5 ms·

I love Richard Stallman's sense of humor. It feels so youthful and innocent. Also relevant: https://www.stallman.org/jokes.html https://www.stallman.org/jokes.

I love Richard Stallman's sense of humor. It feels so youthful and innocent. Also relevant: https://www.stallman.org/jokes.html https://www.stallman.org/jokes.html

KennyBlanken 4y ago
- bpodgursky 4y ago
  Yes, many 5-sigma overachieving autistic-spectrum obsessives struggle with social norms and cues. Let's just accept that whatever is going on in RMS's head to give so much for free to the rest of the world comes with some rough edges, and there's no way to get one without the other. It's a fair trade.
  - mhh__ 4y ago
    Most of the ones I know don't. I don't see any reason to accept it wholesale - picking his feet I can tolerate, blatantly obviously unacceptable social interactions with other people should not be tolerated: these are a skill that can be learnt by people who care, autistic or not. Note that RMS says he doesn't have autism.
    - bpodgursky 4y ago
      You don't know any 5-sigma outliers.
      - mhh__ 4y ago
        How do you know?
  - indrora 4y ago
    This is your reminder that the FSF unionized to provide protection for the FSF against his history of workplace harassment and more. Most of the FSF staff aren't comfortable being alone in the building with him. As someone who is on the same boat: he's been asked to, and offered help with getting, counseling and behavioral therapy to help him see how he can improve his social skills. There's being an awkward socialite and then there's actively not working towards success.
    - random314 4y ago
      What are the examples of workplace harassment by RMS? I would prefer primary sources.
      - indrora 4y ago
        Here's a whole thread on it: https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 Here's an article on it: https://twitter.com/twcnewsletter/status/1453376624666112003 https://twitter.com/twcnewsletter/status/1453376624666112003 Echos and anecdata: https://twitter.com/NovalisDMT/status/1172573166956437505 https://twitter.com/NovalisDMT/status/1172573166956437505 https://twitter.com/_sagesharp_/status/1173637138413318144 https://twitter.com/_sagesharp_/status/1173637138413318144
    - teddyh 4y ago
      From what I recall, the FSF staff unionized to get paid. RMS did not harass anyone. Please provide sources for your second-hand accusations. Here’s a handy rebuttal for all such I have seen to date: https://sterling-archermedes.github.io/ https://sterling-archermedes.github.io/
      - indrora 4y ago
        https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 It's fairly well known.
- mhh__ 4y ago
  As someone with a slightly nuanced perspective on "woke" matters: The abortion one I thought was a bit of a nothingburger, the virginity stuff at conferences is totally unacceptable.
- random314 4y ago
  What were the jokes? I couldn't find it in the tweet?
- ginja 4y ago
  > virginity jokes Is that about the "virgin of EMACS" joke from, what, 15 years ago now? Sure, it was silly and I personally wouldn't have said something like that, but come on... This doesn't make someone an asshole.
dark-star 4y ago
> At dinner at a Japanese restaurant, the person next to me said she wanted to work with abused children. Since we had not yet received the tempura, I responded, "If battered shrimps are your interest, we should have some here soon." Yeah, I'm dying of laughter over here...
- bheadmaster 4y ago
  That pun is so silly and childish that I can't see how could anyone take it as a serious attack on abused children. It's a pun that RMS came up with, the same way as some child, unaware of PC culture and consequences of joking about no-no topics in the modern world, would make it. If you assume bad intentions, everyone in the world will have made a faux pas that can be perceived as offensive. I do not assume bad intentions in RMS's case - he has done so much good for the world, and such a person obviously cares about humans, including abused children. The fact that he made a pun about abused children doesn't bring harm to anyone. If you asked him for serious thoughts on the topic of abused children, you would most likely receive a completely different response, one that you would probably like.
  - dark-star 4y ago
    > If you asked him for serious thoughts on the topic of abused children, you would most likely receive a completely different response, one that you would probably like. You realize it's RMS we're talking about here? Who has repeatedly harassed female coworkers and interns, and who thinks that "sex with kids is okay"? Even if he later tried to retract his statements, I'm not sure I would trust him with any "mature" take on the topic of child abuse (or any other social topic for that matter)
    - bheadmaster 4y ago
      Please stop accusing RMS of harassing anyone without providing first-hand source. That is just blatant defamation. He never said "sex with kids is okay", the quote was taken out of context - he was talking about the absurdity that the definition of "rape" is dependent on geographical location. If you wish to change anyone's minds, please take some time to find and discuss RMS's original texts. Otherwise, I'm dismissing you as just another yellow press defamator who is talking about things he's read on Twitter as if they were objectively true.

