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Techrights Supports the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Confronts Those Looking to Undermine Its Mission



Summary: By cherry-picking phrases and perhaps even wrongly attributing phrases some people have been attempting to distort our record about the Free Software Foundation (FSF); it's important to set things straight

WE HAVE BEEN writing about the FSF for over 14 years and we've defended the FSF for longer than this (my advocacy predates this site and some of us have used Free software since the 1980s or 1990s). Various people wrongly mistook us for an FSF site in the early days of the site (no idea as to why) and we've generally had an amicable relationship with the FSF over the years. There are almost 600 posts in our "FSF" category and I've just (very quickly) gone through the first 100, just to remind myself of what we wrote and where we stood over a decade ago. Everything was pro-FSF, including early speculations about Stallman seeking successors.



Cherry pickingIt has come to our attention, however, that some people wrongly (and falsely, maybe by malicious intention) attempt to portray us as FSF-hostile. In this video I show our latest articles about the FSF and explain that it is truly ludicrous to suggest that we're against the very thing we've always advocated (and still advocate). It seems more than probable that misattributions and out-of-context (cherry-picked) phrases are used to construct this sort of narrative ('behind the scenes' so to speak). The goal appears to be dividing natural allies, or in other words fracturing the Free software community. We've long encouraged federation of many groups that support Free software, knowing it can help the FSF get the message across in more countries/demographies.

"Various people wrongly mistook us for an FSF site in the early days of the site (no idea as to why) and we've generally had an amicable relationship with the FSF over the years."The video is a bit of a ramble, but it's unscripted and done in one (first) take. I discuss some issues we've recently brought up and what seems to be the latest strategy, which is both a distortion and ad hominem (portraying us as exactly the opposite of what we are). It's akin to the "straw" tactics, one of which is explained below.

Straw feminism
Reference: Straw feminism

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