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Richard Stallman steps down as as head of the GNU Project, effective immediately

187 points| sigio | 6 years ago |stallman.org | reply

318 comments

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[+] geofft|6 years ago|reply
Someone on Reddit says that his site might have been vandalized, and that it was previously vandalized yesterday: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/dambxx/stallman_step...

It's a bit suspicious because a) he just said two days ago that he has no intention of stepping down from GNU https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2019-09/msg00008... and b) there's another copy of the entry dated yesterday, deeper on the page: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#27_September...

It 100% wouldn't surprise me if he didn't have adequate security for his personal website. He comes from a culture of leaving doors unlocked and passwords unset, and he also doesn't actually participate in the modern web (he has a daily cronjob that emails him text dumps of web pages he wants to read, he doesn't "browse" the web in any me), and his personal site is probably not actually run by the FSF or anyone else with experience in running websites.

[+] tptacek|6 years ago|reply
I feel like I remember him running Unix servers back in the 1990s that were deliberately insecure, because computer security was itself immoral. I don't know that he actually runs this site, though.
[+] Syri|6 years ago|reply
A user on r/StallmanWasRight writes, "I've been in email contact with him and he asked me about this a couple of days ago." and "I don't think it's a money issue, anyway... it's a bit strange. I'm not sure what the issue is or why he's asking for help with housing.
[+] tjr|6 years ago|reply
The GNU resignation statement no longer appears on his website.
[+] dependenttypes|6 years ago|reply
There is a non-zero possibility that a rogue employee did this. He does not sign his web stuff with his GPG key after all.

Also, it is there twice https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#27_September...

[+] mrob|6 years ago|reply
There seems to be something weird going on. Check archive.org's recent version on the site:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190928070003/https://stallman....

"What's bad about" section has a "Richard Stallman" link to the Medium post, and the "donate to the Free Software Foundation" link goes to the "Richard Stallman Eats Something From His Foot" Youtube video. The Youtube link is especially suspicious because Youtube uses proprietary Javascript, which RMS has never supported.

[+] tjr|6 years ago|reply
I agree. Would like to hear more confirmation before believing this.
[+] ceejayoz|6 years ago|reply
stallman.org has employees?
[+] dimitar|6 years ago|reply
I don't get why he doesn't simply apologize, take a few months break from publicity to think things over and then move on.

Instead he seems to prefer to step down from what he has been doing for the last 30 years. Does he really regret nothing?

On a human level I sympathize with the women he has offended (I know the story is also about his behavior over the years), but I also worry about him as well, I hope he stays in good health and spirit.

[+] dependenttypes|6 years ago|reply
> I don't get why he doesn't simply apologize

He could give a fake apology with the hope that this would stop this whole drama, but I believe that he is more principled than that. Plus, apologising for something that you have not done wrong hurts.

[+] lone_haxx0r|6 years ago|reply
Stallman is the least hypocritical person I've ever seen. So, that's not happening unless he changes his mind about something he said.

Even if he changes his mind about some subjective things, he will keep saying other things that are objectively true but people don't want to accept.

[+] psb|6 years ago|reply
My feeling about Stallman is that he is that rare creature, a fundamentalist lefty. Its a pretty lonely island and I'm actually a little surprised he has lasted this long
[+] dragonwriter|6 years ago|reply
> My feeling about Stallman is that he is that rare creature, a fundamentalist lefty.

Fundamentalist lefties aren't uncommon, but Stallman isn't really typical for that group, as he's a fundamentalist of a particularly niche ideology that, while on the left in a broad sense, isn't typical of leftism (fundamentalist or otherwise.)

[+] panpanna|6 years ago|reply
Just FYI,

I saw an old interview where RMS goes bananas when the interviewer calls him a communist.

[+] typon|6 years ago|reply
He's not a lefty. He's a fundamentalist libertarian.
[+] einpoklum|6 years ago|reply
But what does that have to do with him needing to step down? Was he mis-handling the GNU project? Did he abuse people? Did he force anyone to accept his social views (communist/libertarian/whatever) outside the extent to which those are manifested in the GNU project per se?

I am saddened by this occurrence, and am worried about the ability to pressure people like Stallman like this.

[+] smitty1e|6 years ago|reply
RMS is an important historical figure.

Having his inevitanle departure reduced to collateral damage of Jeffrey Epstein is a shame.

[+] jefft255|6 years ago|reply
These resignation messages are really short (the one from FSF being the other)!! Not much context in there. I get that he said a lot of things which some think are so-so, some think are terrible. Maybe he decided he’s so bad at this he won’t even try to explain what happened, choosing to resign without saying a word.
[+] turndown|6 years ago|reply
Who is his most likely successor? Will GNU strategy change(the kernel coming to the front of my mind) or will things basically be the same?
[+] ohashi|6 years ago|reply
Is there some context I'm unaware of?
[+] ThrowawayR2|6 years ago|reply
Definitely peculiar. Three days ago, RMS stated that he intended to stay on as head of the GNU Project: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2019-09/msg00008...

[EDIT] Quoting the text of the above link for convenience:

> "On September 16 I resigned as president of the Free Software Foundation, but the GNU Project and the FSF are not the same. I am still the head of the GNU Project (the Chief GNUisance), and I intend to continue as such."

Earlier discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21088690

[+] loeg|6 years ago|reply
It's basically follow-on from the previous ousting from MIT and the FSF.

A few days ago, for whatever reason, he blogged that his resignation from the FSF didn't mean he was stepping down from head of GNU.

I have to assume this post means someone let him know that he was no longer welcome as head of GNU, either.

[+] saalweachter|6 years ago|reply
He's 66; maybe he wants to retire?
[+] ezoe|6 years ago|reply
While I thought RMS's technical knowledge wasn't updated properly since he pivoted his activities to be an evangelist of freedom rather than being a programmer.

I believe he was directly responsible of the development stall of GCC, Emacs and various other projects. It's also his fault for not abandoning the Hurd sometime around the early 1990s.

His forced resignation should better be happened earlier for the lack of skill, not by his opinion on the definition of pedophile and the correct understanding of intention in criminal law system.

[+] starpilot|6 years ago|reply
Very sad. I hope he is able to take some loyalists with him.

Stallman forever.

[+] Grue3|6 years ago|reply
It's not on the linked site. Fake news?
[+] Syri|6 years ago|reply
Whoa. It was there an hour ago. I wonder what's up?
[+] hprotagonist|6 years ago|reply
https://stallman.org/seeking-housing.html
[+] jc__denton|6 years ago|reply
Didn't Stallman live in his MIT office for awhile?
[+] mlevental|6 years ago|reply
lol talk about out of touch. doesn't mention paying either. it's astounds me that people can be so dense that even after clear contradictions (don't be so obnoxious that you lose your job) they persist.
[+] bitL|6 years ago|reply

[deleted]

[+] happytoexplain|6 years ago|reply
Whoa, does he have a history I'm not aware of (honestly asking)?