[kwlug-disc] Richard Stallman announcing his return to the FSF's Board of Directors

[Jason Eckert]

I totally agree (which is why I signed the letter) - here's the content of
the letter:

Richard M. Stallman, frequently known as RMS, has been a driving force in
the free software movement for decades, with contributions including the
GNU operating system and Emacs.

Recently, there have been vile online attacks looking to remove him from
the FSF board of directors for expressing his personal opinions. We have
watched this happen before in an organized fashion with other prominent
free software activists and programmers. We will not stand idly this time,
when an icon of this community is attacked.

FSF is an autonomous body that is capable of treating its members in a
fair, unbiased fashion, and should not give in to external social
pressures. We urge the FSF to consider the arguments against RMS
objectively and to truly understand the meaning of his words and actions.

Historically, RMS has been expressing his views in ways that upset many
people. He is usually more focused on the philosophical underpinnings, and
pursuing the objective truth and linguistic purism, while underemphasising
people's feelings on matters he's commenting on. This makes his arguments
vulnerable to misunderstanding and misrepresentation, something which we
feel is happening in the open letter calling for his removal. His words
need to be interpreted in this context and taking into account that more
often than not, he is not looking to put things diplomatically.

Regardless, Stallman's opinions on the matters he is being persecuted over
are not relevant to his ability to lead a community such as the FSF.
Furthermore, he is entitled to his opinions just as much as anyone else.
Members and supporters do not have to agree with his opinions, but should
respect his right to freedom of thought and speech.

To the FSF:

Removing RMS will hurt FSF's image and will deal a significant blow to the
momentum of the free software movement. We urge you to consider your
actions carefully, as what you will decide will have a serious impact on
the future of the software industry.

To the ambush mob who is ganging up on Richard Stallman over reasonable
arguments in debate and various opinions and beliefs voiced over decades as
a public figure:

You have no part in choosing the leadership of any communities. Especially
not via another mob attack which does not remotely resemble a fairly
conducted debate as exemplified by better people such as Richard Stallman.

On Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 12:07 PM CrankyOldBugger <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Regrettably, I think that having an opinion in this case is generally
> frowned upon, unless you were deliberately whining about something...
>
> I, for one, appreciate all that RMS has done for us.
>
>
> On Wed, 24 Mar 2021 at 12:03, Jason Eckert <jason.eckert at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> If you'd like to show your support for RMS being reinstated to the FSF as
>> I have done, you can sign here:
>> https://github.com/rms-support-letter/rms-support-letter.github.io
>> I guess you could say it's a form of counter-cancel culture?
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 9:09 PM Jeff Smith <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> And here we go again:
>>>
>>>
>>> https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/free-software-advocates-seek-removal-of-richard-stallman-and-entire-fsf-board/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> <https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/free-software-advocates-seek-removal-of-richard-stallman-and-entire-fsf-board/>
>>> Free software advocates seek removal of Richard Stallman and entire FSF
>>> board | Ars Technica
>>> <https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/free-software-advocates-seek-removal-of-richard-stallman-and-entire-fsf-board/>
>>> Richard Stallman's return to the Free Software Foundation's board of
>>> directors has drawn condemnation from many people in the free software
>>> community. An open letter signed by hundreds of people ...
>>> arstechnica.com
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>> *From:* kwlug-disc <kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org> on behalf of Jason
>>> Eckert <jason.eckert at gmail.com>
>>> *Sent:* 22 March 2021 16:34
>>> *To:* KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
>>> *Subject:* [kwlug-disc] Richard Stallman announcing his return to the
>>> FSF's Board of Directors
>>>
>>>
>>> https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1373904938376466433/pu/vid/1280x720/9h9mG0K-qpfh8XFj.mp4?tag=12
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> kwlug-disc mailing list
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>>>
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