5 ms·

No, I don't think you're missing anything. People are reacting to what they've heard others say about Stallman, rather than what he actually said.

sjansen 6y ago
If you haven't met RMS in person, it's hard to understand what a raging asshole he is. Frankly I'm surprised it has taken this long for him to be called to account for his behavior.
- andrewflnr 6y ago
  That does not remotely justify ousting him on the basis of lies, which is what happened before. If you do that, it's really hard to argue that the correct course is anything but reversing the actions you took that were driven by lies.
- BlackLotus89 6y ago
  He was staying for a few days at a colleagues house and even thought he seems to have some weird preferences I didn't really hear anything negative about him. Seems to be a nice guy to be honest and I trust in my colleagues ability to be a good judge of character. (Didn't meet RMS myself so can't attest for him myself)
foobar33333 6y ago
Pretty much. If you read the letters and news articles, he seems horrible but when you read the source material its much much more tame. He is being called a transphobe because he wants English to contain a new word which is singular and non gendered because he doesn't think 'they' is appropriate since it has historically been collective. Since he uses his new invented word for this purpose, he is being called transphobic for not respecting peoples choice to use 'they'. When you look in to the details of what rms is being grilled over, he looks like someone who is honest and well intentioned but fails to communicate in a non controversial way.
- smitty1e 6y ago
  This situation is not a dialogue. Cancel culture is a flaky allocator, leaking cultural resources, until we 'splode.
- gaius_baltar 6y ago
  > He is being called a transphobe because he wants English to contain a new word which is singular and non gendered because he doesn't think 'they' is appropriate since it has historically been collective. Since he uses his new invented word for this purpose, he is being called transphobic for not respecting peoples choice to use 'they'. Am I missing something or isn't this exactly what neutral language folks do with their made-up pronouns (Xe/Xem etc)? So they singled out Stallman for doing the same? Also, interesting to see another flagged thread that points to an article with strictly factual information from a very popular source here.
  - foobar33333 6y ago
    From what I can tell, the problem they see is that stallman is proposing one standard word which applies and is correct for everyone rather than allowing everyone to create their own words and respecting their choices.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - pseudalopex 6y ago
      Very few people care about newly invented pronouns. The main problem people have with Stallman and pronouns is he refuses to use the standard word and uses a strange and alienating word instead.
      - ianmacd 6y ago
        But Stallman would argue that the standard word, if we're talking about 'they', 'them' and 'their', is inappropriate. He acknowledges that these words have historically been used in the singular, but convincingly points out that this merely proves that our ancestors also faced the same paucity of choice for referring to the indefinite singular. What Stallman didn't employ in his defence, and a fact also ignored by many proponents of 'they' who regularly cite its historical usage as proof of transphobia in anyone who refuses to engage in the practice the now, is that this historical usage was applied when the subject of the sentence was indefinite, whereas the modern call to use 'they' is in the case of a specific, known person. This usage does not have a long linguistic history, regardless of whether the existence of such would, in itself, form compelling grounds on which to continue its usage.

sjansen 6y ago

If you haven't met RMS in person, it's hard to understand what a raging asshole he is. Frankly I'm surprised it has taken this long for him to be called to account for his behavior.

andrewflnr 6y ago
That does not remotely justify ousting him on the basis of lies, which is what happened before. If you do that, it's really hard to argue that the correct course is anything but reversing the actions you took that were driven by lies.
BlackLotus89 6y ago
He was staying for a few days at a colleagues house and even thought he seems to have some weird preferences I didn't really hear anything negative about him. Seems to be a nice guy to be honest and I trust in my colleagues ability to be a good judge of character. (Didn't meet RMS myself so can't attest for him myself)

foobar33333 6y ago

Pretty much. If you read the letters and news articles, he seems horrible but when you read the source material its much much more tame. He is being called a transphobe because he wants English to contain a new word which is singular and non gendered because he doesn't think 'they' is appropriate since it has historically been collective. Since he uses his new invented word for this purpose, he is being called transphobic for not respecting peoples choice to use 'they'. When you look in to the details of what rms is being grilled over, he looks like someone who is honest and well intentioned but fails to communicate in a non controversial way.

smitty1e 6y ago
This situation is not a dialogue. Cancel culture is a flaky allocator, leaking cultural resources, until we 'splode.
gaius_baltar 6y ago
> He is being called a transphobe because he wants English to contain a new word which is singular and non gendered because he doesn't think 'they' is appropriate since it has historically been collective. Since he uses his new invented word for this purpose, he is being called transphobic for not respecting peoples choice to use 'they'. Am I missing something or isn't this exactly what neutral language folks do with their made-up pronouns (Xe/Xem etc)? So they singled out Stallman for doing the same? Also, interesting to see another flagged thread that points to an article with strictly factual information from a very popular source here.
- foobar33333 6y ago
  From what I can tell, the problem they see is that stallman is proposing one standard word which applies and is correct for everyone rather than allowing everyone to create their own words and respecting their choices.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - pseudalopex 6y ago
    Very few people care about newly invented pronouns. The main problem people have with Stallman and pronouns is he refuses to use the standard word and uses a strange and alienating word instead.
    - ianmacd 6y ago
      But Stallman would argue that the standard word, if we're talking about 'they', 'them' and 'their', is inappropriate. He acknowledges that these words have historically been used in the singular, but convincingly points out that this merely proves that our ancestors also faced the same paucity of choice for referring to the indefinite singular. What Stallman didn't employ in his defence, and a fact also ignored by many proponents of 'they' who regularly cite its historical usage as proof of transphobia in anyone who refuses to engage in the practice the now, is that this historical usage was applied when the subject of the sentence was indefinite, whereas the modern call to use 'they' is in the case of a specific, known person. This usage does not have a long linguistic history, regardless of whether the existence of such would, in itself, form compelling grounds on which to continue its usage.