Richard Stallman, who was banished from the Free Software Foundation but returned, issued a statement, criticized by the community as 'not apologizing'

by Anders Brenna /teknikmagastinet.se

The Free Software Foundation and Stallman have issued a statement about the return of Richard Stallman , a prominent programmer and advocate of the Free Software movement, after being chased by the Free Software Foundation due to a misrepresentation. However, some in the community calling for Mr. Stallman's expulsion have criticized him as 'not apologizing.'

Statement of FSF board on election of Richard Stallman — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software
https://www.fsf.org/news/statement-of-fsf-board-on-election-of-richard-stallman

RMS addresses the free software community — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software
https://www.fsf.org/news/rms-addresses-the-free-software-community

In 2019, Stallman mentioned in his mailing list a scandal that businessman Jeffrey Epstein was doing child prostitution against celebrities. Stallman was reportedly sexually assaulted by Epstein's samurai underage woman by Professor Marvin Minsky, then deceased, founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. In response to this, he expressed the opinion that 'even if it was a fact, it was clearly invited by Epstein, and the word' sexual assault 'was morally inappropriate.'

However, it was disseminated by some who considered the content as a problem, and Mr. Stallman resigned as the representative of the Free Software Foundation only five days after the statement.

A prominent free software activist was forced to resign from his post in a single email, which was criticized as 'a dangerous move' --GIGAZINE

And in March 2021, Stallman returned to the Free Software Foundation. Many members of the Free Software Foundation have voiced opposition to the return, and signatures have been collected to cancel Mr. Stallman's return.

Richard Stallman returns to the Free Software Foundation after being forced to resign with just one email-GIGAZINE

by Christophe Ducamp

In response, the Free Software Foundation said, 'Mr. Stallman's historical, legal and technical insight into free software is unmatched. His global network is invaluable. He remains the clearest. There is no doubt that he is a philosopher and a devoted advocate of freedom in computing. '

The Free Software Foundation also noted that Stallman himself admitted that he had made a mistake: 'Although Stallman's personal behavior remains awkward, the majority of the board is his. I feel that my behavior has improved and I believe that Stallman will further strengthen his pursuit of the Free Software Foundation's mission. '

Stallman also issued a personal statement separate from the Free Software Foundation's announcement. In it, 'I don't have the social skills to keep others from getting angry, and sometimes I explode my anger. Some people can deal with this, others are hurt. I apologize to all of you. Please criticize me, not the Free Software Foundation. '

Also, regarding the case of defending Professor Minsky who started the problem, 'I can not forgive false charges against myself and others, whether in reality or in imagination. I only know Professor Minsky as a distant existence. But when I saw him being falsely accused, I defended him, 'said Stallman. 'Although it was justice to talk about Mr. Minsky's false charge, it was insensitive to not accept Epstein's injustice and pain as a context,' he apologized.

However, there are some opposition from the community to Mr. Stallman's statement. Bradley Kuhn, a former director of the Free Software Foundation and a hacker-in residence at Software Freedom Conservancy , said in an email, 'The Free Software Foundation and Stallman's statement alleged that they were forced to sexually act with Professor Minsky. There is no apology to Mr. Virginia Juffrey. This statement mentions punishment for malicious persons, but no effort has been made to support, apologize, or support the victims. ' I criticized it.

IT news site ZDNet described Stallman's statement as 'an apology that hasn't apologized.' 'The Free Software Foundation has long been irrelevant and dull in the modern tech world. It was an organization. The Free Software Foundation, which chose to take the risk of returning Stallman to a leadership position, rather than gathering a new generation of activists seeking software freedom to spice up the movement, is its leader. It's more buried than ever in the troublesome past of. '