Much better than the usual "People suck and I wont say who" whine from this source.
Disagree with RMS as much as you like on this question. Expect difficulties because the previous people calling him out for his positions on non-software ideas, in technical forums, have often been grabbing any straw they thought they could throw to discredit RMS's stance on intellectual property.
I disagree with Drew here; I think we can say that RMS is worth listening to when he speaks about software and the importance of a free flow of information; and that we can even revere his stance on that while at the same time disagreeing with him on any number of other subjects. Morality, economics, all sorts of things.
If the FSF had a mission to address sexuality or morality; then one would hope its leadership had views aligned with those goals. That aint what the FSF is for. They don't need to preach morality.
What's always bothered me is that in a world with news articles about Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, Stallman's own offenses were pretty much just "things he said" (and not "things he did.")
It also seems like that could've launched a thoughtful and clarifying discussion about exactly what the harms were to minors -- but that instead, the conversation focused entirely on Stallman. (Drew DeVault reaches back literally 10 years to assemble the most damning sequence of Stallman quotes -- and then scrutinizes them just to criticize the possibility of narrow equivocations...)
I expect this to drop off the hacker news front page with the usual phenomenal speed that Drew's articles seem to, which is sad.
The post is well-reasoned, and damning. While I love Free (“as in Freedom”) software and the global collective it has given us, I'm ashamed that Stallman is still held up as a hero in our community.
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[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 31.4 ms ] threadDisagree with RMS as much as you like on this question. Expect difficulties because the previous people calling him out for his positions on non-software ideas, in technical forums, have often been grabbing any straw they thought they could throw to discredit RMS's stance on intellectual property.
I disagree with Drew here; I think we can say that RMS is worth listening to when he speaks about software and the importance of a free flow of information; and that we can even revere his stance on that while at the same time disagreeing with him on any number of other subjects. Morality, economics, all sorts of things.
If the FSF had a mission to address sexuality or morality; then one would hope its leadership had views aligned with those goals. That aint what the FSF is for. They don't need to preach morality.
It also seems like that could've launched a thoughtful and clarifying discussion about exactly what the harms were to minors -- but that instead, the conversation focused entirely on Stallman. (Drew DeVault reaches back literally 10 years to assemble the most damning sequence of Stallman quotes -- and then scrutinizes them just to criticize the possibility of narrow equivocations...)
The post is well-reasoned, and damning. While I love Free (“as in Freedom”) software and the global collective it has given us, I'm ashamed that Stallman is still held up as a hero in our community.