>However, usually apologies in this context backfire.

As pointed out by other commenters, this is more of a defense, or an explanation, than it is an apology.

So technically it is an apology but in the other sense of the word :)

A defense is not the most common definition of apology in modern usage, but it is the most historical meaning of the word, and most aligned with its Greek etymology. This letter is very much a hybrid of both a defense and a mea culpa, the two modern usages of apology. He acknowledges some shortcomings which were partially responsible for him being criticized, but also explicitly rejects the accusations that he believes were unfounded.

He didn’t apologize authentically. He might not be capable of it. And... if he did it doesn’t at all follow that his apology would be accepted. It is neither timely, nor adequately sincere and it doesn’t indicate that he is taking appropriate actions to atone. This statement is as self countered and RMS centering as his actions were. I suspect he isn’t capable of change without intervention and a lot of therapy, neither of which have been indicated here. Note: I’ve directly witnessed and dealt with RMS’s awful behavior towards women twice in my career.

It does not matter one bit if contemporary audiences react as you predict. His statements, and that of his accusers, are all on the record.

I suspect RMS is made of sterner stuff, given his track record, and while no doubt these events must have exacted a psychological toll (after all, he is a human being) he must also be aware that there remain today many of us who deeply appreciate his principled positions regarding matters that affect us all.

And one remains hopeful that future generations that are afforded the necessary distance from conflated matters that cloud contemporary judgment will reach a more balanced conclusion and give the man his due credit.

Are there sources for rms's long history of sexual harassment?

I think the emacs virgin thing if it really was aimed directly at a young woman in the audience is not much better than sexual harassment.

I was shocked reading your comment - how could you know about an incident that I thought only 2-3 people witnessed, an event where I was present but few other people were?

Then I googled it, and it turns out that you are likely referring to a larger, different event where I was not present.

It seems like he did this a lot, then? He definitely harassed a young woman at an event I organized, and did a 1-1 version of this emacs virgin thing directly 'at' her. It was weird, creepy and I did my best to deal with the situation and help the audience member feel more welcome at the event after the harassment. She was visibly upset and very uncomfortable in the moments after he said it. It happened before a talk he was scheduled to give, as the audience was arriving and sitting down.

Had no idea that this wasn't the only time it happened. Didn't know there were other instances.

Yeah :/. So, I also (well, used to... damn pandemic ;P) travel around talking to people--largely college students, as I got caught up in the whole "hackathon circuit"--about open source and, specifically, free software (I am sometimes even put in debate-style panels with people like Kyle Fogel from the Apache Foundation, so I can argue for GPL over BSD); and I have just run into too many people (and I don't mean "merely" recently, after all the recent public brouhaha about RMS: I have been doing this for a long time, and haven't even been able to do it in over a year anyway) who were turned off of the whole movement by Richard Stallman pulling stuff like this and making the entire audience unhappy and uncomfortable. I seriously would get people coming up to me afterwards saying stuff like "you know, I wasn't expecting much from your talk, because RMS came last year and [random horrible stuff happened], but you actually made this all sound so reasonable", and then I spend the weekend hanging out with everyone (which I can't imagine RMS ever getting to do) and I get converts. I just don't think RMS is winning over anywhere near as many people as he is turning away :/. And like, people can blame this on "neurological issues" all they want--and seriously: even let's assume for a moment that somehow he does have a neurological issue that makes everyone think he is misogynist even though he isn't (which I think is a strange disorder, but let's grant it for a moment)--at the end of the day it doesn't change the reality that he needs to stop being the public figurehead of this critical organization (one I fully understand he started) for the good of his own movement... and frankly, he should be realizing this himself and actually truly "stepping down" as opposed to requiring us to force him out :(.

Thanks for the detail

The emacs virgin thing is just what one would expect from a ‘60s/‘70s hippie. At the time, intelligent and activist women were busy attacking sexual taboos, largely defined by men, including virginity. Turning virginity into a joke (and with classical-lit undertones) is the type of thing “boomer women” would likely appreciate.

Alas, our modernity seems to be more prudish in these matters; so people react to this sort of thing very much like a pre-60s person; and RMS didn’t get the memo.

Mostly in-person around MIT (just like Captain Crunch or Jake Appelbaum in the conference scene... informal until it wasn't), but a few have made it onto the web.

See #2 here:

https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-appendix...

1. rumors

2. a mattress with “obvious implications” which I doubt he found obvious

3. rms: “I’m suicidal, please date me”

Regardless of whether or not this qualifies as “harassment” (semantic arguments being pointless), I don’t think this justifies Removing him in any sense.

I mean, I've had a mattress in an office before, and the implication was I for a time lived in the office. No sex happened there, just poor work-life balance.

A lot of the complaints against RMS seem like ableist assumptions about intent to me.

Some of his behaviours are clearly problematic, but so is piling on someone this way.

Frankly a lot of these attacks tells me more about the lack of empathy shown by the attackers.

RMS isn't even the only person that has had a mattress by the door in their office at MIT. It used to be common enough, among both males and females, that nobody thought anything of it.

I'm not seeing much from women that actually went to MIT and interacted with him there. A lot of the accusations I've seen are second hand stories/rumours from third parties that never went to MIT or interacted with him directly.

There are three direct quotes from women who attended MIT in the linked article.

It's not clear that the first two even had direct contact with RMS and they don't even make any serious allegations. Barely anyone cares that RMS had a mattress in his office, lots of people at MIT have done that, and nobody is even making the allegation that anything inappropriate happened beyond him having it and him sleeping on it alone. The third is socially awkward and bad behaviour but it happened almost 40 years ago.

Even if I accept that these quotes are an accurate portrayal of events that happened, I'd expect you to have more damning evidence to support canceling someone that has been extremely important in this industry for over 50 years.

He's not cancelled, he's free to go work any other job he wants. I just hope he doesn't work for the FSF any longer because the FSF is important and he's doing damage to it.

> He's not cancelled,

Meanwhile over at the open letter:

> We urge those in a position to do so to stop supporting the Free Software Foundation. Refuse to contribute to projects related to the FSF and RMS. Do not speak at or attend FSF events, or events that welcome RMS and his brand of intolerance.

Emphasis mine.

The whole text constitutes a textbook character assassination attempt. Consider the amount of support and credibility you want to give to these people, including the Twitter mob that has apparently gone crazy after these announcements.

Those read as, "he made me uncomfortable". That's not sexual harassment.