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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: 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.