[RndTbl] Accusations against Stallman at last night meeting

[Trevor Cordes]

On 2021-06-09 Bill Reid wrote:
> I was somewhat surprised at the vitriol expressed last night against
> Richard Stallman. I was aware of his statement about Epstein but not
> the other accusations.
> 
> I understand that sexual abuse allegations should not be ignored but
> also that because it is an emotional topic allegations often depart
> from reality.
> 
> Here is one of many articles defending Stallman:

You should have stayed for the after-meeting, we discussed it more at
length.

I defended Stallman vigorously, and that's really saying something as
I'm fully aware Stallman is far, far (far far far FAR) left and I am
unabashedly on the right.

Arguably not many of us would be here in this club, using Linux and GNU
(etc) if it weren't for Stallman.  What he did for FLOSS, GNU/Linux,
FSF, GPL, etc is incalculable.  To memory hole his contribution and
turn his name into Lord Voldemort is truly abhorrent.

If he committed crimes, he should be given due process and tried in a
true court of law.  I am in no way defending anything illegal he may
have done.

If he was just "weird", well that's 99% of MUUG members.  If he was
just "creepy", well that's like many whose mindset got stuck in
"free love" 1969 (I can't speak to that as I wasn't born yet).  If he
committed actual crimes, then he should be punished to the full extent
of the law, within the law, as we'd expect of anyone.  Weinstein got
Stallmanned (or was it the other way around?) but at least they
legally convicted him of actual crimes in the end, _proving_ that he's a
certifiable sleazebag.

Many on the right sit back and laugh at the "left eating itself", but I
don't: I find it as disturbing when Stallman gets "Kavanaughed" as when
Kavanaugh got Kavanaughed.  It's evil, and very dangerous.

One of the things that makes our community so vibrant and interesting
is the assortment of extremely odd, often abrasive, personalities.
Linus with his expletive-filled rants; Stallman who was one of the
weirdest personalities in FLOSS; "out" Maddog Hall; ... I've greatly
enjoyed watching and reading these autists and weirdos over the last
two decades, even when what they are saying is directly against my
personal philosophy.  And now they've neutered Linus with the COC a
couple of years back, and successfully canceled Stallman.  We're losing
some of the most interesting sides of the strongest voices.  These are
the voices that built so much.  Going forward, can the weak, neutered
voices create as much value and progress as the "oddballs" did?  Maybe,
by definition, you have to be loud and odd to push the technology curve?
I'm not a Musk/Tesla fan, but he's of the same vein, and I watch with
great interest as the left slowly turns on him.

So we lose the pioneers and all we're left with is Poettering??  Thanks,
cancel culture.

My question is, who with power wanted Stallman gone, and why.  This
doesn't just happen spontaneously.  Cui bono.

(I'll read your link with great interest in a sec, Bill.)