When All They Have Left is Ad Hominem Attacks...
These attacks are repeated, systematic and defamatory, not a case of "moment of passion" or "in the heat of the moment" (impulse, error, innocent mistake)
THIS week we responded to character assassination attacks from Microsoft- and Google-sponsored front groups that basically imitate FSF (Dr. Stallman) and SFLC (Prof. Moglen) while attacking both of them for years already, usually with defamatory petitions, slanderous smear campaigns (Chinese whispers and false innuendo), and libelous "tweets" they'd never correct/remove (even when proven patently and manifestly false).
Gulagboy (MJG) has been doing this like a "career" for over a decade already and then he wonders why he cannot find a job. His main "contribution" to Linux is attacking GNU/Linux users on behalf of Microsoft. He is still doing this at present, e.g. months ago [1, 2]. His spouse was sued for defamation, having done similar things. These aren't "normal" people; some of them are clinically insane and some openly talk about seeking professional help for their mental state (health in the department up above, never mind other medical problems). They just try to drag people down to their level; they would rather wrestle like a bunch of pigs in the mud than debate facts and discuss science, technology etc. Many of the abusers lack any professional background in science, they're just imposters and pretenders, pandering to large corporations for funding. The funding is tied to nefarious "objectives" (see how OSI covers up Microsoft's mass infringement of the GPL)...
Gulagboy's attack on BSD and GNU/Linux users (for profit, too) is what he tries to distract from by pretending to embrace social causes. "Crazy matt is making a lot of noise and trying to turn discussion away from the big picture and into an interpersonal squabble," one reader told us. "Keep the eye on the ball."
This article will be a lot longer than the previous ones [1, 2, 3, 4] and it contains information about why Prof. Moglen is targeted by these people, and has been targeted for years in IRC smear campaigns, or Chinese whispers. It's the same thing that they do to Dr. Stallman in IRC, falsely relying unbacked rumours about him, usually in private messages over IRC networks.
Any verifiable information we can get would hopefully contextualise this character assassination attack. More attacks will come. That's for sure. They never rest. Many of these attackers are unemployed or barely employed. They have all the time in the world to engage in online and offline harassment campaigns.
But first, just to remove any doubts... let's consider what's false, what's true, and what you must know upfront.
Gulagboy and his ilk have been baiting our IRC channels for years already. While still in Freenode (in 2021 and prior to it) it had gotten so bad that Gulagboy became the first person ever to get perpetually muted by us. He kept changing the subject in #techrights to sex in order to cause conflict and controversy. That distracted and harmed technical discussions. His sabotage in IRC continues to the present day and he seems fine with spouting out hate crimes, allusions to murder etc. Anything to provoke, scare, and generally abuse people. We know for a fact that he is still spying on all active IRC channels, as he has for years, and it's not just out of curiosity but an act of sabotage. He's collecting "dirt" and trying to blackmail people, then boasting he has not been arrested... yet. There is a lot of coordination in these attacks and we have ample proof, which we keep in case we choose to take legal action in the future.
So Gulagboy, the 'humanitarian' pervert (he hates women too; he views other people as sexual props for him to enjoy), is a really malicious person. He hates women, probably because they reject him romantically (which likely makes him an incel), yet he somehow pretends to be the opposite of that. Don't fall for this posturing. The narratives are being reversed by flinging lots of crap at the wall all day long (being unemployed gives them endless time for such social engineering, which in turn becomes a denial of service attack or time-wasting at the very least).
His latest blog post, which was tactlessly amplified by Planet Fedora (Red Hat/IBM), Planet GNOME, and Planet Debian, Which Have a Code of Conduct (yes, some people are immune from it), is a straw man. His post in a nutshell - or his 'thesis' in short - is, you cannot cancel me as that would be intolerant (Irish while males are not a vulnerable group though). He publicly admitted he was a transphobe, yet he asserts that he immune to criticism now. He cannot code or achieve anything, so he attacks those who do. If they speak back at him (in self-defensive means), he then starts to threaten them. Society cannot coexist with such behavioural defects; it becomes a burden and a yoke on society.
As for the content of his latest post, it is absurd. How many people in the Free software world support Hans Reiser? Nobody. Maybe except "MikeyUSA" (notorious troll and misogynist).
How many people support Prof. Moglen? Plenty. Prof. Moglen is not a wife murderer, but the Microsoft-connected "Cancel Club", which coordinates and meets Microsoft infiltrators (e.g. inside OSI), does not care about facts. False equivalences are fair play?
Prof. Moglen accomplished a lot and got provoked a lot. He withstood the trolling and abuse. He had to waste a lot of time on it though.
This is why Prof. Moglen lives in an expensive place in the New York State area, whereas Gulagboy has been relegated to living in some shack in the woods not far from Reno (he cannot afford a place in San Francisco or a real home anymore). Nobody would hire liars and charlatans when hard facts are exposed for all to see...
To be very clear, they did the same to me, both in IRC and in real life, e.g. in fabricated "blogs" and social control media (even accounts impersonating me). Some of these people are clinically insane. They wrongly assume insanity will forever shield them from law enforcement. We have hundreds of bits of evidence already in case we choose to prosecute.
As someone put it in IRC some hours ago, "Yes, did you see how fast [Gulagboy] cut the crap once RMS revealed that he has cancer? Now [Gulagboy] moves on to defame someone "easier"."
I had said that this is a case of, "oh, let's attack THIS old man" (a likely successor of RMS in case cancer kills him). And that's "because attacking an old man with cancer is not cool anymore..."
So why attack Prof. Moglen and why now?
One reader of ours sent us a comment regarding "Today's link regarding SFC and FSFe's statement about Eben Moglen," stating the following key context:
Dr. Schestowitz,I saw your article today about the SFC and FSFe's statement about Eben Moglen. It reminded me of an article that I read in The Register about six years ago:
https://www.theregister.com/2017/11/20/foss_sflc_sfc_gpl_trademark/
and the SFLC's response to it following:
https://softwarefreedom.org/blog/2017/nov/06/conservancy-stmt/
And Dr. Moglen's statements of the situation and why it should be resolved:
https://softwarefreedom.org/blog/2017/dec/22/conservancy/
I don't remember hearing anything after that. I assumed that the SFLC and the SFC had come to an agreement or resolution. I would have not known about the SFC/FSFe statement had it not been for your reporting. Thank you again for it, and all that you do!
"Follow-up on today's link about Eben Moglen" was sent by the same reader hours later. Notice what SFC is doing:
Dr. Schestowitz,I have spent the last few hours reading the legal documents of the ongoing trademark dispute between SFLC and SFC.
https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92066968
The statement that SFC issued publicly on the 11th seems to be related to this, given the timing of the filings. The SFC cited declarations from a motion for a protective order. A move which seems intended to prevent Dr. Moglen from participating in this legal process.
I think it's problematic for an organization like the SFC to take an institutional position against Dr. Moglen this way. Especially one whose role in the free software movement has been as vital and essential as his.
Citing documents from an ongoing legal dispute, that are not findings of the court, as justification for ostracizing a prominent free software figure is dishonest to the public, and destructive to the victim. I hope Sandler and Kuhn are questioned about this.
Thanks again for your reporting!
Best,
We'll probably get back to it later as we have plenty more left to say and to show. █
Photo credit: By Karora - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11100709