==================
 RMS resignations
==================

RMS resigned from CSAIL and from FSF. Not many details are given in
the announcements, but from what I gathered, it started with a mention
(accusation?) of Marvin Minsky in context of the recent Epstein
scandal, and RMS's comment in a CSAIL mailing list regarding that:

  We can imagine many scenarios, but the most plausible scenario is that
  she presented herself to him as entirely willing. Assuming she was
  being coerced by Epstein, he would have had every reason to tell her
  to conceal that from most of his associates.

Then vice.com, while citing that in a barely readable appendix, named
the article "Famed Computer Scientist Richard Stallman Described
Epstein Victims As 'Entirely Willing'" [0]_, and the article text
states that "[...] Stallman insists that the “most plausible scenario”
is that Epstein’s underage victims were “entirely willing” while being
trafficked". Linking that, the Executive Director of the GNOME
Foundation criticized RMS in the "GNOME relationship with GNU and the
FSF" post [1]_. (Update: SFC also called for his resignation [2]_.)

I have probably missed more, but commenting the resignations, some
people (on IRC, in the corresponding HN threads) cheered, mentioning
RMS being inappropriately pedantic for correcting the use of word
"pedophilia". The false claim from the article's title was repeated,
and Minsky was called a "child molester". The only thing I found
written by RMS that actually doesn't fit common views is a post from
2003 [3]_, which seems to be intentionally "edgy", but indeed
objectionable (and was retracted 3 days ago [4]_). Somebody also
mentioned RMS being gross.

It's strange and sad if that's the whole story, but maybe I have
missed something.

Update: apparently it started with the "Remove Richard Stallman" post
[5]_, which included both the quote and the paraphrased version. Which
then was repeated by techcrunch.com, vice.com, thedailybeast.com (and
possibly others).

Update 2: vice.com continued repeating the same false claim [6]_ in
further articles on the topic. And after a few days, I'm still not
sure why it happened: somebody getting offended while (mis)reading a
discussion on a sensitive subject is understandable, and perhaps so is
the press misquoting (even consistently) that discussion; CSAIL being
under the heat from before also wouldn't like to get more of it now
(though I'm not sure what they did wrong), but GNOME and SFC reacting
the way they did and RMS resigning from FSF seems rather strange.


----

.. [0] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9ke3ke/famed-computer-scientist-richard-stallman-described-epstein-victims-as-entirely-willing
.. [1] https://blog.halon.org.uk/2019/09/gnome-foundation-relationship-gnu-fsf/
.. [2] https://sfconservancy.org/news/2019/sep/16/rms-does-not-speak-for-us/
.. [3] https://stallman.org/archives/2003-mar-jun.html#28%20June%202003%20()
.. [4] https://www.stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#14_September_2019_(Sex_between_an_adult_and_a_child_is_wrong)
.. [5] https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794
.. [6] https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/mbm74x/computer-scientist-richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-over-epstein-comments

:Date: 2019-09-17
