Thank you for speaking up Johannes!
I wholeheartedly support your position and would encourage everybody to
consider it carefully.
I am similarly appalled by the FSF's decision, which to me demonstrates
that the FSF would rather foster a culture where abusive behaviours are
tolerated and thus tacitly encouraged than one of true collaboration
between equal individuals who value each other as such and take
responsibility for their actions. This is not only antithetical to the
collaborative ethos of the sociotechnical experiment called "free
software", but also to my personal values.
For that reason, I have already informed the FSF (and Greg) yesterday
that I will no longer assign copyright of any future contributions to
the FSF until the core issue is resolved.
Best regards,
Niels
On 26.03.21 14:54, Johannes Brakensiek wrote:
Dear GNUsteppers, Mr. Stallman,
it is not as if I do like to write this mail, but I think I have to,
since you, Mr. Stallman, again took chair in the FSF board and posted
mails to this list suggesting development decisions.
I’d like to clarify in advance that this statement does not contain any
personal objections and I highly value any contributions of past and
presence to a free and democratic digital world.
But I think it is important for any project contributing to a free
world, that engagement for personal freedom can in no way tolerate or
even support (even by just being silent) any form of abusive behaviour
against children and women or any opinion that is tolerating or even
supporting such behaviour.
So as lang as neither you, Mr. Stallman, nor the FSF board distance
oneself from such opinion or behaviour (f.e. be distancing to statements
declared in earlier times or by signing an appropriate code of conduct)
I’m going to stop contributing to any kind of GNU project and call all
developers to do the same.
I suggest the GNUstep project to wait for such statements and in case
they don’t happen, to fork the project, remove the GNU acronym from its
name and to break up any connection with the FSF.
For further information see https://rms-open-letter.github.io/
Johannes
