4 ms·

The religion analogy is unnecessary. The FSF is a non-profit with the goal of fostering free software. As a non-profit, their actions and their investments are

by bogwog 4y ago

The religion analogy is unnecessary. The FSF is a non-profit with the goal of fostering free software. As a non-profit, their actions and their investments are focused on their goal, not on becoming profitable. As an example, RMS himself actually recommends the dual licensing model of Qt for organizations looking to make a profit and contribute to the free software movement. With that model, the software is available under a copyleft license (GPL) and a proprietary commercial license (for those willing to pay) But as the FSF is not focused on profits (again, because they’re a non-profit organization), all of their software is exclusively licensed using copyleft licenses like GPL and LGPL. Not because it’s a “religion”, but because it’s literally the entire goal of the organization.

KennyBlanken 4y ago
> As a non-profit, their actions and their investments are focused on their goal, not on becoming profitable. 1)You can't succeed as a non-profit if you don't make money. 2)If the FSF cared about their goal of fostering free software blah blah, then why didn't they fire RMS out a cannon when basically the entire open-source world said "fire that serial sexual harasser who keeps opening his mouth about child rape not being rape, or we stop giving you money / working with you." They chose, overwhelmingly and very petulantly, to continue letting RMS have a leadership role.
- sweetbitter 4y ago
  They didn't fire him because he did not do any sexual harassment, and his comment about children was made earnestly but out of a place of ignorance. I've met plenty of people who are at least that socially dense with that low of a filter, it's not really surprising that someone like this would have ignorance of such a topic + the lack of tact required to speak about it. If anything, that kind of sheer honesty and invulnerability to peer pressure gives him an advantage over ordinary people in a leadership role.
  - krapp 4y ago
    Except the peer pressure he was under, in this specific case, was the kind he should have been vulnerable to. We're not talking about peer pressure from proprietary software advocates or anything, but "Actually Richard, pedophilia is bad and maybe you should stop creeping on the interns." A good leader has empathy and the capacity to understand when their actions are causing harm to people, and should be willing to take advice when warned about such behavior, and adapt for the better, if not for themselves and their own reputation then at least for the good of the organization. Stallman's "sheer honesty" has done real damage to the FSF, and the culture around F/OSS as a whole. Granted, because the politics around this are sex and gender adjacent, many people couldn't care less on general anti-woke principle, but Richard Stallman as a leader should care. Simply crossing his arms, digging his heels in and saying "fuck you I'll do what I want" for years on end hasn't given him an advantage over any "ordinary" person. Being an obstinate prick isn't a superpower.
    - random314 4y ago
      Can you share an account by the interns that showed him acting creepy? I have been hearing a lot of allegations against Stallman, but cant seem to find the original accusation etc. If you know the primary source information, please link to it in a reply.
      - krapp 4y ago
        I don't know what, specifically, you mean by "primary source," but numerous first-person accounts of Stallman's behavior in this regard can be found on the web, as there was a bit of a #metoo moment online after Stallman's original "deplatforming" when a lot of people shared their accounts. No one is going to do your research for you. If you're actually interested, and not simply trying to yank people's chains, you can read any one of the multitudinous threads about it on HN, or do a bit of Googling.
        random314 4y ago
        I actually have Googled and I keep getting results and commentaries like yours. The search results are garbage. > If you're actually interested, and not simply trying to yank people's chains, you can read any one of the multitudinous threads about it on HN, or do a bit of Googling. Yes and all of these threads on HN are content free. The only information in this particular thread is about Stallman chewing his feet. Honestly, it looks like you don't actually know what these instances of harrassment are! I can't find anything in this HN thread or multiple others, or by Googling. It looks like you don't either. Also HN threads are supposed to link to other sources. The only link here is to a Twitter account that is again just commentary.

by bogwog 4y ago

KennyBlanken 4y ago

> As a non-profit, their actions and their investments are focused on their goal, not on becoming profitable. 1)You can't succeed as a non-profit if you don't make money. 2)If the FSF cared about their goal of fostering free software blah blah, then why didn't they fire RMS out a cannon when basically the entire open-source world said "fire that serial sexual harasser who keeps opening his mouth about child rape not being rape, or we stop giving you money / working with you." They chose, overwhelmingly and very petulantly, to continue letting RMS have a leadership role.

sweetbitter 4y ago
They didn't fire him because he did not do any sexual harassment, and his comment about children was made earnestly but out of a place of ignorance. I've met plenty of people who are at least that socially dense with that low of a filter, it's not really surprising that someone like this would have ignorance of such a topic + the lack of tact required to speak about it. If anything, that kind of sheer honesty and invulnerability to peer pressure gives him an advantage over ordinary people in a leadership role.
- krapp 4y ago
  Except the peer pressure he was under, in this specific case, was the kind he should have been vulnerable to. We're not talking about peer pressure from proprietary software advocates or anything, but "Actually Richard, pedophilia is bad and maybe you should stop creeping on the interns." A good leader has empathy and the capacity to understand when their actions are causing harm to people, and should be willing to take advice when warned about such behavior, and adapt for the better, if not for themselves and their own reputation then at least for the good of the organization. Stallman's "sheer honesty" has done real damage to the FSF, and the culture around F/OSS as a whole. Granted, because the politics around this are sex and gender adjacent, many people couldn't care less on general anti-woke principle, but Richard Stallman as a leader should care. Simply crossing his arms, digging his heels in and saying "fuck you I'll do what I want" for years on end hasn't given him an advantage over any "ordinary" person. Being an obstinate prick isn't a superpower.
  - random314 4y ago
    Can you share an account by the interns that showed him acting creepy? I have been hearing a lot of allegations against Stallman, but cant seem to find the original accusation etc. If you know the primary source information, please link to it in a reply.
    - krapp 4y ago
      I don't know what, specifically, you mean by "primary source," but numerous first-person accounts of Stallman's behavior in this regard can be found on the web, as there was a bit of a #metoo moment online after Stallman's original "deplatforming" when a lot of people shared their accounts. No one is going to do your research for you. If you're actually interested, and not simply trying to yank people's chains, you can read any one of the multitudinous threads about it on HN, or do a bit of Googling.
      - random314 4y ago
        I actually have Googled and I keep getting results and commentaries like yours. The search results are garbage. > If you're actually interested, and not simply trying to yank people's chains, you can read any one of the multitudinous threads about it on HN, or do a bit of Googling. Yes and all of these threads on HN are content free. The only information in this particular thread is about Stallman chewing his feet. Honestly, it looks like you don't actually know what these instances of harrassment are! I can't find anything in this HN thread or multiple others, or by Googling. It looks like you don't either. Also HN threads are supposed to link to other sources. The only link here is to a Twitter account that is again just commentary.