HPR3316: FSF and RMS on election of Richard Stallman

Summary: This show is a counter point to the show hpr3311 :: Bradley M. Kuhn’s article from 2019 on Richard M. Stallman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In September 2019, Richard Stallman resigned as president of the FSF and left his “visiting scientist” role at MIT after making controversial comments about Marvin Minsky’s alleged role in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal. Stallman remained head of the GNU Project nevertheless and, in 2021, he returned to the FSF board of directors. Since the show was submitted both the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Richard Stallman have released statements on the matter. I am submitting those statements here under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 license. The statements contains many links which are available in the shownotes for this show. Statement of FSF board on election of Richard Stallman Published on Apr 12, 2021 10:25 AM by Free Software Foundation The voting members of the Free Software Foundation, which include the board of directors, voted to appoint Richard Stallman to a board seat after several months of thorough discussion and thoughtful deliberation. We decided to bring RMS back because we missed his wisdom. His historical, legal and technical acumen on free software is unrivaled. He has a deep sensitivity to the ways that technologies can contribute to both the enhancement and the diminution of basic human rights. His global network of connections is invaluable. He remains the most articulate philosopher and an unquestionably dedicated advocate of freedom in computing. RMS acknowledges that he has made mistakes. He has sincere regrets, especially at how anger toward him personally has negatively impacted the reputation and mission of FSF. While his personal style remains troubling for some, a majority of the board feel his behavior has moderated and believe that his thinking strengthens the work of the FSF in pursuit of its mission. We take full responsibility for how badly we handled the news of his election to a board seat. We had planned a flow of information that was not executed in a timely manner or delivered in the proper sequence. FSF staff should have been informed and consulted first. The announcement by RMS at LibrePlanet was a complete surprise to staff, all those who worked so hard to organize a great event, to LibrePlanet speakers and to the exhibitors. We had hoped for a more inclusive and thoughtful process and we apologize that this did not occur. In his position on the board, RMS has the same responsibilities as other members. He is an unpaid volunteer and subject to the organization’s policies, including prohibitions against conflicts of interest and sexual harassment and those outlining whistleblower processes and fiduciary duties. The responsibilities of the board are described at https://www.fsf.org/about/the-role-of-the-fsfs-board-of-directors. We believe his views will be critical to the FSF as we advance the mission and confront the challenges that software freedom faces. In recent weeks, the board has committed to a series of changes related to organizational governance, including plans to adopt a transparent, formal pro