4 ms·

I don't know RMS personally, but from what I've seen and read about him, he's a bit eccentric. There's nothing wrong with that, but people tend to dislike or di

I don't know RMS personally, but from what I've seen and read about him, he's a bit eccentric. There's nothing wrong with that, but people tend to dislike or distrust those whom are different from what society considers 'normal'. I suspect part of the 'witch hunt' was in part fueled by this eccentricity.

enriquto 7y ago
> I suspect part of the 'witch hunt' was in part fueled by this eccentricity. It seems to me that the exact opposite is happening here. He is "hunted" because of his uncompromising stance on freedom for software users. The eccentricity is just an excuse, useful to gather a horde of angry people, but inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
- klingonopera 7y ago
  Doesn't this imply that proprietary software vendors were pushing for his resignation? I mean, yeah, sure, but in all honesty, I never considered the FSF to be that influential. If anything, I'd almost agree on the fact that RMS made (as ironic as this sounds) selling free software more difficult than if it was any standard corporate drone in his place. He's a great idealist, but he's not really good at selling things...
  - Insanity 7y ago
    Yeah, his appeal to ideals might work for some (it does appeal to me). But surely that's not the best way of selling things to the majority of the population, let alone companies. I'm tempted to agree with you that he might have made it more difficult. It's not just the message you use to sell something, it's also the way in which. If people associate FSF too much with RMS it could be harmful for FSF, because they'll assume it just appeals to the 'eccentric bunch'.
    - klingonopera 7y ago
      Yeah, from the looks of things, the FSF might become more of a threat to proprietary software vendors now, if they have new charismatic leader (at the risk of selling-out on their ideals, though).
      - enriquto 7y ago
        wait, are you saying that RMS was not charismatic enough?
- deleted 7y ago
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phillipcarter 7y ago
He also has a history of harassing women and supporting pedophilia, which goes a bit beyond "eccentric".

enriquto 7y ago

> I suspect part of the 'witch hunt' was in part fueled by this eccentricity. It seems to me that the exact opposite is happening here. He is "hunted" because of his uncompromising stance on freedom for software users. The eccentricity is just an excuse, useful to gather a horde of angry people, but inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

klingonopera 7y ago
Doesn't this imply that proprietary software vendors were pushing for his resignation? I mean, yeah, sure, but in all honesty, I never considered the FSF to be that influential. If anything, I'd almost agree on the fact that RMS made (as ironic as this sounds) selling free software more difficult than if it was any standard corporate drone in his place. He's a great idealist, but he's not really good at selling things...
- Insanity 7y ago
  Yeah, his appeal to ideals might work for some (it does appeal to me). But surely that's not the best way of selling things to the majority of the population, let alone companies. I'm tempted to agree with you that he might have made it more difficult. It's not just the message you use to sell something, it's also the way in which. If people associate FSF too much with RMS it could be harmful for FSF, because they'll assume it just appeals to the 'eccentric bunch'.
  - klingonopera 7y ago
    Yeah, from the looks of things, the FSF might become more of a threat to proprietary software vendors now, if they have new charismatic leader (at the risk of selling-out on their ideals, though).
    - enriquto 7y ago
      wait, are you saying that RMS was not charismatic enough?
deleted 7y ago
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phillipcarter 7y ago

He also has a history of harassing women and supporting pedophilia, which goes a bit beyond "eccentric".