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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday March 28 2021, @05:23AM   Printer-friendly

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


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  • (Score: 2) by Eratosthenes on Monday March 29 2021, @12:28AM (1 child)

    by Eratosthenes (13959) on Monday March 29 2021, @12:28AM (#1130514) Journal

    And then, how exactly the entire Stallman brouhaha - quitting, rejoining (and, I suppose, quitting again soonish) - helped or didn't help keeping the proprietary software at bay?

    Doesn't help, at all. In fact, a distraction? A manufactured, intentional distraction? This is really my point, and I do not mean to engage in the details of the "brouhaha", but this is an attack on free software. Post-conventional warfare is like this. The players are often not clear, the attacks are oblique, and the game is a long one.

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday March 29 2021, @04:26AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 29 2021, @04:26AM (#1130606) Journal

    In fact, a distraction? A manufactured, intentional distraction? ... but this is an attack on free software. Post-conventional warfare is like this. The players are often not clear, the attacks are oblique, and the game is a long one.

    Safe to say, then, that either:

    • FSF must start doing what it is supposed to do instead of being paralyzed by internal fights; or
    • be dismantled asap, to let a clean room for any potential successor that does what it needs to be done. Since this is a potentiality rather then a certitude, I'll argue that maintaining a sick FSF is helping them by exposing an attack surface - it may be better w/o it than with it. I can't say for sure that "w/o it" is better, even an inert boulder may still be useful if nothing better is at hand

    Coming to TFA,

    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."

    Well, Geoffrey mate, just don't waste your time, the sooner you find a new (and proper) leadership, the better.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford