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Re:Richard M. Stallman resigns by pjc50 on Tuesday September 17, 2019 @05:59AM (#20993342)
I don't think she's the first person to object to his behaviour. I've seen a few more people posting their stories of objectionable behaviour, but I'm reluctant to point HN at them.

Edit: a list of complaints over years: https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman

Edit: at the risk of targeting people for harassment by HN commentators, some personal stories from Twitter. Apparently people kept houseplants to ward off RMS: https://twitter.com/starsandrobots/status/994267630457401344

Re:Richard M. Stallman resigns by DoreenMichele on Tuesday September 17, 2019 @06:01AM (#20993355)
Irrelevant to my point.

Linus was told by trusted insiders "Get your act together" and he apparently took that to heart.

And RMS is being removed as a consequence of the angry actions of a woman who didn't even know who he was: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20993364

Edit: I wish you wouldn't do something that you feel puts other people at risk just to back up your point. Especially since you seem to think you have the moral high ground.

You are happy to throw other people under a bus to win an internet argument. Some angry woman who admits her screed wasn't really about RMS per se threw him under a bus. And you're fine with it. Because you seem to think that's morally acceptable if you have some kind of justification.

Social outcomes aren't about the actions of a single person. They are about the cumulative consequences of the actions of many people.

How people choose to respond to problematic behavior is part of that -- and often not in a good way.

Re:Richard M. Stallman resigns by pjc50 on Tuesday September 17, 2019 @07:01AM (#20993613)
If those are to be counted as "throwing someone under a bus", then what about the person allegedly assaulted by Minsky? Isn't RMS also "throwing her under a bus" to win an internet argument?

> How people choose to respond to problematic behavior is part of that -- and often not in a good way.

Well, yes. There don't seem to be any good answers here. Handling it privately is not at all reliable and may result in the complainer getting privately blacklisted. Going public can be effective, but only if you make a major storm - the outcomes of which can no longer be controlled.

We don't know if people have tried to get RMS to get his act together. But this doesn't seem to be a first complaint out of nowhere.

Re:Richard M. Stallman resigns by kelnos on Tuesday September 17, 2019 @07:07AM (#20993638)
It's pretty irrelevant whether or not she knew who RMS was before all this. She found out about him, did her research, and uncovered some pretty messed up stuff.