Red Hat pulls Free Software Foundation funding over Richard Stallman's return
- Reference: 1616779748
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/03/26/redhat_fsf_funding_richard_stallman/
- Source link:
Stallman [3]announced he had returned to the FSF's Board of Directors last weekend – news that has not gone down well with all in the community and Red Hat is the latest to register its dismay.
[4]
CTO Chris Wright [5]tweeted overnight: "I am really outraged by FSF's decision to reinstate RMS. At a moment in time where diversity and inclusion awareness is growing, this is a step backwards."
Describing itself as "appalled" at the return of Stallman to the FSF board of directors "considering the circumstances of Richard Stallman's original resignation in 2019," Red Hat said it decided to act.
[6]
Free Software Foundation urged to free itself of Richard Stallman by hundreds of developers and techies [7]READ MORE
"We are immediately suspending all Red Hat funding of the FSF and any FSF-hosted events. In addition, many Red Hat contributors have told us they no longer plan to participate in FSF-led or backed events, and we stand behind them," said Red Hat.
A [8]governance statement by the FSF earlier this week that related to transparency in the appointing of directors has done nothing to quell Red Hat's ire, which stated bluntly that the announcement did not signify "any meaningful commitment to positive change."
"Fundamental and lasting changes to its governance" would be needed to restore the confidence of the community, said the Linux distro maker.
Browser biz Mozilla also joined the clamouring, signing up to a [9]petition calling for the removal of Stallman. "We can't demand better of the internet if we don't demand better of our leaders, colleagues and ourselves," the organisation [10]tweeted .
Melissa Di Donato, CEO of veteran Linux maker SUSE, who signed a petition calling for his removal on behalf of her organisation, [11]tweeted : "There is a time to speak out and take a stand when abhorrent decisions are made. That time is now."
Other groups such as [12]Open.UK and the [13]Electronic Frontier Foundation have also expressed disappointment.
The latter stated: "Stallman's re-election sends a wrong and hurtful message to free software movement, as well as those who have left that movement because of Stallman’s previous behavior."
Stallman's re-election sends a wrong and hurtful message to free software movement, as well as those who have left that movement because of Stallman’s previous behavior
Stallman's resignation in [14]2019 followed some deeply insensitive remarks he had made downplaying the alleged rape and trafficking of a 17-year-old girl orchestrated by convicted sex offender and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
After Epstein's victim said she had been coerced as a teenager to have sex with the now-late MIT professor Marvin Minsky, who would have been 73 at the time of the alleged assault, Stallman suggested Minsky might somehow not have known she'd been forced to do so. In the [15]same thread on MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory listserv, he also referred to Epstein's victims as a "harem." The remarks led to calls for his resignation and increased scrutiny on Stallman's past behavior as well as on other distasteful comments documented on Stallman's personal blog and elsewhere.
Red Hat's step marks an escalation in the war of words over Stallman's return. As both a long-time donor and contributor of code, the IBM-owned company's action might well give the FSF pause for thought in a way that thousands of outraged tweets might not.
FSF president Geoffrey Knauth [16]stated his intention yesterday "to resign as an FSF officer, director, and voting member as soon as there is a clear path for new leadership."
[17]
The Register asked the FSF for comment on Red Hat's statement. The organisation has yet to respond. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/22/richard_stallman_back_on_fsf_board/
[2] https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hat-statement-about-richard-stallmans-return-free-software-foundation-board
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/22/richard_stallman_back_on_fsf_board/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YF5nodA2YUu8gMQq9b92IAAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://twitter.com/kernelcdub/status/1375195995538124804
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YF5nodA2YUu8gMQq9b92IAAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/23/fsf_stallman_outcry/
[8] https://www.fsf.org/news/preliminary-board-statement-on-fsf-governance
[9] https://rms-open-letter.github.io/
[10] https://twitter.com/mozilla/status/1374513444838199304
[11] https://twitter.com/mdidonato1/status/1375080357628846090
[12] https://openuk.uk/openuk-response-to-richard-stallmans-reinstatement-to-fsf-board/
[13] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/statement-re-election-richard-stallman-fsf-board
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2019/09/17/richard_stallman_final_interview/
[15] https://www.vice.com/en/article/9ke3ke/famed-computer-scientist-richard-stallman-described-epstein-victims-as-entirely-willing
[16] https://www.fsf.org/news/update-on-work-to-improve-governance-at-the-fsf
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YF5nodA2YUu8gMQq9b92IAAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
decisions, decisions...
