Free software advocate Richard M. Stallman (RMS) announced he would rejoin the board of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), hoping to lead it again. Stallman founded the FSF in 1985 and served as its president until 2019, when he resigned amid widespread criticism over remarks he made about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Once word got out, users across the free software community quickly split into camps: one side launched boycotts and even published an open letter rejecting Stallman’s return; the other argued that his contribution to the free software movement was indispensable and welcomed him back.
Red Hat, a long-time donor and contributor to the FSF, issued a statement saying it will suspend funding to the FSF and to events the FSF hosts. Many Red Hat contributors also said they plan to stop participating in FSF-led or FSF-supported events.
Below is my translation. The original is here: Red Hat statement about Richard Stallman’s return to the Free Software Foundation board
Red Hat has long been a donor and contributor to projects led by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), with hundreds of contributors and millions of lines of code donated. Given the circumstances of Richard Stallman’s original resignation in 2019, Red Hat was alarmed to learn he has rejoined the FSF board. As a result, we are immediately suspending all Red Hat funding to the FSF and to any FSF-hosted events. Additionally, many Red Hat contributors have told us they no longer intend to participate in FSF-led or FSF-supported events, and we stand behind them.
In 2019, we called upon the FSF board to use the opportunity created by Stallman’s departure to transition to a more diverse and inclusive board membership. The FSF took only limited steps in that direction. Richard Stallman’s return has reopened wounds that we had hoped would slowly heal after his departure. We believe the FSF should make fundamental and lasting changes to its governance in order to regain the trust of the broader free software community.
The FSF board pledged on Wednesday to undergo a set of changes related to organizational governance and board appointments. However, we have no reason to believe the latest FSF board statement marks any meaningful commitment to positive change. We look forward to working with the FSF and other institutions to make the FSF once again an effective and trustworthy advocacy organization in keeping with its chartered nonprofit mission.
Over a Thousand Sign an Open Letter Against RMS’s Return
The signatories hold that RMS has long been a dangerous force in the free software community. His past public statements have shown him to be misogynistic, ableist and transphobic, along with other serious allegations of misconduct. Such beliefs have no place in the free software, digital rights, and technology communities. Following his recent return to the FSF board, they call for the entire FSF board to step down and for RMS to be removed from all leadership positions.
Signatories include Neil McGovern, executive director of the GNOME Foundation and former Debian project leader; Deb Nicholson, general manager of the Open Source Initiative; Matthew Garrett, former FSF board member; seven of the eight members of the X.org Foundation board; Elana Hashman of the Debian Technical Committee, the Open Source Initiative and the Kubernetes project; Molly de Blanc of the Debian project and GNOME Foundation; and over 300 others.
The authors also published a page listing various similar statements Stallman has made about age-of-consent laws, along with his suggestion that “if someone finds themselves pregnant and the child’s Down syndrome test comes back positive, then the proper thing for the woman to do is terminate the pregnancy.” The page also states that “RMS has spent years campaigning against using people’s correct pronouns. That is transphobia in disguise,” and notes that “RMS has a history of abusing women, making them feel uncomfortable, unsafe, and unwelcome,” linking to a summary of the allegations.