# Richard Stallman resigns from MIT/FSF after comments on Epstein **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392 "2019-09-17T17:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/61 "2021-03-23T13:35:54Z")
Guess who’s back at the FSF? > **[Richard Stallman returns to FSF 18 months after controversial rape comments](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/richard-stallman-returns-to-fsf-18-months-after-controversial-rape-comments/)** > > Stallman quit in 2019 after emails about Jeffrey Epstein and age-of-consent laws. What kind of brain-dead numbnuts are still on the board who thought this would be a good idea? He seems completely unrepentant about his behavior and toxicity. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/62 "2021-03-23T14:30:39Z")
That’s not a good look for FSF. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/63 "2021-03-23T15:18:55Z")
Free open source software is a great idea. The downside is some people are almost cultish about it. This guy seems to be a leader of the cult. I think he’s the guy that won’t use most PCs unless the Bios is also open source. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/64 "2021-03-23T15:42:07Z")
Personally I think rms is an asshat and shouldn’t be the leader of FSF but I will admit that the topic is a tangled spaghetti of issues. Few people argue that Stallman is not difficult but there are a number of people who defend him as “neurodivergent” (usually with the implication that he’s somewhere on the autistic spectrum) and we should just accept his prickliness as part of who he is. In this view his neurodivergence is an asset and is part of the reason he’s been so influential in the software industry. It will be interesting to see how the tolerance circles accept this argument. There also seems to be a feeling among many that Stallman was the target of [zealous feminists](https://www.wetheweb.org/post/cancel-we-the-web), among others. If the linked accusations are true then a few high-profile women used controversial tactics to take down Stallman. This had led to some empathy for him with plenty of support from women with lots of credibility. Humans are hard. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/65 "2021-03-23T16:04:28Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Few people argue that Stallman is not difficult but there are a number of people who defend him as “neurodivergent” (usually with the implication that he’s somewhere on the autistic spectrum) and we should just accept his prickliness as part of who he is. This is a very destructive mode of thinking, not to mention extremely insulting and degrading to the vast majority of people on the ASD spectrum who manage to be decent human beings. Autism isn’t an asshole license. Stallman is an adult and he’s not intellectually disabled. He’s responsible for his own behavior and capable of learning appropriate interpersonal boundaries. But he has refused to do so and doesn’t seem to care about it. He’s been a known sexual harasser and creeper for decades; none of this shit is new. As Telemark says, this is not a good look, and it’s probably going to do significant harm to the free software/open source community. Both because FSF will be diminished as donors and staff abandon them, and because Stallman will continue to drive talented people away from the community with his awful behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/66 "2021-03-23T17:16:26Z")
And allowing him back is sort of what is meant by the culture being enabling. I was a woman in tech for 25 years, and worked with a lot of assholes whose behavior was excused. And yeah, often on the “talented, but neurodivergent” excuse line. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/67 "2021-03-23T17:51:19Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > And yeah, often on the “talented, but neurodivergent” excuse line. As if there aren’t a million _other_ talented people out there who are both good at their jobs _and_ know how to behave like adults. Enabling of this nature seems pervasive in every industry that requires creativity or innovation. “But he’s a _genius!_ We need him so you have to learn to “work” with him!” Fuck that noise. First of all, he’s almost certainly not the genius you think he is. And even if he is, the cost of the personal damage, lost productivity, and all those people he’s pushed away vastly outweighs whatever benefit this toxic asshole is providing you. Edit: I mean the general _you_, not Dangerosa, whom I am agreeing with. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/68 "2021-03-23T17:55:57Z")
Yep. Its why I wasn’t too upset over the Teen Vogue editor thing, either. Yeah, she made a mistake a seventeen…but it just means that some other very talented person will get a plum job. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392/69 "2021-03-27T13:53:00Z")
Red Hat has announced that they are stopping donations to FSF. I have no idea how much they contributed, but I expect a number of other companies are weighing their sponsorship decisions carefully as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-stallman-resigns-from-mit-fsf-after-comments-on-epstein/840392.md?page=3)