Thread

Stallman: Thousands Dead, Millions Deprived of Liberties (2001)

154 points · 106 comments · B1FF_PSUVM

xlayn · 1789667839 · focus · HN ↗
Every time "these type of people" are dismissed as lunatics, as extremist and alarmist, time comes back to prove they were right.
I frankly dismissed the idea of "a group of extremely powerful and rich pedos" under a pizza store... and yes there were none under any pizza store.
1. sroerick · 1789669857 · focus · HN ↗
  <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/761718975/free-software-pioneer-quits-mit-over-his-comments-on-epstein-sex-trafficking-cas" rel="nofollow">https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/761718975/free-software-pione...
  1. F3nd0 · 1789670343 · focus · HN ↗
    How is the link relevant to the topic at hand?
    blagie · 1789671986 · focus · HN ↗
    I think it's a good, analogous, contemporary example of how RMS tends to be misunderstood.
    In this context, his comments tend to be:
    a) Correct, if you read them precisely (which is how RMS writes -- precisely)
    b) Horrible, if you read them with the subtext implied in mainstream culture (which is how people read what RMS writes)
    That combination results in "with the terrorists" in 2001, "with Epstein" in 2026, and a lot of similar things in between.
    Coincidentally, it's highly unlikely Minsky did anything wrong. All the people thrown under the bus by MIT were either the people who acted ethically and came forward or, like Minsky, were dead. All the people who did unethical things didn't come forward, and are in the Epstein files. Not all the MIT folks in the Epstein files did unethical things, but many presumably did....
    The MIT transparency report is worth reading in the light of the release. MIT had most of that information about its faculty at the time.
    beedeebeedee · 1789673050 · focus · HN ↗
    > Coincidentally, it's highly unlikely Minsky did anything wrong.
    Virginia Giuffre said that she had sex with Minsky when she was 17 and he was 73. I think no matter how you look at it (even if she was technically above the age of consent in the jurisdiction of Epstein's island), it is still wrong and he absolutely should have known that.
    I am a big fan of Stallman's work and his views considering computer science and its role in society, but his views are not precise or correct in this matter.
    worik · 1789674727 · focus · HN ↗
    > but his views are not precise or correct in this matter.
    The views he expressed re sexual assault were abhorrent
    I have huge respect for RMS. Being this wrong once shows the bad way (we) men of a certain age were raised. The idea that sexual assault must involve violence or the threat of violence is old, out of date, and at one point RMS held it along with society at large
    Times change, and as we get older we need to change with them.
    beedeebeedee · 1789709541 · focus · HN ↗
    > > but his views are not precise or correct in this matter.
    > The views he expressed re sexual assault were abhorrent
    Hi, yes, I think we agree- I was using those terms because that was what the commenter above was claiming

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