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Red Hat pulls Free Software Foundation funding over Richard Stallman's return:
The chorus of disapproval over Richard M Stallman, founder and former president of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), rejoining the organisation has intensified as Linux giant Red Hat confirmed it was pulling funding.
Stallman 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.
CTO Chris Wright 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.
"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.
[...] 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 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."
Red Hat statement about Richard Stallman's return to the Free Software Foundation board
(Score: 5, Insightful) by EEMac on Sunday March 28 2021, @12:26PM (35 children)
I've had more than enough of cancel culture and virtue signalling.
I hope the FSF keeps Stallman on. He literally *founded* the free software movement, provided the moral basis for it, and helped establish legal frameworks like copyleft and the GPL. I can't imagine anyone alive having better qualifications than him, to be on that board.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @12:42PM (5 children)
>> I can't imagine anyone alive having better qualifications than him, to be on that board.
That's because you're an entitled white male viewing this through the lens of patriarchy... if you had a more open mind you'd realize that there's a pink-haired transvestite who's got far better qualifications, being both pink-haired and transvestite.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DECbot on Sunday March 28 2021, @02:38PM (4 children)
Well then, the solution should be easy. RMS should just dye his hair pink and start calling himself a girl.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 3, Touché) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday March 28 2021, @06:48PM
In that case he'd likely poison himself eating all those paint chips from his toenail polish.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @08:32PM (1 child)
Does having autism earn him any oppression points, or no?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 01 2021, @07:48PM
According to Wikipedia, Stallman says he isn’t an aspie. People have to stop making excuses for his vullshit based on a lie. He isn’t an aspie or autistic - just a sick.
And he’s about to throw another Wobblies - soon he won’t be able to refer to it as Gnu/Linux when distros don’t contain much, if any, gnu software. Most GPL software isn’t gnu anyway.
Clang/LLVM has already replaced gcc as the default (or only) compiler. And I’ve never seen anyone use emacs. Vim, pick, nano, but never emacs. Time to remove it as part of the default package install. Gmake? Many devs use their own custom scripts.
And then there’s Java. And of course Windows, where the default editors of choice for those not using an IDE are Notepad+ and a distant second, JaEdit.
And no, FSF/Linux ain’t gonna fly either.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 29 2021, @03:57AM
If he did that a bunch of your buddies would suddenly forget how pro-personal-freedom they claim to be.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @01:40PM (9 children)
I get it, it's really tempting to use the new jargon to look hip. But it is much clearer to say, "If even a godlike* programmer like RMS can be held to account, I am terrified about what might happen if my own conduct ever came under scrutiny. Plus, people framing discussions in terms of core social values makes me uncomfortable for reasons I cannot quite articulate because examining those reasons means looking at my failures as a human being and I can't do that for the five minutes required without needing a sedative, see previous."
* IMHO info is a greater achievement than emacs
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @05:42PM (2 children)
Well, I suppose if your #1 priority in life is fucking people with menstrual cycles, that's your heteronormative, patriarchal point of view. Do you lure them in by claiming to be able to make them pr0n stars like another SJW? When's the last time you had sex with a dick girl*, you transphobe! And let me guess, the female programmers can't learn programming without your stinky breath down their necks!
As one of the elusive female programmers: GTFO! I don't want your axe smell in my cube, and I don't want your systemd smell on my server! Eww and ick ick ick!
