Bullying the Penguin (Part 2): Assaulting the Architects

So, last time I had a little b*tch session about the ongoing flame wars that I feel are in danger of destroying the fabric of our community, and as the title suggested, I wasn’t quite finished. There was another issue that arose in the same week that became both overplayed and misdirected, or possibly over-directed, and in the end turned into an all out character assassination. While I agree with some of the concerns that sparked the free-for-all, I was disgusted at the lengths that people went to shame a person who is essentially one of the chief architects of our entire community.

So, for those of you who may not know what I’m talking about, Richard Stallman used a comedy routine at a recent conference that has been construed as sexist, and while it is a routine that he has rehashed throughout years, I have to agree that given the general ratio of male to female participants in the conference and the FOSS community in general, that it may have been poor taste. However, while there is no excuse for sexism of any kind, it in no way alters the fact that Richard Stallman is possibly one of the most important historical figures in the entire community, and the fact that some of the more fickle minded amongst us believe that because he may be sexist, or at the very least insensitive, means that he should somehow be excommunicated from the FOSS community all together is ludicrous at minimum and insulting at best.

Richard Stallman has dedicated his life and labour to the construction and maintenance of the community when, contrary to the heinous remarks that would suggest otherwise, a man of his considerable intellect could have easily made a fortune in the proprietary markets. Without his hard work, Linux itself may not have come into existence in its present form, as Stallman’s GNU components form an integral part of the system to the point that it is truly known as GNU/Linux. Stallman also laboured to create the GNU Public License (GLP) which has always been central in the licensing of Linux, its components and the software it runs as well as much of the software created in the FOSS community. In fact, it could be said that without Richard Stallman’s philosophies, labours and advocacy over the years, the entire community might be very different today if it was strong enough to survive at all. It is because of his hard work in conjunction with many other visionaries and geniuses like Linus Torvalds that we have all that we do today. So, is it fair for a few disenchanted and narrow-minded trouble makers to expect us to cut him loose and spit out unceremoniously because of some antiquated world views and unpopular eccentricities?

In the week immediately following his admittedly thoughtless and insensitive remarks, there were repeated calls for the community to disown Richard Stallman and repeated and unnecessary character assassinations on his eccentricities, all designed to undermine one of the most important and central historical figures of the entire movement. Richard Stallman’s historical, and quite frankly monumental contributions to the entire open source movement and the history of computers in general, combined with his life long dedication and defense of the movement more than qualify him for a lifetime achievement award and an unconditional life membership to the community. Some of those who have taken his alleged sexism and eccentricities as a reason for eternal censor and exile should study a little history. Many of those who claim a hero role in history were screwed up, absent minded or plain old S.O.B.s. They are not judged by their personal shortcomings, but instead for their contributions to the world in general. It is only just that Mr. Stallman be judged similarly as a historic figure who has made unparalleled contributions to the history of computers as a whole.

Basically, while I believe that we cannot simply give important figures a pass for everything they say or believe, and if Richard Stallman was indeed denigrating women or being sexist (I may never know for sure because I wasn’t at the conference in question), he should be held accountable and made to at minimum apologize, but there is absolutely no excuse for the nonsense that followed the event. Richard Stallman’s contributions of the past and present are immense and possibly central to everything that has happened since. Furthermore, they make the ongoing character assassinations, abuse and suggestions of conducting some kind of excommunication unforgivable and they are the fabrications of the shortsighted and narrow minded. Our community owes a lot to Mr. Stallman and for any in the community to treat him in the way that some have is unconscionable, especially as he is a man from another generation with vastly different world views. He needs to be held accountable, but not lynched, tared and feathered and run through the streets in shame.

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