True. I'm not saying he can control the impact of his viewpoint, I'm making an observation on what that impact may be.

>and there is much room for debate on whether or not they're extremist.

Also true. I classify RMS as an extremist, but recognize that reasonable people may disagree.

>Some viewpoints can be logically categorized as being at the end of a defined spectrum

That is pretty much the definition of extremism, being at the final end point on either end of a spectrum. But then that's why I don't gravitate towards viewpoints that exist only as a single point on a spectrum. I prefer a multi axial approach that takes various considerations into account. Unfortunately for me that often makes it significantly harder to convey a short answer on my views, because they are fairly nuanced.

As far as RMS, he may have planted a very good seed, but I don't think that OSS would have gained dominance in many areas if there had not been more moderate & practical people working in the area.