Some might have found it funny, others might have found it tacky. It's the way jokes work. Important here is that his is not the first time it happened or where

Some might have found it funny, others might have found it tacky. It's the way jokes work. Important here is that his is not the first time it happened or where it was used disproportionally against him: https://stallman.org/articles/texas.html https://stallman.org/articles/texas.html From the above, from someone at TI he met later who was amused by his joke: "The plant incident, which I found rather humorous, provided a reason for people in the later camp to become offended. This was convenient as they had been looking for one. They were subsequently able to blow it to suitable proportions to gain the attention of management. " Stallman will always offend people because he speaks about their unethical behaviour. Those offended will use whatever he does as an excuse.