Richard Stallman apologizes to the free software community. Accompanied by the declaration of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) explaining the choice to readmit him to the council, the letter from the founding father of the free software movement sent to Republic he makes amends for past behavior but without giving up the defense of his old friend Marvin Minsky, the pioneer of Artificial Intelligence.
The world of free software is divided over the accusations against its “guru” Richard Stallman
by Arthur of Corinth
The letter follows the fierce controversy that has divided the community of free software programmers and entrepreneurs since August 2019. Started with the complaint of a young Afro-Asian student for Stallman’s behaviors defined as misogynistic and transphobic, the story had aroused great clamor for the accusation against the free software guru of having defended Marvin Minsky. accused of rape of a 17-year-old during a party organized by the billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in the Virgin Islands. Accusation never tried due to the fact that the young woman, despite having declared that she had been induced into prostitution with many men, did not remember the place and date of the meeting with Minsky. Stallman in his apology letter now explains: “I defended Prof. Marvin Minsky on an MIT mailing list after someone jumped to the conclusion that he was as guilty as Jeffrey Epstein. To my surprise, some thought my message defended. Epstein. As I stated earlier, Epstein was a serial rapist and rapists must be punished. I hope that his victims and all those injured by him receive justice. “
Epstein case, free software guru Richard Stallman leaves MIT
Having entered the battle of #MeToo and the fury of Cancel Culture – the removal of the memory of the perpetrators of violent and discriminatory behavior even in the distant past -, the complaint had been endorsed by a large number of companies and associations, such as RedHat and EFF, following the decision of the Board of the Free Software Foundation to readmit him to the board after a year of his voluntary resignation for the criticisms received. And with a boomerang effect on the foundation itself, created by Stallman in 1985 to promote free software against Microsoft’s proprietary software monopoly.
In the letter Stallman recognizes the mistakes made, the wrong language especially with women, but for the first time he attributes it to a relational difficulty that has accompanied him since he was a teenager, due to those that his biographer, too, Sam Williams, in the book Free as in Freedom of 2004, he reconstructs as autism spectrum disorders and which essentially have always prevented him from understanding those subtle social signals that allow us to calibrate our behaviors towards others.
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It is the same conclusion that his friend-enemy arrived at Bruce Perens, the creator of the Open Source Definition along with Eric Raymond, author of The Cathedral and il Bazaar (1997), the most important book of the hacker culture. Perens, a few days ago wrote: “I know Mr. Stallman well and I can testify that he is hateful. Due to his handicap, he has very little perception of the feelings of others and of the reactions that may cause his behaviors, even if they are based on a personal ethics of the Talmudic type “. But adding that even if he made a mistake, his punishment cannot last forever and to understand why the FSF has decided to readmit him, giving him the opportunity to prove that he has changed.
Not only that, for the first time Stallman publicly acknowledges this handicap: “Sometimes I got angry because I didn’t have the social skills to avoid it. Some could handle this behavior, others were hurt by it. I apologize to each of them.” Stallman in the letter defends the Free Software Foundation “Please criticize me, not the Free Software Foundation”, and explains why he has sometimes lost his temper, especially in the face of accusations he does not recognize: “The false accusations – real or imaginary, against me or against others – especially these, they make me angry. ” And he adds; “I didn’t know Minsky well, but seeing him wrongfully accused led me to defend him. I would have done it for anyone. Police brutality pisses me off, but when cops keep lying about their victims, those false accusations are an outrage to me. further. I condemn racism and sexism, including their systemic forms, so if someone says I don’t, it makes me sick. ” Her letter ends like this: “From all this I have learned how to be kind to people who have been hurt. In the future this will help me to be kind to others in different situations, which is what I hope to do.”
For its part, the advice of the Free Software Foundation in the declaration a Republic reads: “We have decided to readmit RMS (Richard Matthew Stallman, in the), because we lack his wisdom. His historical, technical, and legal acumen regarding free software is unmatched. And he has a deep sensitivity about the ways in which technology can contribute to the issue of human rights […] He remains the most eloquent philosopher and defender of freedom in programming. “And then” RMS acknowledges having made mistakes. He is sincerely sorry and knows that the anger towards him has negatively affected the mission of the FSF. While his behavior remains problematic for some, the majority of the board believes that he has moderated and believes that his contribution will strengthen the achievement of the FSF’s mission. “
To bring Richard Stallman back into the Foundation two weeks ago a petition in 32 languages was launched in favor of Stallman, also translated into “Lombard” and signed by over 6000 programmers and activists.
THE LETTER OF STALLMAN INTEGRAL
#RMS is aimed at the free software community
Already in adolescence I felt that an opaque veil separated me from my peers. I understood the words of their conversations but I did not understand why they were saying what they were saying. Much later I realized that I didn’t understand the subtle cues that people were responding to.
Growing up, I found that some people reacted badly to my behavior, but I didn’t understand why. By tending to be direct and honest in the expression of what I think, I have sometimes made people uncomfortable and offended them – especially women. It wasn’t a choice: I didn’t understand the problem well enough to know what other choices I had.
Sometimes I got angry because I didn’t have the social skills to avoid it. Some managed this behavior, others were hurt by it. I apologize to each of them. Please criticize me, not the Free Software Foundation.
Since when I have learned something about human relationships and social skills, so over the years I have found a better way to handle these situations. When others help me understand a certain aspect of what is wrong and show me a way to treat others better, I learn to behave accordingly. I keep and keep making this effort, and eventually, I get better.
Someone called me “out of tune”, and they’re right. Given my difficulty in understanding social signals, this happens to me. For example, I defended prof. Marvin Minsky on an MIT mailing list after someone jumped to the conclusion that he was as guilty as Jeffrey Epstein. To my surprise, some thought my message defended Epstein. As I stated earlier, Epstein was a serial rapist and rapists must be punished. I hope that his victims and all those injured by him receive justice.
False accusations – real or imaginary, against me or against others – especially these, make me angry.
I didn’t know Minsky well, but seeing him wrongfully accused led me to defend him. I would have done it for anyone. Police brutality pisses me off, but when cops later lie about their victims, those false accusations are an additional outrage to me. I condemn racism and sexism, including their systemic forms, so if someone says I don’t, it makes me sick.
For me it was right to talk about the injustice suffered by Minsky, but I spoke out of tune for not being able to recognize as systematic the injustice that Epstein inflicted on women and the pain it caused.
From all of this I have learned how to be kind to people who have been hurt. In the future, this will help me be nice to people in other situations, which is what I hope to do.
(ADC translation)
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