On Monday, September 16, 2019, Richard Matthew Stallman, main protagonist of the free software movement and initiator of the GNU project, He resigned from his post at CSAIL, MIT's computer and artificial intelligence lab.
Later, Richard Stallman also resigned as President of the Free Software Foundation. and its board of directors. Since 1971, Stallman has been a programmer in the Department of Artificial Intelligence Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
His decision to leave MIT CSAIL would be related to the youth abuse scandal which is currently shaking up MIT. Stallman resigned from MIT after an email exchange about Jeffrey Epstein, Marvin Minsky and the sexual assault of minors.
Software Freedom Conservancy, the non-profit organization that provides legal services for open source software projects, has announced on his website that "Richard Stallman does not and cannot speak for the free software movement."
This ad follows Stallman's comments about the victims of child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. According to some sources, Stallman took a very questionable position on the case of Marvin Minsky, who is accused of sexually assaulting one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims.
Stallman is accused of blaming underage victims after he spoke in defense of Marvin Minsky, mentioned by one of the victims who was ordered to have sex.
Stallman entered into a debate on the definition of the concepts of "sexual violence" and if they apply to Minsky. He also suggested that the victims voluntarily engage in prostitution.
Stallman also mentioned that:
Raping someone who is not yet 18 years old is no less disgusting than someone who is already 18 years old ...
It was before this comment by Richard Stallman that the Software Freedom Conservancy did not appreciate that Richard Stallman, the main protagonist of the free software movement and initiator of the GNU project, is deciding on such sensitive issues.
Considered with other reprehensible comments he has posted over the years, these incidents form a pattern of behavior inconsistent with the goals of the free software movement. We call on Stallman to step down from leadership positions in our movement, "said the Software Freedom Conservancy on its website.
That same Monday, Richard Stallman resigned from his position at CSAIL, MIT's computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory.
Software Freedom Conservancy did not fail to express dissatisfaction with Richard Stallman's comments on this case. »
The fight for diversity, equality and inclusion is the fight for software freedom; our movement will only be successful if it includes everyone. With these as our values and goals, we are appalled by the recent statements made by the president and founder of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman, in his recent email to the MIT CSAIL mailing list.
We reject any association with an individual whose words and actions undermine these goals of promoting free software.
We look forward to seeing FSF work in this area and would like to emphasize that allowing Stallman to continue to hold a leadership position would be an unacceptable compromise.
It can be said that the words of the Software Freedom Conservancy did not fall on deaf ears when Richard Stallman resigned as president of the Free Software Foundation.
"We are passionate about software freedom because we know it is a necessary prerequisite for secure and efficient software that we can rely on for the long term."
We fight for copyleft because it is a powerful tool that helps us control the technology that is increasingly integrated into our lives ...
Most importantly, we cannot support anyone, directly or indirectly, who tolerates the danger of vulnerable people by rationalizing predator behavior, "reads the Software Freedom Conservancy website.
Source: https://sfconservancy.org/
Anyone who knows RMS minimally knows that these statements taken out of context and are statements that have a lot to do with a linguistic correction that he made years ago (remember that he is on the autism spectrum with Asperger syndrome) and an attack of certain interests in transforming free software into open source (the same "tiparraca" who accused him of one thing suggested the other, and incidentally works in a popular proprietary software company).
For this the #metoo movement, witch hunts and corporate interests have served.
What is sad is to see blogs with such sorry headlines and that they do not collect all the information. And yes, Richard Stallman speaks and can speak for the free software movement because he is its creator and maximum defender of it above all other interests.