* I am allowed to use this term according to the intersectional identity politics.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @05:46PM (1 child)
OK so now let's talk about your axe smell.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @07:05PM
Nonsense. Only incels use axe. Axe should be considered a public health hazard. Instead I recommend one of the Suave or Secret scents.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 29 2021, @12:41AM (2 children)
Emacs is an interesting desktop shell but its editor sucks. Someone should code a Nano or Vi mode for Emacs :D *runs like hell*
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 29 2021, @02:24AM
No need to run, "Use Emacs in Vi Mode"
http://www.billharlan.com/emacs/ [billharlan.com]
Just try implementing emacs inside Vi!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 01 2021, @07:51PM
(Score: 2) by EEMac on Monday March 29 2021, @04:14PM (2 children)
"You did not join in the Two Minutes Hate! What are you hiding, Comrade?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 30 2021, @08:14PM
Whining about perceived persecution while giving a pass for every Republican cancellation of the last few millenia is the height of entitled stupidity. Where were you when gays were canceled when their bosses found out they were gay? Where were you when immigrants were banned from the US for being muslim? The list goes on, but only when it affects white assholes do you suddenly care?
Charlie's got a song for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQnYmC4-_1c [youtube.com] NSFW swearing
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 02 2021, @02:41PM
Yellow, you are not cleared for this information. Report to the computer.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @01:56PM (1 child)
I hope the FSF keeps Stallman on their board as well. It will be the death of an organization that has done fuck all except send out press releases for stupid calls to action without actually DOING anything. The sort of organization that does fundraising so they can continue their fundraising. Kind of like having toll booths on highways to pay for the tollbooths.
When’s the last time either the FSF or Stallman did anything useful or of note? (Stallman taking a shower would qualify, I guess).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 30 2021, @07:39AM
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @02:17PM (12 children)
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @08:50PM (11 children)
He did found it as an ethical movement and organization, though. Open source - or merely sharing code - is very different from the Free Software movement.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @08:58PM (10 children)
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @09:43PM (9 children)
No, because non-free proprietary user-subjugating software continues to be a plague upon humanity by enabling mass surveillance and control over users. The time to give up is never.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @11:13PM (8 children)
That “plague of mass surveillance was directly caused by the GPL. People (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc) saw that they could use GPL software and NEVER give away their modifications as long as they didn’t distribute binaries because the GPL is not a use license but a distribution license.
That loophole required them to run modifications on servers, which gave us the massive software as a service which is at the core of mass surveillance.
So the GPL encourages bad behaviour. Whereas I have tons of old software from before the surveillance economy that I bought and paid for, doesn’t need the internet, and can’t be yanked at will by the manufacturer. Because it’s mine, it runs locally, and that’s what I like.
If I have a choice between buying proprietary software that runs locally , does what I want, and doesn’t phone home, or paying a monthly fee (either money or by giving up my privacy), I’ll buy the proprietary software. At least I know in advance what I’m getting.
The GPL was a Trojan horse, and it encourages SaaS that provides an almost irresistible temptation to data mine users. Unintended consequences are still consequences, and it was foreseeable.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 28 2021, @11:58PM (1 child)
No, it's caused by unethical parasitic corporations that don't respect or care about your freedoms. Though in some cases Free Software can be used for evil, proprietary software enables even more mass surveillance because you can't control it at all. SAASS is a problem and must be rejected, being about as bad as proprietary software even if the software running on the servers is not proprietary. The acceptance of SAASS is the problem here, not the software running on the servers.
You don't have that choice, because you don't control the software. Even if the proprietary software doesn't do any surveillance or actively abuse users in other ways at present, it could in the future. Windows is a very good example of this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 30 2021, @12:49AM
As a developer the FSF doesn’t care about my freedom. I will choose whatever terms are most beneficial to me. That can mean writing SaaS in an ethical way, by charging for the service and not selling the data. People are willing to pay for services that preserve their interests. So it’s in my best interest not to turn such SaaS into spyware.
Of course that means not giving away services for “free” and then ass-raping the users. As people demand more control over their personal information, business models like Facebook and Google will come under more pressure. Hopefully they will fail. But probably not, because people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
But since nobody has answered my challenge as to what has Stallman done that’s useful this century, the answer is simple - he made one minor commit way back in 2003. A few in 1997 and 1998.
Surprised? I’m not.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 29 2021, @12:43AM (3 children)
How much did Microsoft pay you for that? Hopefully not much because wow, that sucked. A little more subtlety would be really helpful.
