With 3 Weeks Left (Sans Extensions) the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Already Raised About Half of the Money Set as Fund-Raising Goal
Richard Stallman started or announced GNU in 1983, so next year it'll turn 43 (same as my age). In 2009 we responded firmly to flimsy attempts to cancel Dr. Stallman. People tried to remove a man in his mid-50s from his own project (GNU) and organisation (FSF). That effort failed. They'd try again in 2019, now hitting or shooting from the hip at a man in his mid-60s. Around the time he turned 70 they tried it once again.
The attacks on him were hypocritical because those attacks contained many elements of intolerance and bigotry, never mind severe falsehoods.
But he persevered. He prevailed. Not only is he still in the FSF. Days ago the FSF updated a page about him, he was very visible in the FSF's party this year (fortieth anniversary), and his allies are back in the FSF's Board, including Mr. Oliva. The FSF does not need to make any apologies for it.
Say what you will about this "stubborn old man", he's 'winning' (the argument), he still raises funds, he still attracts vast audiences to his talks. Many people still respect him and wish to listen to him.
You can make all the jokes in the world and make all the fun you want about non-events that happened decades ago on stage, but this man's legacy isn't limited to a few seconds of outburst or sanitary gaffes. The man started the system many now call "Linux", created the licence that binds many software developers, and all sorts of other things of historical significance.
For sure some people will carry on attacking him, trying to somehow "cancel" him or "kill" his career. But they won't win the argument. At the end, they themselves will get marginalised. We've generally noticed that almost every person who led campaigns against Dr. Stallman ended up 'vanished', irrelevant, chronically ill, and/or broke.
As for the FSF, it's still there, still fighting its fight in spite of ordeals (like facing de facto DDoS attacks from slop bots), and funding for the FSF still flows in. This time the FSF is a lot less dependent on "Big Donors" such as IBM or Google. █
“Idiots can be defeated but they never admit it.” — Richard Stallman