (his site is geared towards "intellectual" arguments). He isn't a pedophile himself, AFAIK. While I can see why the moral outrage exists in that instance, it's a bit suspicious that Vice itself isn't receiving the same pushback for making even more brazen arguments about pedophilia.

[Terrablit]

I'm not particularly sad to see him replaced. He was an extremely unsuitable public face for the modern era. He was incredibly stubborn about the weirdest things, like forcing his weird culture into FOSS speeches (e.g. the creepy "cult of the emacs virgin" bullshit that he wouldn't give up), and didn't have the sense to filter his opinions about unrelated things that he wasn't particularly educated about. An expert in one field is not an expert in all.

His uncomfortable public discussions about sexuality were offputting. His instant willingness to do mental gymnastics to support sexual predators was quite a hypocritical contrast to his uncompromising disdain for any shades of grey around software "freedom". It was never done in a "there might be more to the story" way, but instead an insistence that the public narrative was wrong or unlikely. So it usually ended up as a form of victim blaming. And his insistence on pushing GNU propaganda to the top of all discussions was tiresome. As were his executive overrides in GNU projects. I think his ego got massively inflated due to the deference people gave him, and he realized a bit too late that there was a limit to the eccentricity people were willing to accommodate. Gratitude is not endless, just like no contribution is endless.

I'm sympathetic to the thought that he might feel betrayed by the movement he spent so much time leading. But, honestly he should have made steps long ago to transition out of leadership roles and to have someone PR for him. He had the time and the resources to polish things better if he'd been willing to give up more control. Ironically, he attempted to make FOSS more important than everything, so he shouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be more important than him.

What is he going to do after resignation if he's persona non-grata? He spends most of his time FOSSing, but mostly around speaking and communicating, from what I can tell. Being forced out is going to free up a lot of time.

[juno]

Please read this reddit comment, summing up the events:

https://reddit.com/r/linux/comments/...ssure/f0l50w4/


Michael : please

1) remove the link to vice or
2) make a clear statement about vice and not just link them which creates the impression that it would be a reputable source.

The vive represenation is entirely wrong and defaming. If phoronix doesn't rectify that in such a news article, it is playing its part in this calumny campaign.


vive is fake news

[Azrael5]

Anyway, linux is an ownership of micro$$oft and google as well. Thanks to the negligence of linux developers.

[WolfpackN64]

Not suprising that the executive director of GNOME was pushing to oust RMS. Everyone who doesn't fit his political vision is out to get mobbed it seems. This was pushed in a real dirty manner. Basically he comitted libel against Stallman.