> Sent: Friday, April 09, 2021 at 10:37 PM > From: "David Brown" <david.br...@hesbynett.no> > To: "John Darrington" <j...@darrington.wattle.id.au>, "David Malcolm" > <dmalc...@redhat.com> > Cc: g...@gnu.org > Subject: Re: GCC association with the FSF > > On 09/04/2021 08:37, John Darrington wrote: > > > > > Nobody is suggesting that RMS should be regarded by everyone or indeed > > anyone as "mein Führer". I think he would be very much concerned if anyone > > tried to confer a cult hero status on him. > > > > Sooner or later, if for no reason other than his age, RMS will have to step > > down as leader of GNU. Rather than calling for his head on a block it > > would be more constructive to think to the future. Unfortunately to date, > > I have not seen anyone who in my opinion would have the qualities necessary > > to take over the role. > > > > And I don't think people (at least, not many) are "calling for his > head". My thought is that he should be encouraged to step down from all > his positions within GNU, FSF, gcc, and any other projects he is > involved with. Retire now, while he can do so with dignity and without > harm to the free and open source software worlds.
David, I oppose your thought that he should be made to step down from ALL his positions. That's the fundamental philosophy of China and Russia. > It is only if it is left too late that people will be /forced/ to call > for his head. You can be very sure that complaints about his behaviour > and attitudes will not diminish - they will grow, and the result will > not be good for RMS, GNU, gcc, users, developers, or anyone else except > the sellers of tabloid newspapers. I would rather see him leave quietly > now with respect, than be hounded out later and his statues pulled down > - along with the careers and reputations of many who work with him. (I > am not saying that such a destruction would be correct or appropriate - > I am saying it will happen in the end if the free software community is > not careful.) > (I agree that there are few, if any, people who had the qualities of RMS > to do the job he did. But IMHO that role is over - we don't need > someone to fill his shoes.) I do not see that a person with the qualities of RMS would ask permission for the job. I certainly don't! > David Brown >
