Richard Stallman Must Go
Back when my blog ran on Wordpress and I had analytics and comments enabled, one of the most viewed blog posts was one from almost ten years ago, where I agreed with another blogger that the FSF should be forked.
With Richard Stallman re-joining the FSF this week and the valid outrage that has followed, I remembered the blog post but not the content. Larry Cafiero’s original blog is no longer on the internet, but I found his original blog post and follow-up on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
It just amazes me that after all these years, we’re still arguing about someone as toxic as Richard Stallman being around. Ever since I saw his keynote at GUADEC and his awful, awful talk, I’ve wanted nothing to do with him. I disagreed with he how he spoke to GNOME Foundation members running for the board, his views on women and the disabled, and I strongly disagree with his views on trans people. He needs to be held accountable for his views and the things he has said, and the Free Software Foundation’s board needs to be held accountable for allowing him to be re-appointed to their board.
I’m proud to add my name to this open letter from major organizations and over 1,000 people calling for Richard Stallman to be removed from all leadership positions, and the Board of the FSF to step down.
Richard Stallman must go. Again.