7 ms·

Context: RMS waded into the MIT Epstein scandal https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794 https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-sta

by Donald 7y ago

Context: RMS waded into the MIT Epstein scandal https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794 https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec21... > I’ve concluded from various examples of accusation inflation that it is absolutely wrong to use the term “sexual assault” in an accusation.

norswap 7y ago
People: go read his email and make up your own mind about whether the punishment is proportionate to the crime. (And take a few minutes to be appalled at the quality of the arguments for that particular witch hunt.)
- CathedralBorrow 7y ago
  Good point. I read the entire email thread and find the consequences entirely predictable, acceptable and proportionate to his actions.
  - norswap 7y ago
    Great, I hope you have a nice day!
AlexandrB 7y ago
"Waded in" is exactly the right phrase. RMS is neither a legal expert nor a moral philosopher. Commenting on the definition of assault and the nature of consent is outside his field of expertise and he should have just replied with a curt "I will not be attending". My personal takeaway is that it's important to understand the limitations of your own knowledge before succumbing to the urge to comment on something.
- Aloha 7y ago
  The man is known for not keeping his mouth shut when he sees something that bothers him. While I may not like his politics I agree that he should speak his mind.
reirob 7y ago
Thank you! I had to scroll really deep in this page to understand some context. Because the link of this page goes just to say "Richard M. Stallman, founder and president of the Free Software Foundation, resigned as president and from its board of directors." The discussion on this page expresses many personal opinions, many interpretations and a very small amount of facts. I personally had to go somewhere else to understand what happened [1] (in German only), yes it is a strong opinion, but at least with references to back the claims up. For me Richard Stallman is a hero. Through his work he made me discover a lot about IT and his life showed me that there are still people that are fighting for their cause without compromise and personal corruption and are ready to give a lot for the society. I never did and never will do as much as he did for society - and therefore I am thankful that there are people like him to be inspired. [1]: https://blog.fefe.de/?ts=a37ef6b6 https://blog.fefe.de/?ts=a37ef6b6
ip26 7y ago
It's pretty incredible reading the comments on that bit, and noticing how the battle lines are drawn almost perfectly along gender (with a few male defectors, but no female)

by Donald 7y ago

norswap 7y ago

People: go read his email and make up your own mind about whether the punishment is proportionate to the crime. (And take a few minutes to be appalled at the quality of the arguments for that particular witch hunt.)

CathedralBorrow 7y ago
Good point. I read the entire email thread and find the consequences entirely predictable, acceptable and proportionate to his actions.
- norswap 7y ago
  Great, I hope you have a nice day!

AlexandrB 7y ago

"Waded in" is exactly the right phrase. RMS is neither a legal expert nor a moral philosopher. Commenting on the definition of assault and the nature of consent is outside his field of expertise and he should have just replied with a curt "I will not be attending". My personal takeaway is that it's important to understand the limitations of your own knowledge before succumbing to the urge to comment on something.

Aloha 7y ago
The man is known for not keeping his mouth shut when he sees something that bothers him. While I may not like his politics I agree that he should speak his mind.

reirob 7y ago

Thank you! I had to scroll really deep in this page to understand some context. Because the link of this page goes just to say "Richard M. Stallman, founder and president of the Free Software Foundation, resigned as president and from its board of directors." The discussion on this page expresses many personal opinions, many interpretations and a very small amount of facts. I personally had to go somewhere else to understand what happened [1] (in German only), yes it is a strong opinion, but at least with references to back the claims up. For me Richard Stallman is a hero. Through his work he made me discover a lot about IT and his life showed me that there are still people that are fighting for their cause without compromise and personal corruption and are ready to give a lot for the society. I never did and never will do as much as he did for society - and therefore I am thankful that there are people like him to be inspired. [1]: https://blog.fefe.de/?ts=a37ef6b6 https://blog.fefe.de/?ts=a37ef6b6

ip26 7y ago

It's pretty incredible reading the comments on that bit, and noticing how the battle lines are drawn almost perfectly along gender (with a few male defectors, but no female)