4 ms·

Whoa, does he have a history I'm not aware of (honestly asking)?

bitL 7y ago
He's homeless now, many "friends" turned their backs on him, he's undergoing virtual lynching on social media and likely views his life's work a complete failure. Even without any prior history, it takes just one impulse to go over the edge; think of Aaron Swartz.
- krapp 7y ago
  He's looking for "interim housing" for two to six months, and apparently this is something he does all the time. There's no evidence that he is homeless. Certainly none that he is suicidal. Please stop your concern trolling.
  - bitL 7y ago
    Is it wrong to be worried about somebody's wellbeing? Or is it out of fashion these days? Or is it a privilege reserved only for pre-approved people?
    - tptacek 7y ago
      It is wrong to invoke suicide simply to make a message board thread more exciting, yes. If you know something specific about Richard Stallman's mental health, then you know who to alert about your concerns. Otherwise, Internet psychiatric diagnosis is a trope, and is forbidden on Hacker News. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=author%3Adang%20psychiatric%20diagnosis&sort=byPopularity&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
      - bitL 7y ago
        Thanks for pointing out this rule to me and alerting me to the fact that my comment could have been interpreted that way instead of a humane expression of solidarity and worries about well-being in tough times!
        dang 7y ago
        I'm sure you did have that intention and that's a good thing. But mental health is a complex thing and publishing comments like that can have strange side effects. It's really best not to go there.
      - yesenadam 7y ago
        Saying "It is wrong to invoke suicide simply to make a message board thread more exciting" and calling it "concern trolling" both seem to me to break the guidelines in several ways (unkind, snarky, bad faith etc) whereas I can't see how bitL's comments being responded to broke any of them, or even came close.
- happytoexplain 7y ago
  I would be heartbroken if he killed himself, but it sounds like you're invoking the specter of suicide as a form of rhetoric, which is just awful. I don't think the social consequences he's experienced are comparable to Swartz's legal consequences, nor do I think it's fair to use the contextless term "homeless", which conjures the image of a person living and sleeping on the streets of a city, to describe RMS's position of needing a place to stay, which is something he's equipped for and experienced with anyway.
  - bitL 7y ago
    I know RMS, I met him in person and heard how much he had to suffer to bring his vision to life. Constant travel, begging people to let him sleep on their couches, being understood by maybe 1% of people he interacted with, most treating him as a weird celebrity without understanding his motives and dangers he wanted to prevent in the future etc. Now he is getting his life's work taken away basically because he's a "weirdo" and "had it long coming". This is quite often a situation that breaks humans; seeing it happening to him now it prompted me to express what I consider human solidarity instead of "a form of rhetoric" or "concern trolling". Similar worries were expressed on /r/linux as well; I don't think any of us who were concerned about his well-being were doing that for other reasons than empathy.

bitL 7y ago

He's homeless now, many "friends" turned their backs on him, he's undergoing virtual lynching on social media and likely views his life's work a complete failure. Even without any prior history, it takes just one impulse to go over the edge; think of Aaron Swartz.

krapp 7y ago
He's looking for "interim housing" for two to six months, and apparently this is something he does all the time. There's no evidence that he is homeless. Certainly none that he is suicidal. Please stop your concern trolling.
- bitL 7y ago
  Is it wrong to be worried about somebody's wellbeing? Or is it out of fashion these days? Or is it a privilege reserved only for pre-approved people?
  - tptacek 7y ago
    It is wrong to invoke suicide simply to make a message board thread more exciting, yes. If you know something specific about Richard Stallman's mental health, then you know who to alert about your concerns. Otherwise, Internet psychiatric diagnosis is a trope, and is forbidden on Hacker News. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=author%3Adang%20psychiatric%20diagnosis&sort=byPopularity&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
    - bitL 7y ago
      Thanks for pointing out this rule to me and alerting me to the fact that my comment could have been interpreted that way instead of a humane expression of solidarity and worries about well-being in tough times!
      - dang 7y ago
        I'm sure you did have that intention and that's a good thing. But mental health is a complex thing and publishing comments like that can have strange side effects. It's really best not to go there.
    - yesenadam 7y ago
      Saying "It is wrong to invoke suicide simply to make a message board thread more exciting" and calling it "concern trolling" both seem to me to break the guidelines in several ways (unkind, snarky, bad faith etc) whereas I can't see how bitL's comments being responded to broke any of them, or even came close.
happytoexplain 7y ago
I would be heartbroken if he killed himself, but it sounds like you're invoking the specter of suicide as a form of rhetoric, which is just awful. I don't think the social consequences he's experienced are comparable to Swartz's legal consequences, nor do I think it's fair to use the contextless term "homeless", which conjures the image of a person living and sleeping on the streets of a city, to describe RMS's position of needing a place to stay, which is something he's equipped for and experienced with anyway.
- bitL 7y ago
  I know RMS, I met him in person and heard how much he had to suffer to bring his vision to life. Constant travel, begging people to let him sleep on their couches, being understood by maybe 1% of people he interacted with, most treating him as a weird celebrity without understanding his motives and dangers he wanted to prevent in the future etc. Now he is getting his life's work taken away basically because he's a "weirdo" and "had it long coming". This is quite often a situation that breaks humans; seeing it happening to him now it prompted me to express what I consider human solidarity instead of "a form of rhetoric" or "concern trolling". Similar worries were expressed on /r/linux as well; I don't think any of us who were concerned about his well-being were doing that for other reasons than empathy.