Richard Stallman is coming back to the board of the FSF

No, I think claiming one can extrapolate from one particular autistic person to all autistic people is "unfairly generalising about autistic people." Autism is a broad spectrum (and far from unidimensional) which manifests in a broad diversity of ways.

I'll generally excuse people who are trying to do the right thing. Richard is trying to do the right thing. If you don't, you'll do very badly in other cultures. By US standards, most cultures do things which are extremely abusive or neglectful (and vice-versa).

I will also mention autism is a psychological term defined in DSM, not a self-identity term. Many people who are autistic don't believe they are, and vice-versa. It's not a personal choice.

Yes, he did, multiple times.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20994216

I am here to say I am pleased to see RMS active in software issues again.

I am a fan of his ideas related to software, and his gift to us has paid me and most of my peers off over and over. Tons of others have added to all that and here we are today.

Personally, I will consider what he says about software, data, IP.

The man is not often wrong. Has a lot to say, and he should be heard.

There are other issues, and that is all quite difficult. Painful. I would say unnecessary, but I know better, save to say I do not see that in terms of bad intent. I do see a very different set of priorities. Not speaking to right or wrong here, just understanding and a desire to move open ideas further along, bolster them to endure.

I sincerely hope everyone involved can help keep the focus where it counts.

I do not plan on speaking to RMS as a person, nor giving his opinions weight outside of computing freedom. Given these times, an RMS, however painful, seems necessary.

I just want the software, data, IP vision to endure, thrive and continue to deliver far more use value than any one contributor adds or user invests. He can really help to do that, and I think he should.

OSS is a beautiful thing.

I remember the first time I heard about GNU. Was profound.

Took a while, and the likes of ESR and others who took the time to write and speak to people like me seeking to grok it all.

Unlike physical goods and services, software can be a multiplier. The whole is greater than the parts. We can, and often easily do, get more than we may give.

These ideas have empowered people all over the world.

And they range from curious, driven people of little means dumpster diving to get going through to others who may want for nothing, all able to pick up the body of OSS code and open data and run with it.

I feel deeply our actions, law, norms, expectations all set now will matter for a very long time.

Getting all that more right than wrong is going to touch pretty much everyone and the potential impacts are profound. The possible futures vary widely, and not just degrees of good. It could all be not so good at all.

Either way, this will all solidify.

Does not have to be bad. I sure hope it isn't.

No problem at all.

What we can do is speak to their actions and leave the door open for them to improve.

And I am not talking about avoiding consequences. Those are ever present as they should be.

However it all plays out, if we do shut that door, what inventive is there for people to improve?

Secondly, how do they actually present having done it, or even begin the attempt when those doors are slammed shut?

It should not be easy, but should also be possible.