Hi everyone, I appreciate the calm, measured voices I've heard here. I would also like to take some of the heat out of this discussion and contribute my point of view. I usually just lurk here, not sure since when. I've been donating to and volunteering for different Free Software groups for many years now, mainly the big ones, the FSF, the FSFE, and the SFC. But of course I don't speak for any of them. I am quite disheartened by the current situation, because I would have liked to have seen a different development overall. I was happy at first when I heard that Richard Stallman was speaking at Libreplanet. I had the impression that it might work out similarly to what happened with Linus Torvalds, who took some time off, reflected on his behavior, and then came back with a changed attitude. As far as I know that worked well, but I don't know all the details about how it's going now.
Things have been different with RMS. He has consistently stood out for years with bad behavior. I don't mean the things that are mentioned again and again in certain news outlets. Those articles do often at least lack context (although even the context does not make these instances problem-free). But there is other problematic behavior. For example, it harms our movement if at events about Free Software, RMS also remarks on completely unrelated topics which offend people. And it's unnecessary because it doesn't advance software freedom. But even if you ignore all that, there are still problematic things. For instance, RMS acting annoyed and aggressive when people accidentally use a wrong term. And yes, I have also personally experienced the exact opposite, where he reacted very friendly to those mistakes, but those things don't cancel each other out. And that behavior also scares off people who are new to our movement, who don't know everything yet, but are enthusiastic about the cause and want to learn. It's a problem that they run the risk of being yelled at for making a mistake. It's also a problem when people who help RMS with something are completely ignored and get the impression in the interaction that they as a person don't matter at all, it's just that he just needs an alarm clock or a pen or whatever and nothing else matters. And you can explain some of these behaviors to him and then sometimes something changes. But the change usually remains very limited in scope and in similar cases the behavior doesn't change. And yes, I have a strong urge to excuse such things, because RMS is just so focused on the matter and maybe without a certain stubbornness this whole movement would not exist. And yes, I know other sides of him, where he is extremely kind to people and brings them gifts. But even there, the good behavior does not cancel out the bad, especially because it relates to different people. All of this has been hurting us for a long time because it turns people away from our community. But even if you disregard all that, there are still more problems. Let's assume that all of RMS's statements that other people found problematic were just misunderstandings. Personally, if someone tells me "Hey, what you just said upsets me" or something like that, my first reaction is "Oh, I'm sorry about that." And then I try to avoid that in the future. You can often say things in a less confrontational way, and you don't always have to share every thought with every person. You can also sometimes say nothing (even if it's hard - I know this from myself). With RMS, though, the answer too often was "What I said was right because." or "There's no need to get upset because my assertion is right for those reasons." That may all be true, but even when interpreted in an extremely positive way, that is at the very least an extremely poor communication style. And if I repeatedly offend people with the same problematic statements, and this is also completely unnecessary because it has nothing to do with my mission of advancing Free Software, then at some point the question arises as to whether these things are still compatible. If I have such a high profile position, I have to keep some ideas to myself, also because otherwise I harm the cause. Or if I absolutely want to say these things, then perhaps I should give up this leadership position so as not to harm the cause. And to arrive at this conclusion, I already interpreted a lot of things in a very favorable way. At some point, however, there comes a time where you have to ask yourself whether someone who repeatedly makes statements that hurt others isn't making these statements his own, no matter if it is meant that way. For example (deliberately choice of something RMS is not accused of): if someone repeatedly uses racist phrases or words, even after it is pointed out to him, doesn't he at least at some point make these racist statements his own, even if it is not meant that way? That's exactly how it is in the case of RMS, unfortunately. Now, as I said, this was all against the backdrop of favorable interpretations and an isolated view of the various problems. In practice, however, these problems have a combined effect and deter people who want to work with us. That cannot be the goal. And if the announcement of RMS's return shows no self-reflection at all, but only "some of you will be happy about this and some will be disappointed, but who knows. In any case, that's how it is. And I'm not planning to resign a second time" then that definitely falls short of acceptable behavior. You can't treat people like that. That's why I support statements such as the one we made at the FSFE or the one the EFF made. It is tough to make such a statement, because it is not an easy topic. But at some point you just have to admit that it doesn't matter for what reason someone hurts other people. If it happens once, ok, that's human, but if it happens over and over again, then it doesn't matter if that person can't do better or doesn't want to do better. The person is then simply unsuitable for such a leadership role, no matter what the other merits are. Merit does not cancel out bad behavior. And it breaks my heart that there was no other outcome. Those who know me know that I can never give up on a person and I do what I can to make amends. I was hoping so hard to have a joint future, but for that to happen, RMS would have had to change his behavior as well and admit a problem. At this point, as much as it pains me, I have to draw a line and clearly state that this behavior, no matter the reasons behind it, is unacceptable, and this, in turn, has an effect on organizations that support it. I think there are other people who have done the Free Software movement and RMS personally a huge disservice by backing to go along with this. But this goes beyond RMS and his future. I want him to understand and if he asks me, I will explain what I think the problem. But I also think of all the people out there who were put off and didn't contribute to our cause or perhaps even started to work against it. That makes our community weaker as a whole and we need to work on that. Happy hacking! Florian _______________________________________________ libreplanet-discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
