I don't know what the correct standard is for an organizational leader when it comes to this stuff, but I don't understand why they need to inflate Stallman saying "presented herself as entirely willing" to him saying she was "entirely willing".
Richard M. Stallman resigns
281–290 of 1001 posts
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has nothing to do with technology. If you start expressing opinions about how sex with a sex-trafficked child should be legal, won't your friends and family raise some questions about your character? Unless we're talking of morally flexible individuals. And at least parents should raise an eyebrow, since we have this natural reaction to protect our children. > information wants to be free Whomever said that was…
>If you start expressing opinions about how sex with a sex-trafficked child should be legal, won't your friends and family raise some questions about your character? In a civilized world you would be sued for libel for saying that. I look forward to someone making a startup doing just that.
In a civilized world, you would be able to sue someone for libel for making a statement of opinion, in the abstract, that might somehow be applied to you? And this is your response to a thread rooted in someone concerned about the need for self-censorship?
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#283Why does this feel like such a witch hunt? It is clear RMS was stunningly clueless to write anything about this, but surely we all know of similar engineers that would make a similar error? If everyone were held up to the same moral standard, we wouldn't have many people left in power! Just to be clear: I'm definitely not supporting hurting children (directly or indirectly) - I hope I'm not falling into the same tar…
This wasn't a witch hunt. This should have happened a long time ago. He is a creep, and has been problematic for years. “He literally used to have a mattress on the floor of his office. He kept the door to his office open, to proudly showcase that mattress and all the implications that went with it. Many female students avoided the corridor with his office for that reason…I was one of the course 6 undergrads who avoi…
He slept in his office, and had ever since his house caught on fire, some years before I met him. I met him in 1984. When he moved his office to a rebuilt floor at tech square, he had a wall dividing the office into two halves. One half was his sleeping space, and the other, which was accessible from the hallway, was his working space.
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#284There are so many judgements on both sides, both in these comments and in the articles on the subject that have been submitted, but very little quoting of what he said in context. Where can I find what he said? Why is everyone talking about what he meant without quoting what he said so I can decide what makes sense for myself?
I have now read the whole email thread available on Vice (thanks those who linked it).
First, I admit little knowledge past what I just read. I do, however, see why people don't like what Stallman wrote.
That said, I think this went too far, and that many have misconstrued both what Stallman said and meant. I hope that's ok to say.
This situation stinks.
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#285it's rather interesting how all the information technology (social media, etc...) is slowly moving our culture towards increasing self-censorship. One has to have the right opinion or stay quiet. Having the wrong opinion about certain topics is getting more expensive. Stay away from taboos or else... never mind the fact that what we regard as wrong changes across different societies over time. Weirdly all the informa…
This has nothing to do with technology. If you start expressing opinions about how sex with a sex-trafficked child should be legal, won't your friends and family raise some questions about your character? Unless we're talking of morally flexible individuals. And at least parents should raise an eyebrow, since we have this natural reaction to protect our children. > information wants to be free Whomever said that was…
>If you start expressing opinions about how sex with a sex-trafficked child should be legal
That is not what Stallman said, wrote or advocates so that's kind of a strawman hypothetical that continues to pedal a false narrative.
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#286it's rather interesting how all the information technology (social media, etc...) is slowly moving our culture towards increasing self-censorship. One has to have the right opinion or stay quiet. Having the wrong opinion about certain topics is getting more expensive. Stay away from taboos or else... never mind the fact that what we regard as wrong changes across different societies over time. Weirdly all the informa…
This has nothing to do with technology. If you start expressing opinions about how sex with a sex-trafficked child should be legal, won't your friends and family raise some questions about your character? Unless we're talking of morally flexible individuals. And at least parents should raise an eyebrow, since we have this natural reaction to protect our children. > information wants to be free Whomever said that was…
That is a grotesque distortion of what Stallman actually wrote, though it does seem to be how his enemies decided to distort him. Thanks for being part of the problem.
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#287More information on‒what I guess‒is the relevant backstory (RMS making reprehensible statements related to the Epstein scandal) can be found (among other places) in this blog post [1] by Matthew Garrett (original source referenced in the post is [2]). [1] https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/52587.html [2] https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec21...
>Again, this mailing list has undergraduate students on it. It is likely some of them are “18 years old or 17”. What a horribly asinine point. If you’re an undergraduate student and unable to deal with uncomfortable opinions, you are too immature to be a university student. The further infantilization of college students, and worse, college staff, never ceases to amaze me.
Do you spend a lot of time at work having your vulnerability to rape talked about by your boss?
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bollocks. Like Ricky Gervais said the other day actually you can say anything you like. People might not agree with you and that's fine.
If it was as simple as a disagreement, that would be fine. But it's not just simple disagreements anymore. It is costing people their livelihoods and futures because they're not toeing the ever shifting line.
Indeed, it’s no longer cool to be an open white supremacist anymore. What a shame.
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#289I’m not so sure ambitious competitors aren’t riding moral panics and polarized reactions to get rid of incumbents and take their place.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions...
Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns
#290I've seen some online cheering Stallman's resignation from MIT. I suspect they'll also be cheering about this resignation as well. But this is nothing to cheer about. Regardless of what low regard the man might be held as a person, he's being persecuted for having expressing ideas, demanding proof of claims, advocating for objective standards, and asking questions. These are all hallmarks of scientific inquiry. It se…
"Asking questions" that deny people's humanity over and over isn't exactly a positive intellectual exercise. We pretty conclusively decided that race based chattel slavery was wrong a while ago. But why? Can we keep expressing ideas and demanding proof of these claims? Can we do it forever? Can we do it while holding positions of power at institutions that are attended by black students?
To stop questioning something is to turn it into a religious belief. Then there's no way to know how valid it is.