Blogging Pioneer Dave Winer: Pleading for Richard Stallman

Guest Editorial Team

2021-05-18 23:51:31 UTC
Modified: 2021-05-18 23:51:31 UTC

Reprinted from the original

I feel so sad about what's happening to Stallman.#
He's 68. I know what that's like, I'm 65. #
He has fixed his whole existence on a single idea that software should be free. Not free of charge, but free to use and to adapt. It's not that far from the kind of openness I believe in, that I believe is an ethical responsiblity for developers. #
It's useful to have a person like Stallman around, consistently marking an extreme view. It's like knowing there's a North Star, you may not be going to it, exactly, but knowing where it is makes it possible to go other places. And some people agree with Stallman in total, and to them he's their leader.#
Now, if you step back and look at what's being said about him, basically people don't like things he says or the questions he asks. I read these things completely factoring out the non-factual stuff, where they tell you what his questions mean in some pure sense, when what they're really saying is what these questions mean to them. To a reasonable person imho they're just questions. Some people don't argue with questions, they just ask them. For the people who attack him, it's the opposite, their questions are accusations. #
I think Stallman is actually a naive innocent, almost child-like harmless person. That's based on years of observing him, being connected through communities. Maybe he did terrible things I don't know about. But maybe you have too. Is this how we're going to coexist? All of us worrying about who's going to make a credible case for destroying each others' lives? This isn't about Stallman, it's about your sense of justice and how far it extends, and how unfair that is for the rest of us who fear being judged by you. #
PS: A quote from a 1994 blog post: "I try not to get offended on principle." I was quoting someone else, but I've remembered that. Just because I should be offended, doesn't mean, if I'm not actually offended, that I have to pretend I was. #
PPS: If you still think Stallman should be destroyed, go see Lives of Others, a wonderful film about intellectuals in East Germany during the Cold War. #

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM Misleads and Gaslights Investors With Slop Sold as "AI" (the Business is Waning, Mass Layoffs Continue): People who do this are dishonest. They should not be put in charge.
400-Page US Federal Court Against Abuses by Google, Microsoft and Front Groups That Abuse Volunteers for American Corporations: There are 386 pages in total (in the US claim)
Corporate Influence Never Impacted Us: There's no reason to assume we'll ever "sell out"
Growth of GNU/Linux in Cuba: Right now a lot of the world drafts or already implements a GAFAM exit plan
A Day After EPO Strikes an Escalation to Heads of Delegations to the Administrative Council: They rely on the European media playing along, helping them to hide major blunders, even crimes
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 02, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, February 02, 2026
Gemini Links 03/02/2026: Stargazing, Development Boards, and Tcl/Tk Slop: Links for the day
Microsoft Lost 20% of Its Money in the Past 6 Months: Microsoft is hiding what's really happening while mocking critics
Great News, IBM 'Gained' Almost 10% in "Goodwill" Value After Firing Tens of Thousands in 2025: "goodwill" will be inflated despite IBM staff getting sick of IBM
Americans Move to GNU/Linux: some of the biggest American populations
I Still Like Drawing and Various Other Arts (They Help My Activism and Journalism), Slop is an Enemy of Creative People: Recognise that slop isn't intelligence; it's a generational excuse for plagiarism and privatisation of not only the Commons but also proprietary knowledge (without authorisation)
Carmen-Lisandrette Maris (Mission:Libre) Explains to Adolescents and Young Adults How Free Software Improves Privacy: Based on what we've seen and read, Mission:Libre has a solid grasp of Software Freedom
Chatbots Didn't Do Any Good for Microsoft: Google "AI" = search + copypasta
Links 02/02/2026: Cultural Cleansing by China and 'Living Behind Firewalls" in Iran: Links for the day
GNU/Linux Measured at More Than 4% in Russia: growing adoption of GNU/Linux in Russia
Gemini Links 02/02/2026: Stages of Age, Workflows, and Counting Capsules: Links for the day
Oracle's Debt Rose Over 20 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months: Is "hey hi" becoming a synonym for debt?
Oligarchs' 'Speech Zones' Are Not the "Public Square": The apologists of social control media, including press that got "addicted" to such fake "media", are helping dictators and oligarchs grab the public attention away from the real press
Links 02/02/2026: 'Melania' a Horror Movie "Will They Inherit Our Blogs?": Links for the day
Doing More Detailed Series (Long-Form Works): Long readings or book-like reading binges are only possible when parts are suitably labeled (name and numbers) if not interlinked
Mobbing at the European Patent Office (EPO) - Part II - Racism, Cocaine Use and White-Collar Corruption: When you hire people illegally, to work for cocaine users and keep quite about the cocaine use, what will be the impact on the reputation of an institution?
A Can of WORMS - Part II - Darkening the Name of RMS, Associating It With Crime: Beware projection tactics
Submit Your Suggestions for EU's Embrace of Software Freedom by Tomorrow: Time to leave GAFAM (US) hegemony behind
Slopless Weekend: This is not sustainable
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 01, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, February 01, 2026
Gemini Links 01/02/2026: Fossil Heating Installations and Some FOSDEM Coverage: Links for the day
The State of Memory Leaks in GNU/Linux: The issue won't be solved by adding more memory
Links 01/02/2026: Nvidia's Jensen Talks Down Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' and Britain's Starmer Makes Friends With China, Japan: Links for the day
Why Microsoft Accenture Has So Many Layoffs in Recent Years: The debt of Accenture doubled a year ago
Links 01/02/2026: Public TV Gutted by Cheeto, Billionaires Fund a Cheeto Propaganda Movie in 'Documentary' Clothing: Links for the day
The New Site ("New Techrights", SSG Since 2023) Exceeds the Old Site in Requests: The "New Techrights" gets about twice as many requests as the "old" (WordPress) "Techrights", the site of 2006-2023
20 Years Ago: Some time soon all this slop frenzy will become like yesterday's "blockchain" or "metaverse"
Gemini Links 01/02/2026: Zdzisław Beksiński and Disconnected Git Workflow: Links for the day
Talks About Nadella's Microsoft Exit After Chatter About Tim Crook Leaving Apple (Years Ahead of Retirement Age): Mass layoffs and record debt do not represent a company's health.
We Still Cover the Same Problems We Spoke of 20 Years Ago: We're not easily seduced by "novelty" (new things), we try to judge them critically
Patents Standing in the Way: They also cause environmental harm
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 31, 2026: IRC logs for Saturday, January 31, 2026
IBM, a Microsoft Company: Microsoft and IBM as a pair go a long way back