3 ms·
That one's easy to remember, because of humor. When this came up 4 years ago I listed a few other examples. Citation links at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?
by eesmith 4y ago
That one's easy to remember, because of humor. When this came up 4 years ago I listed a few other examples. Citation links at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21008835 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21008835
"he has creeped out some women by making passes at them (or so they tell me)."
"He flirts with anyone who is female, even if they are underage. He is creepy in person, in a way that I cannot adequately describe. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he kept women out of open source and free software, and many of his ideas stayed even after he left."
"I remember being walked around campus by an upperclassman getting advice during my freshman year at MIT. "Look at all the plants in her office," referring to a professor. "All the women CSAIL professors keep massive amounts of foliage" s/he said. "Stallman really hates plants.""
"rms was in the whisper network as a creep when I was in undergrad late last millennium, and I wasn’t even at MIT"
Those don't have something to hang a joke on, so aren't passed on at much.
- seba_dos1 4y agoThe plant thing is yet another obvious joke made at Stallman's expense. At MIT, Stallman was not seen as some kind of powerful figure whose authority people would be afraid to challenge. He was seen as an awkward irritating nerd many people made fun of (which seems to be missed by pretty much all of these "newcomers being warned about Stallman" reports). With so many of these accusations boiling down just to "people don't like nerds", it's hard to take them seriously. And when you add things like giving "pleasure cards" being interpreted as unwanted advances, it's just a painful to watch sad grotesque.