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Richard M. Stallman resigns

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Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#441

Post by DoreenMichele »

nabla9 wrote: post #438
michaelmrose wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Top leader of a staff of 11 and a budget of 1 million dollars

The scope of and influence of nonprofits can't be measured in staff and budget. Linux foundation and FSF have small staff and budget but the total economic value of the projects they steer is in tens of billions.

So the lesson is: Don't selflessly give your work away for nothing out of idealism lest it improve the world in some fashion all out of proportion to the budget involved because, if you do, we shall surely expect your head on a pike at some point for some wholly unrelated personal gaff.

Rather than, you know, finding some humane, compassionate approach to dealing with the personal shortcomings of someone who has done so very much for the world.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#442

Post by robocat »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #424
bubblethink wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But RMS is de facto leader and public figure in movement that is also political What does this mean ? He is a leader of an organisation related to software freedom (or more pedantically, the choice of licences used for software). How is it relevant ? All you are saying is, "Famous people can't talk like that".

If you are the leader for an organisation focused on advocacy (i.e. raising awareness and communicating), then your words become de facto the words of the organisation, even with comments not related to your organisations purpose. If your leader appears to advocate pedophilia, then your organisation no longer becomes "that organisation that advocates for free software", but "that organisation run by a pedophile apolo…

> If your leader appears to advocate pedophilia

He doesn't advocate pedophilia. Nothing has changed for years. Are you advocating it?

He has just been completely misrepresented by some popular media as supporting statutory rape, and you are fueling the fire.

It is pure bullshit - the journalists that write (or publications that publish) headlines that completely reverse meaning should be held accountable for their lies.

It is libel: make it appear Richard said she was willing when he definitely said she was coerced (within the exact same paragraph as the "quote"). Seems she was 18 too - any organisation publishing clearly slanderous headings designed for sensation and payment for eyeballs should be punished.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#443

Post by Synaesthesia »

jameslk wrote: post #200
aazaa wrote: post #14

I'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…

It's funny seeing all the Stallman apologists coming out of the woodwork trying to justify what he said and decry this as a form of censorship. As if having more people dumping their opinions on every subject is a good thing. Sometimes it really is better just to shut up. Otherwise if you're going to air out your thoughts on touchy subjects, be ready to find yourself up against others who disagree in a profound way.…

This is a terrible response IMO. We should take responsibility for what we say and be sensitive but we should let things like our career prospects affect our freedom of speech. That’s a chilling effect.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#444

Post by thefz »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #348

Anybody who has spent time around RMS knows there are problematic behaviours in almost every interaction. This is not just about this one incident, but this one incident where he defends "voluntary pedophilia" was obviously the last straw. I've met him a few times, put him up on my sofa once. I'd say almost every 15-30 minutes in his presence I would stop myself from saying "that's not an appropriate way to behave" o…

> an underage girl would be entirely willing to have sex with an adult and presented herself willingly would be nothing more than a 'controversial opinion'.

But this is not what he said. He clearly states coerced. I think the outrage should come only after a correct reading comprehension.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#445

Post by mnm1 »

nabla9 wrote: post #343

RMS has called himself "borderline autistic". His socially clueless black and white thinking makes it look like he is far in the spectrum. RMS is anal about meanings of terms and their use. That's not working well in the current climate where words carry perceived intent. I find myself agreeing with RMS with most of the terminology and its use in this case. Women who tell stories about him paint a picture of lonely s…

This is ridiculous in a culture that elected and continues to support an accused rapist to its highest office. If the highest office in the nation (and many others) can have such a scumbag without him being forced to resign, how can we expect someone in Stallman's position to be perfect and PC with his speech so idiots don't misunderstand his direct style of speech? Such hypocrisy, such bullshit, this argument is.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#446

Post by dtornabene »

HugoDaniel wrote: post #435

I have no opinion on Stallman, he could very well be that awful person. The twitter discussion[0] seemed to me to be very polarized and targeting rage with all the common traits of typical fake news/mass hysteria communication. Maybe it is just the way these things naturally come to daylight. [0] https://twitter.com/sarahmei/status/1172283772428906496

totally good faith dynamic there, calling it fake news/mass hysteria. great stuff man, real contribution to the conversation. G-d forbid other people be pissed about this.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#447

Post by dexen »

Just as much as RMS was right[1], ESR was right[2]. The "cancel culture" is harming the free software movement by practicing human version of Microsoft's EEE[3]. The cancel culture enters the community, establishes interests groups, and starts knocking down prominent contributors. The demands are backed by angry crowds on social media rather than by contributions.

It's time for us to defend each other, and to hold contributions above outraged crowd's size.

--

[1] "Stallman was right", countless comments here on HN, on LWN, and all over the internet

[2] "Why Hackers Must Eject the SJWs", http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=6918

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguis...

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#448

Post by dtornabene »

js8 wrote: post #150

I am glad that people didn't force Chomsky to resign from MIT due to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faurisson_affair . Freedom of speech means that people are free to defend what other people find morally objectionable. The idea that the "leaders" should be morally pure is understandable, but ultimately very elitist. It also reminds me of this article: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/neurodiver...

yeah, uh, these are not the same, at all. Chomsky did not do a holocaust denial, Chomsky isn't the one whose speech was under a microscope, he was the one standing up for the right do socially unpalatable scholarship (or whatever you call what Faurission was doing). And for the record, the Faurisson affair comes up all the time from people who hate chomsky and want to see him brought down in the world.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#449

Post by michaelmrose »

flukus wrote: post #423
michaelmrose wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Top leader of a staff of 11 and a budget of 1 million dollars

You write this like it's an insult, but with a dozen stuff and million dollar budget he's done more for the world than most of us could do with 1000 staff and a billion dollar budget. That's a testament to his vision and leadership.

I wrote it as a poke at the parent poster who suggested that top leaders should expect to be held to different standards than the rest of us when speaking of a man who enjoyed none of the perks of being a "top leader" while contributing a lot.

Re: Richard M. Stallman resigns

#450

Post by sascha_sl »

dexen wrote: post #447

Just as much as RMS was right[1], ESR was right[2]. The "cancel culture" is harming the free software movement by practicing human version of Microsoft's EEE[3]. The cancel culture enters the community, establishes interests groups, and starts knocking down prominent contributors. The demands are backed by angry crowds on social media rather than by contributions. It's time for us to defend each other, and to hold co…

not everything is a psyop, sometimes people just want idiots to stop their toxic bs
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