@DavidLWillson @siavashs Thanks @DavidLWillson. I've been wondering for two days whether to write a post about my take on this issue. Fortunately the Bruce Perens article you retweeted conveys a lot of good points I share. I'll just summarize my points here: 1/many
@DavidLWillson @siavashs I also have known RMS for over 20 years. At one point hosted him at my apartment as well. I agree with Perens that RMS's obnoxiousness is part of his being autistic. I personally do not think he should be punished for that. 2/many
@DavidLWillson @siavashs However, at the same time, I've seen in how his action makes our communities less welcoming to women. I was the one who invited him to the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit in ~2009 as a keynote speaker; where based on an audience request, he acted out his St Ignatius skit. 3/many
@DavidLWillson @siavashs It's easy for personal female friends of him to say "he's not misogynist". But that skit is a clear example of misogyny: believing that women are inferior, and need to be helped by men. I spare the vulgar parts. Back then I didn't understand why such a "joke" is problematic. 4/
@DavidLWillson @siavashs These days I do. And these days I choose to stand with the minorities, who demand safe and inclusive communities.
Which takes us to the FSF part. I don't think RMS should be cancelled because of his personal opinions. I DO think he is not suitable to lead communities. 5/
Which takes us to the FSF part. I don't think RMS should be cancelled because of his personal opinions. I DO think he is not suitable to lead communities. 5/
@DavidLWillson @siavashs The uproar is more against FSF than RMS; at least the way I see it. We are telling FSF that "RMS does not represent us". And in that I'm absolutely certain. His views stopped representing me 10+ years ago. Let me also put it out clear: the FSF has been irrelevant for 10+ yrs. 6/
@DavidLWillson @siavashs However, FSF still holds assets (copyright + GPL) that are not negligible. For the FSF board to reinstate RMS, ignoring that a sizable chunk of the community do not want to be aligned with him anymore, is the problem. And we all have every right to express that. 7/
@DavidLWillson @siavashs It's also the case that RMS's militant approach alienated many thought leaders and drove them out of FSF. SFC / SFLC exist because FSF failed. RMS sees FSF and GNU as his own, and in ~40 years has refused to let others lead. That's a failure for any org. Many believe that. 8/
@DavidLWillson @siavashs In summary: my opposition is to the FSF action; it was out of tune to the post #metoo era. And the slew of dissociations is how others tell FSF they made the wrong decision. I see no problem with that.
The camp going around tooting RMS's importance in this age are wrong. 9/end
The camp going around tooting RMS's importance in this age are wrong. 9/end
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