Just wanted to drop a Cliff Notes of the RMS controversy.

Specifically, Stallman has been accused of

(1) Defending Jeffrey Epstein (while in reality Stallman was defending Marvin Minsky);

(2) Describing Epstein's victims as entirely willing (while in reality Stallman was arguing that one specific victim of Epstein, Virginia Giuffre, was presented to Minsky as entirely willing because she was coerced by Epstein, not that she was entirely willing);

(3) Defendinf pedophilia (while in reality Stallman was arguing that age doesn't matter in a case of rape because rape is always a terrible act no matter the age of the victim);

(4) Defending pedophilia in the past (while in reality Stallman already countered his controversial claim from 2006 -in which he expressed skepticism in case of consensual sex- with a comment in 2013, where he said that children can't really be consensual);

(5) Condoned sexual assault (while in reality Stallman was arguing that the term "sexual assault" does not fit the description of Minsky's act towards Virginia Giuffre since she wasn't assaulted by Minsky but coerced by Epstein; Stallman also added that the term is generally too vague as it refers to bad acts that can range from harmful to very harmful, and that the term usually makes readers think of the worst case);

(6) Implying that the victim wasn't harmed (while in reality Stallman explicitly claimed that she was harmed);

(7) Making comments that are excuses about rape, assault and child sex trafficking (while he condemned all three as explained above);

(8) Used to keep a mattress in his MIT office, implying sexual activity and/or macho behavior at work (while in reality Stallman is known to have lived in his office for a certain period of his life).

As a consequence of these writings, Stallman resigned from his position at MIT and also from his position at the Free Software Foundation.

Sources in chronological order:

September 12

https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec21...

September 13

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9ke3ke/famed-computer-sci...
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6405929/091320191...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/famed-mit-computer-scientist-r...
September 14

https://www.stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#14_Septe...

Septembet 16

https://medium.com/@selamie/remove-richard-stallman-appendix...
https://blog.halon.org.uk/2019/09/gnome-foundation-relations...
https://sfconservancy.org/news/2019/sep/16/rms-does-not-spea...
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#16_September...
https://www.fsf.org/news/richard-m-stallman-resigns

OTHER REFERENCES
Stallman on his home

https://stallman.org/rms-lifestyle.html

Stallman on Pedophilia, 2006

https://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html#05%20Jun...

Stallman on pedophilia, part deuce, 2013

https://stallman.org/archives/2012-nov-feb.html#04_January_2...

There is a petition floating around for journalists to own up and post a retraction (not that anyone is expecting miracles), but if you're against having the Press straight up spreading lies, consider offering a signature.

https://www.change.org/p/journalists-to-stop-the-persecution...

I leave it to every individuals conscience to make of it what they will... I just know that to me, this entire thing stinks to high heaven. I cannot see any way in which any of this boondoggle can be remotely said to have happened in good faith. Spread the word, or just at least make your decision on the most accurate information possible.

For me, Free Software comes first, but a bit of journalistic integrity is also a primary concern. If journalists and these "cancel culture" are willing to go after the figurehead of the movement, and defile the primary values of the movement by twisting every detail imaginable, There is no real telling where things will stop.

I'm not one to usually get fired up over this sort of thing, but I do insist that some semblance of integrity be maintained when trying to challenge something. If you have a good case, then it will see you through to the end. If you have to cheat and lie to get what you want, it stands to reason that the ground you are arguing from May not have been that solid in the first place.

In the interests of keeping the "Free" in "Free Software" as good as the "Free" in "Free Beer"; please, raise awareness, and keep up the fight against disinformation.

Thank you.