When the decision is all about 'me', rather than 'us', it is usually the wrong decision. When the decision is all about 'us', rather than "you outsiders", it is usually the wrong decision.
"At a moment in time where diversity and inclusion awareness is growing, this is a step backwards."
And the Gold medal goes to Chris Wright for the GasLighting.
Well, what do you expect
See subject line
Re: Well, what do you expect
They are probably confused by anyone over the age of 30 not being RIF'ed
Have they asked him to train his replacement ?
Consistency
They are still doing business in China, are they? Just asking.
What were they thinking?
By "they" I mean the FSF.
Anyone with a minimal amount of common sense could have predicted that RMS' return to the FSF was NOT going to go down well.
FSF, you brought this upon yourself. It's not just about RMS' comments that led to his departure two years ago. Right now, it's about your organization being perceived as a crass dictatorship that cannot rid itself of the Dear Leader, no matter how toxic the circumstances might be.
Not many people want to be associated with such an organization. And those who do, they aren't the kind of people I want to be associated with.
They've probably been planning this for a while anyway and this is the perfect cover.
"After Epstein's victim said she had been coerced as a teenager to have sex with the now-late MIT professor Marvin Minsky,"
Actually, the statement was that she had been told to have sex with the now-late MIT professor Marvin Minsky.
Stallman's gift was was to phrase his argument (* illogical emotional outburst) under the assumption that Minsky had indeed had sex with the victim.
AFAIK no post accusation wave of claims against Minsky bubbled up despite many years of opportunity he had as leader and mentor
to pester and manipulate women.
There is also the fact that most 78 year old men would just not feel comfortable with the situation which likely would likely have felt odd and insincere.
Yes - Minsky took the money for the Media Lab, which furthered his own career, when he should have known better. The whole thing is rather disgusting.
There's a huge community of "anti-woke," racist folks dogpiling on Hacker News (Ycombinator's news site) propping up Stallman which is pretty gross. Who in their right mind wanted to reinstate Stallman to the board of FSF? Why is Stallman the authority here? Kill your idols, move on and grow, the mission of FSF isn't Stallman's living body. Its just written down words. It'll exist long after Stallman dies.
Not racists but futurists!
These people are not racists, they are people who see that the logical end result (should cancelling continue) will be a hyper-individualistic society where everybody is happy to stab one another in the back for short term gains. You can see evidence of this gradual shift happening all over the place in both cyberspace and meatspace alike. If someone sees an opportunity to screw someone over, they’ll make a mountain out of a molehill if it means some kind of quick personal gain.
It is not about idol worship, it is about about the principle of balancing good against bad when talking about a man who has committed no crimes and harmed nobody, but who may have a few behaviours and opinions which aren’t popular with hipsters/corpo-leeches. Most, if not all of the people wanting him gone might not even have the jobs they do were it not for the ability to exploit his code, and Richard will still defend their software freedom, yet these people will not offer him the same courtesy with his free speech.
Bloody Wokesters
So much virtue signalling.
Don't they have a business to fuck up ?
He made the FSF, it’s fine for him to end it
It really is time for Richard to stand proud, head up high, fingers in his ears... let the “community” burn everything down if that’s what they want to do. He should keep his director position and ignore those who seek to defund the place. He has his freedom and his principles and that is all he needs.
Richard is just about ready to retire anyway and he can enjoy his final good years of life observing and contributing to the projects which comprise his life’s work. He will be remembered for all the good he did by those who care, while those trying to cancel him will fade into obscurity.
Redhat
Owned by IBM, of Holocaust fame ?