I love Richard Stallman's sense of humor. It feels so youthful and innocent. Also relevant: https://www.stallman.org/jokes.html https://www.stallman.org/jokes.html

KennyBlanken 4y ago

bpodgursky 4y ago
Yes, many 5-sigma overachieving autistic-spectrum obsessives struggle with social norms and cues. Let's just accept that whatever is going on in RMS's head to give so much for free to the rest of the world comes with some rough edges, and there's no way to get one without the other. It's a fair trade.
- mhh__ 4y ago
  Most of the ones I know don't. I don't see any reason to accept it wholesale - picking his feet I can tolerate, blatantly obviously unacceptable social interactions with other people should not be tolerated: these are a skill that can be learnt by people who care, autistic or not. Note that RMS says he doesn't have autism.
  - bpodgursky 4y ago
    You don't know any 5-sigma outliers.
    - mhh__ 4y ago
      How do you know?
- indrora 4y ago
  This is your reminder that the FSF unionized to provide protection for the FSF against his history of workplace harassment and more. Most of the FSF staff aren't comfortable being alone in the building with him. As someone who is on the same boat: he's been asked to, and offered help with getting, counseling and behavioral therapy to help him see how he can improve his social skills. There's being an awkward socialite and then there's actively not working towards success.
  - random314 4y ago
    What are the examples of workplace harassment by RMS? I would prefer primary sources.
    - indrora 4y ago
      Here's a whole thread on it: https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 Here's an article on it: https://twitter.com/twcnewsletter/status/1453376624666112003 https://twitter.com/twcnewsletter/status/1453376624666112003 Echos and anecdata: https://twitter.com/NovalisDMT/status/1172573166956437505 https://twitter.com/NovalisDMT/status/1172573166956437505 https://twitter.com/_sagesharp_/status/1173637138413318144 https://twitter.com/_sagesharp_/status/1173637138413318144
  - teddyh 4y ago
    From what I recall, the FSF staff unionized to get paid. RMS did not harass anyone. Please provide sources for your second-hand accusations. Here’s a handy rebuttal for all such I have seen to date: https://sterling-archermedes.github.io/ https://sterling-archermedes.github.io/
    - indrora 4y ago
      https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 https://twitter.com/paulnivin/status/1377079987950395393 It's fairly well known.
mhh__ 4y ago
As someone with a slightly nuanced perspective on "woke" matters: The abortion one I thought was a bit of a nothingburger, the virginity stuff at conferences is totally unacceptable.
random314 4y ago
What were the jokes? I couldn't find it in the tweet?
ginja 4y ago
> virginity jokes Is that about the "virgin of EMACS" joke from, what, 15 years ago now? Sure, it was silly and I personally wouldn't have said something like that, but come on... This doesn't make someone an asshole.

dark-star 4y ago

> At dinner at a Japanese restaurant, the person next to me said she wanted to work with abused children. Since we had not yet received the tempura, I responded, "If battered shrimps are your interest, we should have some here soon." Yeah, I'm dying of laughter over here...

bheadmaster 4y ago
That pun is so silly and childish that I can't see how could anyone take it as a serious attack on abused children. It's a pun that RMS came up with, the same way as some child, unaware of PC culture and consequences of joking about no-no topics in the modern world, would make it. If you assume bad intentions, everyone in the world will have made a faux pas that can be perceived as offensive. I do not assume bad intentions in RMS's case - he has done so much good for the world, and such a person obviously cares about humans, including abused children. The fact that he made a pun about abused children doesn't bring harm to anyone. If you asked him for serious thoughts on the topic of abused children, you would most likely receive a completely different response, one that you would probably like.
- dark-star 4y ago
  > If you asked him for serious thoughts on the topic of abused children, you would most likely receive a completely different response, one that you would probably like. You realize it's RMS we're talking about here? Who has repeatedly harassed female coworkers and interns, and who thinks that "sex with kids is okay"? Even if he later tried to retract his statements, I'm not sure I would trust him with any "mature" take on the topic of child abuse (or any other social topic for that matter)
  - bheadmaster 4y ago
    Please stop accusing RMS of harassing anyone without providing first-hand source. That is just blatant defamation. He never said "sex with kids is okay", the quote was taken out of context - he was talking about the absurdity that the definition of "rape" is dependent on geographical location. If you wish to change anyone's minds, please take some time to find and discuss RMS's original texts. Otherwise, I'm dismissing you as just another yellow press defamator who is talking about things he's read on Twitter as if they were objectively true.