Let me guess, you're also going to say all regulation is bad because some corrupt CEOs have purchased politicians and had their own laws written? Aroint thee, shill, and begone back to the pits from whence Win32.dll was spawned!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 29 2021, @10:39PM (2 children)
I am definitely NOT a shill for anyone. However, I know that vendors of proprietary software have more of an incentive not to abuse their customers because that means losing a paying customer going forward. When you’re using Gmail, Facebook, or some other “free” service you agree to them using and selling your data.
Apple is the better choice for most people. It does what most users want without the hassle of Google , Microsoft, or the lack of functionality and choice of Linux.
But back to the main topic. What has RMS done in the last 20 years that would justify him being relevant today? He’s made ONE minor commit in 2003, and a few in 1997-98. Nothing else since.
And he’s notorious for his lame attempts to hit on women, giving out what he calls “pleasure cards.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/justneckbeardthings/comments/2vkeze/he_calls_it_his_pleasure_card/ [reddit.com]
Totally unprofessional, and he was notorious for giving them out to attractive women at events. The guy is gross.
No wonder he’s an incel. That he wasn’t fired after this happened a few times speaks volumes of the complacency of the FSF towards bad behaviour by this asshole. Tell me you wouldn’t want to slap him if he gave you one of these cards - or maybe throw up a bit in your mouth.
Women have complained about his behaviour since at least the turn of the century, so it’s not like this was a big secret. The FSF deserves to die for gross incompetence and being an enabler of institutional misogyny.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 29 2021, @11:34PM (1 child)
yeah, well have a policy on shit and enforce it. no need for all these lies and character assassination.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 30 2021, @12:51AM
It’s not character assassination if it’s true. And it’s all been public knowledge for decades.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 29 2021, @03:18AM (1 child)
It was not GPL license, but the ubiquitous, fast, cheap (flat fee) Internet (esp. in wirelessly connected devices) that made server based computing possible, along with all the abuses that enables.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 30 2021, @01:20PM
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Reziac on Monday March 29 2021, @01:26AM (3 children)
Yep, cancel culture and virtue signaling can go fuck themselves.
I dislike RMS, and I don't see how he's qualified to be on the board let alone run it (one suspects it's more "this is where the free money comes from") ...
BUT... it's the FSF's own damn decision. It shouldn't be mine, or yours, or some gang of petition signers, or RedHat's. If you don't like RMS on the board, don't support the FSF, fine and dandy. Let the FSF's decision succeed or fail on its own merit, and if no one gives them money anymore, they get to deal with it.
But if it's acceptable to enforce "virtue" by way of mobs with pitchforks... eventually that mob will come for all of us.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 29 2021, @05:35PM (2 children)
Amusingly conservatives only care about and come up with a catchy phrase once their own are on the receiving end of judgmental popular opinions. You lot were happy to "cancel" anyone you didn't like, lost your collective minds for years when anyone told you to stop being assholes or demonstrated their support for minorities of any stripe. Now you're terrified, spurred on by lies from the Fox network and a subconscious awareness of how shitty conservative culture has been to non-white non-christians.
Perhaps if you were able to drum up this level of energy for all the stories of police brutality and societal discrimination then you wouldn't sound like an entitled raging cunt.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 29 2021, @11:43PM (1 child)
There is nothing wrong with discriminating against non-whites by whites. Discrimination to promote your own people is perfectly natural. In fact, non-whites are proudly doing it in the open, but whites are criticized as evil. Whites need to wake up and reclaim territory for their children's future.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 30 2021, @08:16PM
Black Supremacists were put down and are not tolerated because they advocate racial violence.
White Supremacists get the same treatment, boo hoo you ignorant fucking prick. While I don't want anyone to suffer the stupidity of your boogaloos I will gladly watch you hate filled fucks get stomped into oblivion, may your children free themselves from your *cough* culture.