Going Almost 4.5 Decades Back to Find 'Dirt' on a Person
UNIX has reached "early retirement" age (55); before GNU even existed on paper (1983) RMS is alleged to have pursued a lady, who four decades later had allegations to make
3.5 years ago we reposted a set of responses to accusations against RMS. That was about a month after a defamatory petition against him, making various claims that were obviously untrue. One section there contained "RMS' Response to Betsy S." and the stallmansupport.org Web site said: "We have nothing to add, except perhaps that we perceive some lack of sensitiveness in making an accusatory statement about something that happened 40 (forty) years ago, without the slightest attempt to elucidate things through dialogue first."
Just over a day ago the stallmansupport.org Web site added an update (which we saw owing to RSS feeds) to that section. It said: "In light of further research and new information we've got, we have updated the “ Suicide” entry in the debunking page. We made some minor, mostly cosmetic changes in that page too."
Here is the updated and much more detailed explanation:
A woman who signs “Betsy S.” claimed that more than 40 years ago Stallman threatened to commit suicide if she didn't agree to start a romantic relationship with him. This person did not attempt to elucidate things and check the accuracy of her memories through dialogue with Stallman before launching her four-decades-late accusation which, again, happened at a time when some people were desperately trying to defame the initiator of the free software movement.
We have now found that that interaction with Betsy S. happened in early 1982, when Stallman was in a state of despair with the collapse of the AI Lab:
Oh, my poor AI lab, you are dying and I can't save you. [...] I lost all at once my social network, my opportunity to pursue my career in an upright fashion, and most of what I had helped to build.[6]In an interview by Steven Levy from 1982, published in Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Stallman says,
I'm the last survivor of a dead culture, and I don't really belong in the world anymore. And in some ways I feel I ought to be dead.[7]We are also told by people close to Stallman that he has a tendency to wish for his own death when things go wrong.
We therefore conclude that any serious analysis of whatever happened during that conversation requires contextualization, and memories of what was actually said more than 40 years ago should be carefully checked, ideally through dialogue between the two parties involved.
Last but not least, we are disconcerted by the woman's cold-hearted remark, “He was not a man of his word or he'd be long dead.”
All the same, Stallman apologized.
The accusation:
When I was a teen freshman, I went to a buffet lunch at an Indian restaurant in Central Square with a graduate student friend and others from the AI lab. I don’t know if he and I were the last two left, but at a table with only the two of us, Richard Stallman told me of his misery and that he’d kill himself if I didn’t go out with him. I felt bad for him and also uncomfortable and manipulated. I did not like being put in that position - suddenly responsible for an “important” man. What had I done to get into this situation? I decided I could not be responsible for his living or dying, and would have to accept him killing himself. I declined further contact. He was not a man of his word or he’d be long dead.
Betsy S.The apology:
Stallman's Apology to Betsy S. (Archived) #apology
19 July 2020 (A note to Betsy S.)
Betsy S met me at a lunch around 40 years ago. I am sure her recounting of her recollections is sincere, but she must have misunderstood the last thing I said to her. She said she didn't want an acquaintance with me. That no, on top of so many noes from others, impelled me to express despair; she seems to have misconstrued that as a demand.
Betsy S, I regret that this misunderstanding caused you distress. I never intended to demand anything of you. I only ever wished you well.
[...]
- [6] The Road to GNU ( Archived) ↑
- [7] Levy, Steven (2010). Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revolution, p. 373 (25th Anniversary Ed., O'Reilly Media)(Original work published 1984). ↑
That incident was 42.5 years ago. Is that how far some people would go in an effort to discredit a person? █