Yes, but will he step down from his role with the Free Software Foundation? I'm more concerned about that, since that's a more public-facing role.
He has resigned from the FSF https://www.fsf.org/news/richard-m-stallman-resigns
Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
231–240 of 357 posts
Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "she may have been coerced by Epstein into appearing to be “willing” to Minsky." Is that not a possibility?
Would that somehow absolve Minsky? A "willing" obviously young girl seems to want to have sex with somebody she doesnt know. If Minsky suddenly find himself in the plot to a porno, and just went along with it, then trying to defend his moral culpability is probably a lot out of the bounds of acceptability.
I didn't say it would absolve Minsky. Somebody who has sex with a prostitute is lower than dirt in my book.
Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
When he was charged it was determined that despite this possible defense there was enough evidence to convict him off knowingly committing sexual assault. It's possible he'll be found not guilty in the court of law, but it's unlikely a convicted sex offender with a harem of women is above coercion and the law likely find the defendant would more likely have known than not known.
You appear to be confusing Minsky, who was dead before any of this hit the news and was never charged with any crime, and Epstein.
It looks like you're right about that reader beign confused.
To clarify further, however, Minksy was not dead "before any of this hit the news"; he died in January 2016.
Claims against Epstein had significant publicity much earlier than that; as just one example, in 2015 the Prince Andrew - Epstein connection was making headlines due to the Virginia Roberts case.[1]
[1] https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bbc-planning-panorama-...
Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
2006: https://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html#05%20Jun... > I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children. The arguments that it causes harm seem to be based on cases which aren't voluntary, which are then stretched by parents who are horrified by the idea that their little baby is maturing. 2013: https://www.stallman.org/archives/2012-nov-feb.html#04_Janua... > There is little ev…
To be fair to Stallman though, he later recanted on those positions. I can't remember the exact post but he said something along the lines of how someone explained to him how much pedophilia harms children and so he has since recanted his position and now believes pedophilia is wrong and harmful. Also he was making the statements in the context of having read this article from the Guardian which says petty much the s…
> To be fair to Stallman though, he later recanted on those positions.
To be fair to his critics, he only said that two days ago, which is after the CSAIL mailing list postings were made public.
> Why are we going after MIT scientists instead of those prosecutors and Epstien's associates.
I'd hope we go after both.
Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here here, RMS is a weirdo but he's being vilified for things that do not effect his job in any way, he is by no means a representative for MIT, and his opinions on unrelated matters (no matter how misguided they might be) do not change his ability to represent the FSF.
>and his opinions on unrelated matters (no matter how misguided they might be) do not change his ability to represent the FSF Now that I can't say I totally agree with. The free software movement is a political movement, and as such his statements and opinions on social issues of all kinds have a deep impact on whether or not he can be a good representative of the FSF. But we should at least be truthful about his sta…
Thanks. I know we're supposed to just upvote when someone hits the nail on the head, but this comment summarises my internal conflict on this perfectly.
Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#236They need to do more about Stallman. They really need to consider a criminal investigation into his conduct to see if any laws have been violated. I really hope the DA gets involved so he can be held accountable. They should impound his electronics and search them for child porn.
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Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being a leader of any sort makes it worse, but I don't think it's a necessary condition for justifying his removal. Each person contributes to the flavor of the community in which they participate. It is within the right of those who lead the community to curate its flavor by adding or removing people when necessary. In this his case, his removal was well-justified for the cause of keeping the community welcoming and…
i love this attempt to put gutter bumpers on the whole world. doomed, but adorable
MIT is allowed to use whatever behavior criteria MIT likes when determining who gets to participate in MIT.
Also don't be surprised if lots of disparate organizations agree that certain behaviors are inappropriate.
RMS and others are free to say or do whatever they please, but they aren't free from experiencing the consequences (social or otherwise) of their choices.
Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#238Worth noting that (as far as I know) Stallman was not a paid employee of MIT, certainly not a professor or anything. He had an office because, I believe, Gerry Sussman (and probably others) thought he should have an office. He's listed as a "visiting scientist" on CSAIL's page: https://www.csail.mit.edu/person/richard-stallman He's around on the mailing list (mostly to reply to every mention of software with a questi…
A little tangential, but I didn't know there was a utility called `finger`. Is this supposed to be a profile directory envisioned for an Internet back when it was more decentralized?
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Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s why I said the 20th century, the “yellow press” I mentioned was the 19th century papers you’re talking about. They did anything to sell a headline - in the 20th century, ethical standards for media were better for a while, although of course they have always been susceptible to influence by the government as you mention (whether Iraq, Vietnam, or more justifiable wars).
In the 20th century the NYTimes acted as Stalin's mouthpiece for 50 years, denying the Soviet-perpetrated genocide in Ukraine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial_of_the_Holodomor#Walter... Which, again, is worse than anything they've done recently.
OK. At least, as your link shows, they eventually admitted they were wrong once the Cold War ended and the records became available.
In my experience outlets like the NYT do issue corrections - e.g. just over this weekend, they published a pretty questionable story about Judge Kavanaugh but then published a correction within a day when the article was challenged and compared to the book it was based on.
In comparison I’d be very, very surprised if VICE issued a correction for its lies about this reporting, which they boldly publish right alongside the documents debunking their faked quotes.
Re: Richard Stallman resigns from CSAIL at MIT
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a big difference. "Presented as" does not mean "was", and the sentence immediately after that makes it clear that he didn't mean it as such. There are other pretty bad comments, yes. If most of the coverage focused on those rather than something he didn't actually say, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it.
"Presented as" does not mean "was" It can mean that. sentence immediately after that makes it clear that he didn't mean it as such. No, it is debatable. The following sentence does not clearly state they were unwilling. Another Stallman gem: I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children. The arguments that it causes harm seem to be based on cases which aren't voluntary, which are then stretch…
For the record, he retracted that statement:
"Many years ago I posted that I could not see anything wrong about sex between an adult and a child, if the child accepted it. Through personal conversations in recent years, I've learned to understand how sex with a child can harm per psychologically. This changed my mind about the matter: I think adults should not do that. I am grateful for the conversations that enabled me to understand why."
https://www.stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#14_Septe...
Edit: just noticed that's from two days ago, so in reaction to this fiasco.