[GTALUG] The FOSS world's most famous incel is back...

[Russell Reiter]

On Wednesday, 24 March 2021, Evan Leibovitch <evan at telly.org> wrote:

> On Wed, 24 Mar 2021 at 11:53, Russell Reiter via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
> wrote:
>
>> An incel is a personal self description as involuntary celebate.
>>
>
> Yeah, that was an incendiary headline, and I apologize to all who broke at
> that one.
>
> This is not at all a linux topic.
>>
>
> Actually it is, for anyone who cares about advocacy and the community as
> much as the tech, it very much is.
>

Ahh we have to agree to disagree on this.

The first list rule before you read the code of conduct is don't be the
person (guy) on the soap box.

Soapboxing is a socio-political marketing tool. You were soapboxing in the
most political way possible, by ascribing a non existent and wholy negative
personal attribute out of thin air and at a whim.

>
> My take on this winnerless sad chain of events that it's actually not at
> all about Stallman himself.
> It's pathetic story that says volumes about the free software community.
>

Just to be clear, it wasn't the wrong characterization of Stallman as an
incel that made me respond, it was the soapboxing which I think violated
the code of conduct.

What you write now after that fact, is the non apologetic apology so often
used by political actors when they in essence tell us to not believe what
they said but  believe what I mean.

>
> It's not about free speech. Stallman never lost access to his soapbox, the
> blog from which he expressed himself.
>
> To the extent it's been about "cancel culture", you reap what you sow. RMS
> and the FSF have been engaging in would-be cancelling for many decades.
>
> Cancel Xerox.
> Cancel Apple.
> Cancel "Linux System".
> Cancel "open source".
>
> That they did not succeed did not diminish the efforts. I was present when
> FSF people (including RMS) successfully got the words "open source" purged
> from an important UN policy document, only to be  outmanoeuvred by
> proprietary interests who prevented "free software" from replacing it. So
> in the end there was no mention of anything. Yay us.
>
> There is much to admire about Stallman.  I purchased a GNU magtape in 1989
> without having a magtape reader, because that was the way you contributed
> to the GNU project back then. Arguably the FOSS world as we know it might
> never exist as it does with him.
>
> However, that world has evolved, or at least it's trying to. There are
> still barriers to entry that keep our community smaller and older than it
> should be. There are many, many among us who could be as passionate about
> free software as Stallman, without all of the inevitable negative baggage.
> Frankly, I haven't been following most of the accusations, and can make my
> judgment on RMS's suitability for leadership based solely on what I've seen
> and heard myself after numerous encounters, and from what I've heard from
> others I trust.
>
> But, as I said, this is not about Stallman. He is what he is and,
> generally, what he's always been -- simultaneously brilliant, narcissistic
> and antisocial, Sheldon Cooper with a Jesus complex. I fully agree that the
> guilt-by-association stuff is bullshit.
>
> This, instead, is about the FSF Board's staggeringly bad judgment in
> bringing him back into a role of leadership and decision-making. Rather be
> remembered as the creator of a movement, he'll be remembered as the person
> whose comeback made that movement irrelevant. Instead of charting a way to
> promote free software ideals at a time when the cloud directly threatens
> their core ethos, the FSF chooses the anti-diplomat.
>
> On reflection, forget the petition. The damage is done and the FSF is
> likely going to become a pariah org no matter what happens. Any pretence
> the FSF had of being the conscience of the broader FOSS movement is gone.
> Nobody wins, but we in the community who struggle to attract diversity and
> broader societal support will lose the worst. I hope someone out there
> thinks the trade was worth it.
>
> Conclusion:
>
> <https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=You%20either%20die%20a%20hero%2C%20or%20live%20long%20enough%20to%20see%20yourself%20become%20the%20villain.>
> "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the
> villain <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WfRcnF4iZI>" -- Harvey Dent.
> <https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=You%20either%20die%20a%20hero%2C%20or%20live%20long%20enough%20to%20see%20yourself%20become%20the%20villain.>
>
> Cheers,
>

I have spent a couple of decades moving in marganalized spaces and
proselytizing linux use as an alternative to mainstream for profit
software. It would be very had for me to justify to anyone of those peers
who I engaged with, just how this thread was about linux or advocacy in our
modern free and democratic society.

But hey, it's just my opinion that this thread is not about linux.

I wouldnt bother writing this at all if I didn't think this listserv was
worth the effort needed to keep it free and democratic.

Free as in speech not beer. Free beer always costs more, one way or another.


> - Evan
>
Russell

>
>
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