seconded On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 09:12:09AM +0100, Timo Weingärtner wrote: > ---8<---8<---8<--- > The Debian Project co-signs the statement regarding Richard Stallman's > readmission to the FSF board seen at https://rms-support-letter.github.io/. > The text of this statement is given below. > > Richard M. Stallman, frequently known as RMS, has been a driving force in the > free software movement for decades, with contributions including the GNU > operating system and Emacs. > > Recently, there have been vile online attacks looking to remove him from the > FSF board of directors for expressing his personal opinions. We have watched > this happen before in an organized fashion with other prominent free software > activists and programmers. We will not stand idly this time, when an icon of > this community is attacked. > > FSF is an autonomous body that is capable of treating its members in a fair, > unbiased fashion, and should not give in to external social pressures. We urge > the FSF to consider the arguments against RMS objectively and to truly > understand the meaning of his words and actions. > > Historically, RMS has been expressing his views in ways that upset many > people. He is usually more focused on the philosophical underpinnings, and > pursuing the objective truth and linguistic purism, while underemphasising > people’s feelings on matters he’s commenting on. This makes his arguments > vulnerable to misunderstanding and misrepresentation, something which we feel > is happening in the open letter calling for his removal. His words need to be > interpreted in this context and taking into account that more often than not, > he is not looking to put things diplomatically. > > Regardless, Stallman’s opinions on the matters he is being persecuted over are > not relevant to his ability to lead a community such as the FSF. Furthermore, > he is entitled to his opinions just as much as anyone else. Members and > supporters do not have to agree with his opinions, but should respect his > right to freedom of thought and speech. > > To the FSF: > > Removing RMS will hurt FSF’s image and will deal a significant blow to the > momentum of the free software movement. We urge you to consider your actions > carefully, as what you will decide will have a serious impact on the future of > the software industry. > > To the ambush mob who is ganging up on Richard Stallman over reasonable > arguments in debate and various opinions and beliefs voiced over decades as a > public figure: > > You have no part in choosing the leadership of any communities. Especially not > via another mob attack which does not remotely resemble a fairly conducted > debate as exemplified by better people such as Richard Stallman. > ---8<---8<---8<---
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