56 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
56 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
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% To the FSF: Thank you for defending Richard Stallman! Ignore the haters. You did the right thing!
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% Leah Rowe
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% 12 April 2021
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On 21 March 2021, Richard Stallman (RMS) announced his re-instatement on the
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FSF board of directors, after nearly 2 years of silence following his forced
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resignation due to a smear campaign against him in late 2019. Until recently,
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the FSF never publicly defended Richard Stallman from false accusations of
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wrongdoing. RMS remained in his post as leader of the GNU project, and he is
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still in that position today.
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Richard Stallman is the *founder* of the GNU project and Free Software
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Foundation. His contributions to the world are numerous. Without him, none of
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us would be here today. He is a staunch defender of *your* digital freedoms and
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as far as I'm concerned, he is still our leader.
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For information about ongoing hate campaigns targeting RMS, read the pages on
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this website (created specifically to defend RMS):
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<https://stallmansupport.org/>
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In response to his re-instatement, a new smear campaign targeting Richard was
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started by the media. A petition was published, calling for Richard's forced
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removal from the FSF. In response, we, the Free Software movement, started our
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own petition and a campaign urging the FSF to publicly endorse Richard
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Stallman, to exonerate him and defend him from the hate campaigns; to hold
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their ground and keep Richard in his post.
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I, Leah Rowe, submitted the following defense of Richard Stallman on 31 March
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2021: [https://libreboot.org/news/rms.html](rms.md)
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**We won. The FSF issued this news post on 12 April 2021, defending Richard
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Stallman and protecting his legacy:
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<https://www.fsf.org/news/statement-of-fsf-board-on-election-of-richard-stallman>**
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I would like to publicly *thank* the FSF for their courage and their
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wisdom in this matter. Richard Stallman is an excellent public speaker and
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shows great wisdom in his leadership of our movement. He should have never had
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to resign in the first place, but the past is the past.
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I would *also* like to thank everyone else who worked tirelessly to defend
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Richard against the shameful hate campaigns. It is my wish now that we, as a
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community, can move past the divisive and hateful politics of the last few
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weeks.
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Now is the time to heal. Let's write more free software!
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PS:
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I'm also eternally grateful to all those on IRC who helped me with the RMS
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article on libreboot.org (and also *this* article!), plus all those who
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submitted translations of the article. *We* did our part. Let there be no
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doubt: we are on the right side of history. People will look back on all of
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this in a few years, and realize that we were right.
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Hate, bigotry and prejudice have no place in our community.
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