Thread by @sarahmei

Oh for fucks sake. The Free Software Foundation was founded by a child porn/rape apologist, who continues to be on the board, and you seriously think this question even needs asking?

Let me clue you in:

NO.

https://twitter.com/wwahammy/status/1073619366057512960

NOTHING involving Richard Stallman is safe, and if you support his foundation, or attend events where he speaks, you are _personally_ perpetuating that unsafe environment.

The Free Software Foundation board and staff should be ashamed that they participate in enabling Richard Stallman to drive entire classes of people away from a cause they CLAIM to believe in.

A nice selection of his views:

Oh and there’s this 🤮

And also

This is the tip of the iceberg. Ask women who were around free software in the 90s and they’ll tell you.

The Free Software movement’s ongoing tolerance of Stallman and his “awkwardness” (oh is _that_ what were calling feeling up strangers now?) makes it rotten to the core.

And if you’re thinking, “He’s obviously autistic. WHY ARE YOU AGAINST NEURODIVERSITY” lemme just stop you right there

Here’s a distinction that’s important:

Autistic - often misjudges how people will react to what they do

Sociopathic - doesn’t care how people react to what they do

People come in all combinations: neither, just one, & both.

Folks on the autism spectrum, in my experience, are often awesome to work with.

Sociopaths on the other hand - nope, never, absolutely canceled.

How do you tell a sociopath? Well, it’s actually pretty straightforward - you give them feedback about the impact of what they’re doing on other people...and they ignore it.

Guess what people have been doing for Richard Stallman since AT LEAST the 90s????

GIVING FEEDBACK

An addendum to this thread! Several people were kind enough to point out that I used “sociopath” in an ableist way here. Many folks with personality disorders like sociopathy work very hard to overcome it.

It would have been way better if I’d focused on “sociopathic behavior,” which, by the way, is nope, never, absolutely canceled.

Such behavior includes: repeatedly telling the “emacs virgin” joke after being told for _over a decade_ that it was sexist & to cut it the fuck out.

I’m sorry for that fuckup. Thanks for your patience. I’ll do better on this one next time.

In fact, it would have been even better if I’d just called it what it is - “bad behavior” (or since I was grumpy, probably “shitty behavior”) - rather than medicalizing it at all.

I’m grateful to the folks who spend their spoons helping me understand this stuff better❤️