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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 pl

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.
    - random314 4y ago
      I found the original comments. RMS was not a professor or lecturer at MIT. 1st comment- a second hand report by a student that sounds like a joke. 2nd comment- RMS used to sleep overnight in his MIT office. 3rd comment- RMS was needy and pleading when asking for a date in 1985 or earlier. I recall being told early in my freshman year “If RMS hits on you, just say ‘I’m a vi user’ even if it’s not true.” — Bachelor’s in Computer Science, ’04 “He literally used to have a mattress on the floor of his office. He kept the door to his office open, to proudly showcase that mattress and all the implications that went with it. Many female students avoided the corridor with his office for that reason…I was one of the course 6 undergrads who avoided that part of NE43 precisely for that reason. (the mattress was also known to have shirtless people lounging on it…)” — Bachelor’s in Computer Science, ‘99 “When I was a teen freshman, I went to a buffet lunch at an Indian restaurant in Central Square with a graduate student friend and others from the AI lab. I don’t know if he and I were the last two left, but at a table with only the two of us, Richard Stallman told me of his misery and that he’d kill himself if I didn’t go out with him. I felt bad for him and also uncomfortable and manipulated. I did not like being put in that position — suddenly responsible for an “important” man. What had I done to get into this situation? I decided I could not be responsible for his living or dying, and would have to accept him killing himself. I declined further contact. He was not a man of his word or he’d be long dead.” —Betsy S., Bachelor’s in Management Science, ’85

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.
  - random314 4y ago
    I found the original comments. RMS was not a professor or lecturer at MIT. 1st comment- a second hand report by a student that sounds like a joke. 2nd comment- RMS used to sleep overnight in his MIT office. 3rd comment- RMS was needy and pleading when asking for a date in 1985 or earlier. I recall being told early in my freshman year “If RMS hits on you, just say ‘I’m a vi user’ even if it’s not true.” — Bachelor’s in Computer Science, ’04 “He literally used to have a mattress on the floor of his office. He kept the door to his office open, to proudly showcase that mattress and all the implications that went with it. Many female students avoided the corridor with his office for that reason…I was one of the course 6 undergrads who avoided that part of NE43 precisely for that reason. (the mattress was also known to have shirtless people lounging on it…)” — Bachelor’s in Computer Science, ‘99 “When I was a teen freshman, I went to a buffet lunch at an Indian restaurant in Central Square with a graduate student friend and others from the AI lab. I don’t know if he and I were the last two left, but at a table with only the two of us, Richard Stallman told me of his misery and that he’d kill himself if I didn’t go out with him. I felt bad for him and also uncomfortable and manipulated. I did not like being put in that position — suddenly responsible for an “important” man. What had I done to get into this situation? I decided I could not be responsible for his living or dying, and would have to accept him killing himself. I declined further contact. He was not a man of his word or he’d be long dead.” —Betsy S., Bachelor’s in Management Science, ’85