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His job, as the head of the FSF and GNU, was to represent those organizations to the public, which includes many people who don't know him. Being judged and vil

His job, as the head of the FSF and GNU, was to represent those organizations to the public, which includes many people who don't know him. Being judged and vilified by people who don't know you is what happens to public figures. If your behavior brings disrepute on the organizations you represent, you should let those organizations find different representatives. RMS was right to step down. He is still free to say whatever he wants as an individual without damaging the reputations of GNU and the FSF.

DocTomoe 7y ago
I agree. That's why I cancelled my recurring donations to the FSF after this debacle. There are other, more worthy causes than an organization which considers public opinion to be more important than integrity, an organization that essentially axes it's central figure because of some internet trolls.
- lostjohnny 7y ago
  Same here.
ng12 7y ago
The issue is that Stallman has been this way for decades -- he's always been outspoken, nitpicky, and aggressively libertarian -- and FSF has flourished under his sole leadership. It's only in 2019 that internet culture and clickbait media have made it a "problem". To me, that is significantly more harmful than any of the wonky things RMS sometimes says.
- dirtybird04 7y ago
  I don't know or care much about Stallman and the situation, don't really have a dog in this fight. What I do know is that "It's been like this for decades" is never an appropriate defense.
  - ng12 7y ago
    Not "it's been like this" -- he, a human person, has been like this. In fact he's been voluntarily blogging his political thoughts for decades (which, again, in 2019 is an incredibly dangerous thing to do). So the question is this: if he's had his outspoken opinions on controversial topics for decades, there's no evidence of his opinions actually causing any real tangible harm, and under his tenure the FSF has been a runaway success -- why is it an issue now?
  - lostjohnny 7y ago
    > What I do know is that "It's been like this for decades" is never an appropriate defense. You know what? He got better with time, given where he came from. So he's still better than the majority of puppets lurking in his background to find something to use against him. For example: he never threatened anybody nor accused anybody falsely nor asked for somebody to be "removed".
lostjohnny 7y ago
> Being judged and vilified by people who don't know you is what happens to public figures Nope. I don't judge and vilify people that I don't know, I judge their opinions. In this case Stallman's opinion were completely rational, he's been judged for who he is and his past, by people that didn't know him super charged by people who knew him and held a grudge against him. It's called character assassination. Or mob. > If your behavior brings disrepute on the organizations you represent Is the FSF stops bringing dispute, it becomes useless. If FSF doesn't challenge the status quo or what's considered taboo, what is it good for? It's not a marketing agency that need people to buy the product even if the product sucks, it's a no profit org that needs people believing in the cause, especially when it's hard.
- dang 7y ago
  We've banned this account for using HN primarily for political and ideological battle. That is against the site guidelines and destroys the curiosity that this site exists for, regardless of what you're fighting for or against. Please don't create accounts to break HN's guidelines with. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - lostjohnny 7y ago
    > We've banned this account for using HN primarily for political and ideological battle WHAT? FSF means Free Software Foundation, Free as in Free speech, IT IS POLITICAL! What the heck are you talking about?
    - dang 7y ago
      I'm talking about your account history. It's against the site guidelines to use HN primarily for posting in political and ideological arguments. Would you please re-read them and not create accounts to break them with? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
      - 7y ago
coleifer 7y ago
He founded the FSF. He created GNU. He is not an elected government official or a CEO. SJWs are parasites. They are incapable of producing value. Rather, they attack and insinuate themselves into existing high-value organizations. They want power and attention. This is a power grab and the SJW crowd don't care whose lives they ruin.

DocTomoe 7y ago

I agree. That's why I cancelled my recurring donations to the FSF after this debacle. There are other, more worthy causes than an organization which considers public opinion to be more important than integrity, an organization that essentially axes it's central figure because of some internet trolls.

lostjohnny 7y ago
Same here.

ng12 7y ago

The issue is that Stallman has been this way for decades -- he's always been outspoken, nitpicky, and aggressively libertarian -- and FSF has flourished under his sole leadership. It's only in 2019 that internet culture and clickbait media have made it a "problem". To me, that is significantly more harmful than any of the wonky things RMS sometimes says.

dirtybird04 7y ago
I don't know or care much about Stallman and the situation, don't really have a dog in this fight. What I do know is that "It's been like this for decades" is never an appropriate defense.
- ng12 7y ago
  Not "it's been like this" -- he, a human person, has been like this. In fact he's been voluntarily blogging his political thoughts for decades (which, again, in 2019 is an incredibly dangerous thing to do). So the question is this: if he's had his outspoken opinions on controversial topics for decades, there's no evidence of his opinions actually causing any real tangible harm, and under his tenure the FSF has been a runaway success -- why is it an issue now?
- lostjohnny 7y ago
  > What I do know is that "It's been like this for decades" is never an appropriate defense. You know what? He got better with time, given where he came from. So he's still better than the majority of puppets lurking in his background to find something to use against him. For example: he never threatened anybody nor accused anybody falsely nor asked for somebody to be "removed".

lostjohnny 7y ago

> Being judged and vilified by people who don't know you is what happens to public figures Nope. I don't judge and vilify people that I don't know, I judge their opinions. In this case Stallman's opinion were completely rational, he's been judged for who he is and his past, by people that didn't know him super charged by people who knew him and held a grudge against him. It's called character assassination. Or mob. > If your behavior brings disrepute on the organizations you represent Is the FSF stops bringing dispute, it becomes useless. If FSF doesn't challenge the status quo or what's considered taboo, what is it good for? It's not a marketing agency that need people to buy the product even if the product sucks, it's a no profit org that needs people believing in the cause, especially when it's hard.

dang 7y ago
We've banned this account for using HN primarily for political and ideological battle. That is against the site guidelines and destroys the curiosity that this site exists for, regardless of what you're fighting for or against. Please don't create accounts to break HN's guidelines with. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- lostjohnny 7y ago
  > We've banned this account for using HN primarily for political and ideological battle WHAT? FSF means Free Software Foundation, Free as in Free speech, IT IS POLITICAL! What the heck are you talking about?
  - dang 7y ago
    I'm talking about your account history. It's against the site guidelines to use HN primarily for posting in political and ideological arguments. Would you please re-read them and not create accounts to break them with? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - 7y ago

coleifer 7y ago

He founded the FSF. He created GNU. He is not an elected government official or a CEO. SJWs are parasites. They are incapable of producing value. Rather, they attack and insinuate themselves into existing high-value organizations. They want power and attention. This is a power grab and the SJW crowd don't care whose lives they ruin.