Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT

Post by mantap » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:07 AM UTC

geofft wrote: post #101

partialrecall wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really seems like his real 'sin' is not being neurotypical. Should he try to have more tact? Sure, of course. But failing that, the correct response is compassion and gentle correction, not a witchhunt. Not driving him out of his jobs.

Matthew Garrett, who served on the FSF board of directors, wrote about the "not being neurotypical" hypothesis two days ago: https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/52587.html In particular, he says he did try to do the compassion and gentle correction work, and Stallman had no interest in it. Stallman's job has a job description - leading the Free Software Foundation. If he's not leading it effectively, it is important for his…

Post by michaelmrose » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:08 AM UTC

vkou wrote: post #19

melling wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t follow the story. Was Stallman taken out of context? Anyway, he probably should have know better than to weigh in. One’s well thought out response and subtle points can often turn out to have a few holes. In fact... “If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged”

He was dancing on a tightrope. Whether or not his statements were taken out of context requires a mind-reader to intuit what exactly he, uh, meant by them. It's not an interesting defense, and given his prior statements on the subject of statutory rape, I'm having a hard time taking it seriously.

Post by ajxs » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:09 AM UTC

geofft wrote: post #101

partialrecall wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really seems like his real 'sin' is not being neurotypical. Should he try to have more tact? Sure, of course. But failing that, the correct response is compassion and gentle correction, not a witchhunt. Not driving him out of his jobs.

Matthew Garrett, who served on the FSF board of directors, wrote about the "not being neurotypical" hypothesis two days ago: https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/52587.html In particular, he says he did try to do the compassion and gentle correction work, and Stallman had no interest in it. Stallman's job has a job description - leading the Free Software Foundation. If he's not leading it effectively, it is important for his…

Post by claudeganon » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:10 AM UTC

vunie wrote: post #152

claudeganon wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, I’m happy to live in a future where bankrolling the denial of other’s human rights is something that can cost you your job, even if you’re wealthy and powerful. No one would have questioned him being forced to resign if he had financed an anti-miscegenation initiative. It’s just that hatred of LGBTQ people is still normalized to the extent that people think you should be “given a pass.”

So what you're saying is that people should loose their jobs because they say something you don't like. Democracy is what gave homosexuals rights and it doesn't work unless everyone gets to express their opinion. Even people you think are wrong.

Post by javagram » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 2:11 AM UTC

eoxenford wrote: post #122

Throughout this whole brouhaha, I’ve been astonished at how nobody in the mainstream press, nor any of those in tech calling for Stallman’s head, ever challenged the statement that Stallman said Epstein’s victims were “entirely willing.” Indeed, quite the opposite. From the Medium post that kicked the whole thing off [1]: …and then he says that an enslaved child could, somehow, be “entirely willing”. And from Vice [2…