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That he has also done some very good things isn't a good argument for continuing to tolerate his harmful behaviour after he's been asked to fix it for literally

by na85 5y ago

That he has also done some very good things isn't a good argument for continuing to tolerate his harmful behaviour after he's been asked to fix it for literally decades, and hasn't. The guy is, at minimum, a total fucking creep who alienates women from the Free Software movement with his poor behavior. Furthermore if he's not a closeted pedophile then he sure devotes a lot of energy to defending pedophiles and finding ways to justify having sex with minors. The FSF is primarily a political advocacy project. Is RMS really who the Free Software community wants representing them to the rest of society? Really?

tharne 5y ago
> The guy is, at minimum, a total fucking creep This is exactly the kind of commentary I was talking about. The guy spots a serious problem 30+ years ahead of time, devotes his entire life to fighting it, while making tools that every developer uses every day, and all you have to say is, "He said some mean things, so let's reduce his entire existence to that". Thank God this mentality wasn't around during the second world war. We'd have stuck with Neville Chamberlain because he was such a nice guy compared to that drunken misogynist Churchill fellow.
- na85 5y ago
  I can't help but note you conveniently glossed over the fact that his continued bad behavior is directly harmful to the cause he's trying to lead. RMS is an actively detrimental force in the Free Software movement. He's a complete and total liability who hasn't made a substantive contribution to anything in 20 years. It's like people are purposely blinding themselves to the fact that if your cause is represented by a lunatic, it's less attractive than a similar cause led by someone who doesn't eat their toejam while giving a lecture. You have a person lacking even the most basic of social graces, who's consistently rude and unpleasant, who makes really gross comments about women and pedophiles, and this is who you think should be the public face of the movement? Why not literally anyone else? If the Free Software movement wants to be taken seriously, perhaps it should take itself seriously.
  - hulitu 5y ago
    Because anyone else is not fit for this job. At least he stands for something and does not rapes every device that you own, extracting every piece of information from it and then selling it.

by na85 5y ago

tharne 5y ago

> The guy is, at minimum, a total fucking creep This is exactly the kind of commentary I was talking about. The guy spots a serious problem 30+ years ahead of time, devotes his entire life to fighting it, while making tools that every developer uses every day, and all you have to say is, "He said some mean things, so let's reduce his entire existence to that". Thank God this mentality wasn't around during the second world war. We'd have stuck with Neville Chamberlain because he was such a nice guy compared to that drunken misogynist Churchill fellow.

na85 5y ago
I can't help but note you conveniently glossed over the fact that his continued bad behavior is directly harmful to the cause he's trying to lead. RMS is an actively detrimental force in the Free Software movement. He's a complete and total liability who hasn't made a substantive contribution to anything in 20 years. It's like people are purposely blinding themselves to the fact that if your cause is represented by a lunatic, it's less attractive than a similar cause led by someone who doesn't eat their toejam while giving a lecture. You have a person lacking even the most basic of social graces, who's consistently rude and unpleasant, who makes really gross comments about women and pedophiles, and this is who you think should be the public face of the movement? Why not literally anyone else? If the Free Software movement wants to be taken seriously, perhaps it should take itself seriously.
- hulitu 5y ago
  Because anyone else is not fit for this job. At least he stands for something and does not rapes every device that you own, extracting every piece of information from it and then selling it.