Re: The "RMS Open Letter" is based on lies, misrepresentations, and misinformation
Does anyone have a response to this?
The current efforts really smells of a witch-hunt and an attempt to manufacture consent.
Ximin
James Lu:
> This is my first time posting in a Debian mailing list, apologies if the tone or is not what you are looking for in a Debian post. I wrote this hurriedly in an attempt to help the free software movement avoid splintering.
>
> Stallman asked women out in a way we consider creepy. The letter phrases this by saying Stallman has sexually harassed women for decades. The letter seeks to group him in the same category as gropers and actual rapists.
> In 1993, he defined pedophilia slightly differently. He made a genuine apology. This is the basis of the "pedo apologist." https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#14_September_2019_(Sex_between_an_adult_and_a_child_is_wrong) <https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#14_September_2019_(Sex_between_an_adult_and_a_child_is_wrong)>
> After condemning the rape of a 17 year old girl in the Epstein case, Marvin Minksy had sex with the girl, unaware the girl was being coerced by Epstein. In accordance with the law of Canada and most U.S. states, it is legal to have sex with a 16 year old girl. Nonetheless, we believe these leaked private discussions make him equivalent to a rapist. https://geoff.greer.fm/2019/09/30/in-defense-of-richard-stallman/ <https://geoff.greer.fm/2019/09/30/in-defense-of-richard-stallman/>
> The original open letter's Appendix has two true claims of sexual harassment:
> - In 1999, he had a mattress in his office which he slept on. This made some women avoid RMS because they considered it abnormal and creepy.
> - In 1985, he told a woman he'd kill himself if he didn't date her.
> The "hot ladies" nametag was fake; it was vandalized from a third party. https://blog.dachary.org/2020/02/10/how-the-cancel-culture-was-leveraged-against-rms/#post-4297:~:text=As%20for%20the%20label%20on%20Richard,removed%20the%20ending%3A%20(also%3A%20hot%20ladies) <https://blog.dachary.org/2020/02/10/how-the-cancel-culture-was-leveraged-against-rms/#post-4297:~:text=As%20for%20the%20label%20on%20Richard,removed%20the%20ending%3A%20(also%3A%20hot%20ladies)>
> He has never been accused of groping or sexual assault.
> Stallman has hundreds of posts on his personal blog condemning rape, and they cherry-pick the one post where he argued for a different definition of rape. https://web.archive.org/web/20210325013942/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-may-aug.html <https://web.archive.org/web/20210325013942/https://stallman.org/archives/2018-may-aug.html>
> The GNU Kind Communication Guidelines ask you to honor gender identity. The letter says it is "still transphobic" and accuses him of "thinly disguised transphobia," possibly because it includes calling someone via only gender-neutral pronouns such as "they."
> I strongly urge everyone to avoid splintering the free software movement. I understand you do not want to be associated with racism, sexism, transphobia, and ableism. The accusers do indeed label anyone who don't agree with them as sexist and transphobic. This is how they did it in McCarthy era.[0] Resist the urge to be performative and stick to principles.
>
> [0]: https://www.aclu.org/other/what-censorship <https://www.aclu.org/other/what-censorship>
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